10 Basement Playroom Ideas

Basement playrooms are the best part of the house for a kid. Mom and Dad stay upstairs working, cleaning, or doing whatever else needs to get done. If Dad is gone, then Mom can send the kids downstairs, so she can pump in peace. So what are some basement playroom ideas?

Your kids are allowed to explore individual play. A playroom helps encourage pretend play as well since Mom and Dad aren’t there to facilitate playtime for them.

If set up well, then there isn’t any reason to worry. I put together some basement playroom ideas to help you do it well. I kept safety and fun in mind for the list.

The Basement Playroom Ideas

We want toys and activities that kids can do safely on their own. We want to promote individuality and pretend play. Pretend play helps kids develop their creativity.

We want ideas that are safe for them to use without supervision. All of these toys and ideas are things we feel comfortable leaving our kids alone to do.

Play Couch

Who else loved building forts with the couch cushions when they were little? I know I loved it… my parents didn’t love it as much.

My parents weren’t always financially well off, so I understand wanting to take care of your furniture as much as possible.

Play couches are perfect for kids to play with. It’s made to be played with. It’s more durable and sturdy. The sturdiness adds to the fort-building aspect. It’s easy to put the cushions together into different shapes for the kids to play with.

Fabric Swing

Our kids love playing with their swing. Our oldest has a lot of energy… A LOT. As he’s gotten older, we’ve noticed he is trying to jump off even more things. He is trying to jump from higher heights.

The younger two have picked this up from him too. Our 18-month-old stands at the edge of the couch, says “FALL!”, and steps off. He doesn’t jump off the couch. He is just trying to fall. We needed something to help with their sensory play, and the fabric swing has done that job amazingly.

Reading Nook

We all want our kids to be better readers. Screen time is taking over. I know that my family isn’t excluded. We try to make a conscious effort to stay off our phones and be more present with them, but addiction is hard.

Reading around them more has helped a lot. Instead of scrolling through Instagram, I deleted the app, and I try to read if I feel that same itch to doom-scroll.

If your kids have a spot in their playroom to read, they will. Kids love reading. Cycle through books that they like, so it always feels fresh to them.

Slide

Having a slide is obvious. Every kid loves slides. There’s a reason they are at every playground in the world.

Chalkboard Paint

Chalkboard paint is incredible. You can also opt for a traditional chalkboard. Chalkboard paint is exactly what it sounds like. You can paint the wall with it, and wherever you paint, acts like a chalkboard.

Kids Roller Coaster

Sometimes I wish I was small enough to use one of these. Our kids love it, but we’ve had one issue with it. The youngest always wants to use it too, but he’s too small. He expects to stay on the little cart without any effort, so he falls off.

If your kids are old enough, they will love playing with one of these.

Trampoline

No more monkeys jumping on the bed! If you want to jump, jump on the trampoline. That’s the rule in our house.

Our kids don’t play with the trampoline as much as we thought they would. What they use more than I expected is the support bar that goes across it. They use it to hand upside down and do flips.

I’m still glad we have it.

Play Kitchen

I’m the cook in the family. I love cooking. I love eating. My kids see how much I cook and want to be involved too. I let them crack some eggs and pour some ingredients. Sometimes they want to help more than they can right now.

Watching them play with the play kitchen is the sweetest thing. They’ll make pretend dishes for each other and then sit down to eat them. They love it, and it’s an absolutely adorable sight to watch.

Organized Cubbies

This might be more for my sanity. We have a specific spot for each type of toy. Cars have their bin and cubby. Stuffed animals have another. We have so many dinosaurs that they have multiple spots depending on the kind of dinosaur toy it is.

This helps us stay organized in the playroom and keep track of what they have and haven’t been playing with. After some time has passed, we cycle some of the other toys they have in storage. We don’t want to overwhelm them with all of their toys at once.

Monitor

A monitor will help keep your peace of mind that everything is ok. If you have more than one child, they’ll fight. That’s okay. We all fought with our siblings.

We have a Vivint system, so I prefer their indoor camera because it records. If I need to look back in time to see what happened, I can.

Conclusion

We don’t need to overload our kids and make the basement feel like Toys “R” Us. These are ideas that will help them develop and have fun.

They will be able to play by themselves, and you’ll get a minute for yourself.

Have some peace of mind. If you have the space for a basement playroom, do it. I know the first thing you want to do is build a mancave, and that time will come. Just build a smaller mancave somewhere else for now.

Not everyone has a basement or an extra room they can convert into a designated playroom. Some of these are great ideas for your toddler’s bedroom.

Give your kids space, and they will return the favor.