Design Your Dream Space

Your child redesigns a room on paper, drawing it roughly to scale and working within real limits of sise and a set budget. A satisfying project that turns imagination into a workable plan.

How to do it

1. Pick a real room to redesign and measure its length and width together, or use rough steps if a tape measure is not handy.
2. Help your child choose a scale so the room fits on their paper (for example, one centimetre stands for a set distance) and draw the outline.
3. Have them sketch in the furniture and features they want, keeping the sizes roughly in proportion to the room.
4. Give them a pretend budget and a short list of made-up prices, and ask them to keep their choices within it.
5. Let them present the finished plan and explain the trade-offs they made to fit the space and the budget.

What you need

• Paper
• Pencil and eraser
• Ruler
• Markers
• Tape measure

Make it yours

Younger, 9-10 years: Skip strict scale and focus on a labelled layout with a simple spending limit. Older, 12 years and up: Add a second scale drawing from a different viewpoint, or a real online price check within a set budget. Siblings: Each designs a different room in the home, then gives a tour of their plan.