DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET 2 Sweet Spots Purpose To provide “sweet spots” in the room—areas that can serve as children’s personal spaces, where they can enjoy a sense of privacy and peacefulness that is hard to come by in a room filled with other children  Materials Various  Procedure Use these ideas to create sweet spots in your room: • Ask the children to paint and decorate a large, empty appliance box. Fill it with pillows. Make a skylight by cutting a hole in the top, or provide a flashlight. Leave one side open so you can observe what is going on inside. • Provide an egg-shaped chair called the PS Lömsk swivel chair, which Ikea sells. The child can pull down the polyester hood and block out the world. Children love this chair. It provides a feeling of privacy, safety, and fun. • Use pop-up tents and tunnels. • Use several great, inexpensive items, which Ikea also sells, to create whimsy and privacy: a large, polyester green leaf called Löva, which can be wall-mounted; a machine-washable white net canopy called Bryne; and a circus-themed, light-blue canopy called Mysig. • Provide children with yards of sheer fabric, clothespins, and rope, and help them make their very own temporary sweet spots. • Use carpet samples to make squares for sitting on. They’re very inexpensive and sometimes free, and they can quickly create personal spaces for use during group time. • Use hula hoops to create a perimeter for private space. For example, if a child needs time alone to play, you might place the 6  Chapter 1 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL