Fern’s floor bed is a crib mattress tucked into a corner of a room that she shares with her 3-year old brother. We have hung a colorful homemade fabric and wood mobile above and plush fabric letters on the wall that are easy for her to remove and explore. Beside the bed there is a soft mat that extends across the play area surrounded by toys and objects available for safe and independent unassisted investigation. On the bottom shelf of a bookcase across from the bed there are no more than five simple objects, which change weekly, placed at a time. There are still so many ideas that I have for this space–a mirror on the wall alongside the bed, a homemade felt story board, low framed pictures–but it’s a start.
