With five kids in our Montessori home it can feel like we have an ever evolving need to create spaces that fit everyone's needs. And, that is really really hard with kids that are nearly 11-years apart in age. But, we're trying to make our home work the best it can for us with our huge Montessori renovation. We are finally just days away from completing the work and I cannot wait to share more updates. But something that is done and perfect are our new indoor swings.
With two neurodivergent children and three other kids that just like movement, indoor swings have been a must for us. We had a swing in our old basement playroom and we knew that they were the top priority for our new playroom space.
Why We Love Indoor Swing In Our Montessori Home
There are a few reasons we really love having access to an indoor swing:
- Our winters are long and cold, and gross motor play is fun
- Perfect way to get vestibular sensory input and even sometimes proprioceptive input
- The kids love it and it keeps them busy for long periods of time
- It's something that big kids down to babies can all use which is rare
Hanging our Indoor Swings
Disclaimer here - I'm not an expert. I'm not giving you specific advice on how to safely hang swings, this is just what we have decided works or our family and space.
We wanted our indoor swing to be something that our children could use for a LONG time - like until they are adults. So we had our contractor add support wood attached to the floor joists into our ceiling. Then all the of swing hardware was added directly into that supported area. The hardware we chose includes:
- Heavy Duty Swing Hangers - for swings that require 2 hanging points
- Single Ceiling Mount - for swings/climbers with one hanging point
- Swivel Hanger - to allow swings to rotate 360 degrees
This combination felt like it would be the most useful for us not only today, but well into the future. These are all pretty heavy duty hangers and we feel really good that they will last us for a long long time.
Types of Swings we Use
Our hope is to have a few different types of swings in our home to fit the various needs and ages we have. Right now we have three different types of swings for the kids to use. They are:
- Rainbow Platform - This is our main swing that we have had for years! The kids love this one, I love this one. It's great. I love that it is hard and really engages their core muscles to use it. And they can also use it standing up. I will say that it gets so much use in our house that we do need to replace the rope from time to time, that's the only downside.
- Baby Swing - This is a new one for us but I wanted something for littler babies. Penelope loves this a lot and it's been great to offer her some swinging time when it's been too cold or wet to be outdoors.
- Pod Swing (similar)- Ours was a gift and I'm not sure of the exact brand but this has been an instant it. It twirls around really easily which is super fun, but is also just a cosy spot for a book and a swing for the older kids. I am not completely convinced this is going to withstand my kids long term, but we'll see!
Spoiler alert, but we will be doing some sort of swing/swings/hanging climber for our kids for Christmas this year. I haven't completely decided on what they will get yet, but high on our list includes:
Do you have an indoor swing?
