Room Design Games for Boys & Girls

'Boys and Girls Roommaker'

• Boys and girls receive equal room design treatment when playing Decorator Maker's "Boys and Girls Roommaker." Players double-click on room features such as backgrounds, beds, decorations and furniture, as well as boys and girls ("dolls") to place inside the rooms. Players choose the parts in any order and arrange them as they like. Once done designing the rooms, players can click "Save and download" to keep a copy of their work.

  Boys and Girls Roommaker
  decoratormaker.com/boysgirls/deco.html

'Kiki's Dream Room Designer'

• "Kiki's Dream Room Designer," accessible at the Postopia site, gives players total control in choosing a room's shape from four styles, as well as choosing the room's theme. Themes include groovy, princess, space age and wild west, with each theme containing options for the living room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and windows. When players click on items, the items "stick" to the mouse's cursor. Players drag the items to the desired spots on the screen and click to release them. If players want to move an item, rotate an item's direction or delete an item, they click the item and choose the action. Players can change the color and pattern of floors and walls by pressing the arrows and viewing the various options. Pressing "Done" gives a close-up of the room and animates some objects (for instance, clicking on a toilet causes it to flush).

  Kiki's Dream Room Designer
  postopia.com/games/gamepage.aspx?sitegameID=41

'Make Your Room'

• Discovery Kids' "Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls" TV series tested how well two friends knew each other's likes and tastes, as both took a shot at redecorating each other's rooms. Boys and girls can choose one or two rooms to design by playing "Make Your Room" at the Discovery Kids website. Players can adjust room color, and choose furnishings such as beds, chairs, details, rugs, tables, storage, walls and windows. After choosing a furnishing, the options appear. Players click on the items they like, and they instantly appear in the room. If players do not like an item after selecting it, they drag it to the "Trash" at the bottom right of the screen. When done, players click "Finish" to see the results of their work. The game concludes with players receiving an assessment of their design personality.

  Make Your Room
  kids.discovery.com/fansites/tradingspaceskids/roommaker/roommaker.html

Room Design Competition

• With adult supervision, boys and girls can compete against each other or in mixed teams to design a room in a house. Whether a child's bedroom or an empty room that needs design work, kids design as they go, or draw a layout of what they want the room to look like. From there, they start moving items around, putting new items in the room and so forth. Should kids want to move heavy items, adults can help out. When the kids finish their room design, an adult chooses the stronger design.