A gaming room for kids usually faces some constraints. The room is probably small and the furniture and peripherals need to be reliable but in the budget price level. This tour will cover, e,g. choice of desk, storage, RGB lighting, merchandise, and gaming peripherals for kids.
The ultimate gaming room for kids is from IKEA
Let’s be honest. Kids value a flashing RGB cave a lot more than nice wooden finishes and leather accessories. As a parent, this is good for you, because you won’t go bankrupt if you buy the foundation from IKEA.
And by the foundation, I mean a desk and some storage. A lot of the gaming furniture marketed towards kids is extremely bad quality and may end up costing you a lot more if the desk collapses. For the money, IKEA is pretty solid. Moreover, you can mix and match sizes, which is a big plus for a kids’ room that is usually relatively small and maybe doesn’t have the best room layout.
A tried and tested combination is the Lagkapten top with the Alex drawers on one side and the Adils legs on the other side. I find that this combination is the best because it gives you storage on one side and on the other side, you save some money because the Adils legs are a lot cheaper than a second Alex drawer. Moreover, you get more space for your chair. The IKEA Lagkapten tabletop on the picture is 140 cm / 55 1/8 ” wide, but also comes in 120×60 cm / 47 1/4 “, which I think is too small if you also want the Alex drawers. Here you get a desk with storage for around 130 EUR / 165 USD (yes, it does seem to be more expensive in the US).
A white base color goes with everything
You can mix different colors too, but I find that white is a great base in general. Contrary to the black gaming aesthetic, white makes the room brighter and goes well with other kids’ furniture. If you go for the black look in a dark room, you’re relying on a lot of expensive artificial lighting. With the white look and some colorful accessories, the room looks great during daylight even without RGB, and improves the mood.
The bed is IKEA Malm, which, coincidentally, also comes in white and has under-bed drawers. The small table is the IKEA Lack.
Shelves are cheap and great for both lighting and display
The shelves are the Burhult / Sibbhult combination, which is as cheap as 4 EUR / 5 USD per shelf! They are great for displaying merch, e.g. Pokemon figures, and other kids’ stuff that doesn’t weigh a lot. Moreover, lighting can be mounted below these, illuminating the wall and desk area. This works as both bias and task lighting. Usually, RGB lighting comes with adhesive instead of screws, which will decimate your wall when you decide to take them down again. This way, at worst, you destroy a shelf worth 4 EUR.
The IKEA Skรฅdis is a great way to utilize the wall on the side and hang controllers, remotes, and headset while clearing up desk space, which is admittedly scarce with the Lagkapten tabletop. The remotes are not really magnetic, but the batteries are, which allows them to hang. Behind the pegboard is a light strip that syncs with the other lighting (yes, sorry it has fallen off on the picture).
And speaking of merchandise…
This is something that is hard to understand as a paying parent. Outrageous prices for figures, prints, pillows, swords, and the like – only to sit on a shelf for display (!?). My advice is to use what you already have – it may be more than you realize. My kid has accumulated a lot of **** from birthdays and as “free” complimentary stuff when you buy something else.
A cheap way to decorate your wall is using your kids’ clothes, which are likely already merch focused if he or she is into gaming. Combine with some colorful hangers and a spike and you’re good to go. I’ll admit that a lot of this merch stuff does add to the gaming vibe.
No gaming without RGB
When it gets dark, it is game on. This is where RGB comes to its right, which can also sync with the PC while gaming. The lighting is a combination of Philips Hue Play Bar’s and light strips. I went with Philips Hue because I was already deep into the ecosystem and it comes with a reliable remote. My kid should not have to tinker with a smartphone or wrestle with Siri to turn the lights on and off during the night. However, if you are new to smart lighting, I would strongly advise you to go with a different brand like Nanoleaf or Govee. Philips Hue is ridiculously overpriced compared to the competition. Moreover, the lighting effects on Nanoleaf and Govee are much more dynamic and cooler than the Hue scenes, which is perfect for a gaming scenario.
It doesn’t have to be dark outside. A curtain will do as well.
And without …
The best peripherals for kids
The white base color goes extremely well with colorful peripherals and matches the merchandise around the room. The keywords for picking out the best gaming peripherals for kids are wireless, budget-friendly, and small form factor. The wireless connectivity and small form factor make it easier to handle for your kid, who probably has small hands and moves around while gaming. Budget-friendly doesn’t mean the cheapest crap you can find on Wish. The peripherals should perform their essential function reliably but with no extras that your kid won’t appreciate anyway.
These are the items in the setup:
Please note that I may get a small commission from links at absolutely no extra cost to you.
Monitor: Acer XF270
An old but great 27″ IPS monitor with a 144hz refresh rate and 1440p resolution. This is the best value for money I’ve ever gotten on a monitor. It ticks all the boxes with speed, color accuracy, viewing angles, and crisp resolution and you don’t need an expensive gaming PC to run at 1440p gaming.
Keyboard: Anne Pro 2
The keyboard is great looking and can run both wired and wireless. My kid can’t tell the difference. The mini format is great for gaming and small hands.
Mouse: Logitech G305
This is an extremely budget-friendly, but solid wireless mouse for gaming that fits small hands. You won’t get more value for money than this.
Mousepad: X-Raypad Aqua Control
A beautiful and precise mousepad that fits the size of the desk.
Speakers: Creative Pebble
Again an extremely budget-friendly choice that only takes up a small footprint of the desk area. Your kid will be able to game, watch videos and listen to music without blowing out your windows.
Headset: Logitech G435
A wireless headset with a mic that does the job at less than half the cost of other wireless gaming headsets. The mic does pick up some background noise. If this is a problem in your home, you may have to take a step up in price.
Controller: Xbox X
Some games are simply better with a controller, e.g. Forza Horizon and GTA. At younger ages, the controller is also easier to handle than WASD and mouse.
Stream Deck
A Stream Deck is of course a splurge, but is useful, especially for kids that may not yet have learned to use a PC fully. We use it to control the lighting scenes in the room and launch favorite games as well as shut down the PC.
Have fun gaming with your kid!
We particularly play Fortnite, Overwatch and GTA together (we treat the strippers with respect of course, and don’t do any violence).
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