All children’s bedrooms need a lamp, not just so they can sneakily read after lights out, play spooky games or deal with any worries about the dark, but so that you can have some light when pretending to be the tooth fairy or Father Christmas or just checking they’re breathing, without ruining everything by treading on a stray piece of Lego.
We’ve found the most stylish and fun lamps for children’s rooms, some of which are so cool they are quite frankly wasted on children.
1. Lego Star Wars Darth Vader Lamp: £39.99, John Lewis
It’s Lego and it’s Star Wars, and we think it’s possibly the best lamp you could get anyone who is a fan of both, whatever their age (it’s officially recommended for those over the age of seven). Lego has thought of everything – the lightsaber illuminates, it can be powered by USB (or batteries) and the lamp can be removed from its stand to be used as a torch.
2. Disaster Designs Nordikka Origami Bear Lamp Orange Night Light: £27, Hurn & Hurn
It’s hard to articulate why a plastic lamp made to look like a bear made from orange origami paper works quite as well as it does, but really it does. This lamp is super stylish and very cute, both when turned off and looking like a piece of modern art, or when turned on emitting a warm orange glow.
3. DC Comics Batman Hero light: £20, Hawkin’s Bazaar
As someone not hugely into superheroes I would find it unsettling to see the brightly lit form of Batman from across my bedroom in the middle of the night, but I am told that those with a more intimate knowledge of Bruce Wayne find this presence very reassuring. The acrylic Batman cut out slots into the base and it is up by a row of LEDs. Great for fans of the comics and films.
4. Zazu Nightlight Lou The Owl: £29.99, Cheeky Rascals
This lamp looks lovely – who doesn’t like owls? – but better than that, it can be activated by voice so if your child wakes up in the middle of the night they can ask the lamp to turn on to reassure them. The owl and the outer ring work as two separate devices, with each of them having three different light settings, and both can be set to fade out once your child is asleep. Owl comes in grey, pink or blue.
5. Pabobo Musical Star Projector: £23, JoJo Maman Bébé
This special star plays soothing music while projecting a starry light show onto the ceiling (if left on, the music turns off after 15 minutes, the lights after 45 minutes). It’s strangely transfixing and if you can’t spend the night camping in the countryside watching the constellations – not always easy with young kids – then it’s a good alternative. The projector is battery operated, so can be easily taken with you whenever you spend a night away.
6. Large Hello Kitty Light: £115, Nubie
No doubt whole PhDs have been written on the appeal of Hello Kitty. Whatever the reason, she has a face and demeanour that speaks to young children, even more so as a large (over a foot and a half high) lamp which can be set to be any one of sixteen colours. The lamp is dimmable, so can be left on as a reassuring presence throughout the night (if your little one thinks a giant Hello Kitty is indeed reassuring). It also comes with a rather large price tag, so definitely one for the superfans.
7. Remote Control Moon Wall Light: £20.05, Tesco
We love this moon lamp. You can hang it on your wall (batteries required) and use the remote control to set it to whatever phase of the moon you want, from a slim crescent to a full moon (beware of werewolves). You can even set it to always reflect the shape of the real moon. This is the ideal lamp for any child with an interest in space.
8. John Lewis Hello Medium LED Light Box Yellow: £75, John Lewis
Teenagers should love this lamp – depending on mood, it either gives them a cheery “Hello” as in “whoop, it’s a new day, go and explore the world you bright young thing”, or a “Hello” that is dripping in sarcasm as they rouse themselves on a drizzly day hours earlier than they would like in order to get to school. The LED bulbs cannot be replaced but has a lifespan of up to 20,000 hours (which would let you use it for six hours a day every day for over nine years).
9. Aloka Rocket Sleepylight: £39.95, Potwells
Aloka does a great range of these LED lamps, which have settings for various colours and levels of brightness that can be changed by an easy-to-operate, colour-coded remote control. The fire engine and horse designs gave this rocket close competition as our favourite, although the mermaid, robot and pirate are pretty cool too. Actually, they all are – it’s a range well worth checking out.
10. Jungle Lantern Night Light: £36, JoJo Maman Bébé
A rotating cast of jungle animals is projected onto the sides of this table lamp, in a strangely mesmerising way. It’s soothing and sweet, and gentle enough to let kids drift off while it remains on.
Verdict
We love all of these – so much so that if we could get away with it we’d have one of each and our bedrooms would resemble a lighting store. Having a lifesize (presumably – who knows how large Hello Kitty is in ‘real’ life), ghostlike cat in the corner of the room shouldn’t work but somehow the Hello Kitty Light seems sweet and warming, rather than worrying, while the Moon Wall Light is a very clever idea. The Nordikka Origami Bear feels wonderfully stylish but for the sheer joy it’s capable of bringing to the right person, the Lego Star Wars Darth Vader lamp is our Best Buy.
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