Non-destructable window covering

[snowbunnies300]

Ok I am at the end of my rope. My 3 autistic boys share a bedroom. There is one window in the room. They have torn down each and every covering we have put up. Mini blinds are a joke. A curtain..HA! We have had a special plastic coating (think peal and stick frosted window cling) in a black color that let in some light but masked the direct sun light. Now the kids have figured out that the plastic cling can be taken off of the window. We can't afford to replace it every day.

I say we would do one of two things:
1) paint the window. If we paint the outside of the window the kids couldn't scratch it off. It would keep sunlight out and keep the room dark. This in turn would help them fall asleep easier and not wake them up so early in the moring.
DH's concerns: Would painting the window hurt it? Would painting cause the window to heat up and thus cause the gases inbewteen the panes to contact etc and possible explode causing the window to break? If we use white paint would that not cause the window to heat up too much? What kind of paint? White outdoor primer or spray paint?

2) Make a window covering out of un-ripable (is that a word?) fabric. I would take a piece of wood the length of the inside of the window. Find fabric or something curtain like material that won't rip. Wrap the fabric around the length of wood several times. Staple the heck out of it to attach it to the wood. Screw the piece into the window frame with lots and lots of screws so that if kids hang on the fabric they won't tear it out of the frame. Cut fabric to length of window and be done.
DH's concerns: What kinds of fabric/material doesn't rip. Is it really feasible that this would work. I admit I am grasping at straws here.

We need to replace windows in our home but we have to budget for it. When we do replace the windows the bedrooms will all have blinds built into the windows. Until then I really need a solution for their room. We live out in the country so to speak. No covenants or HSA associations. If we paint a window no one can complain (well they can complain among themselves but can't stop us).

So any other ideas? If you had to choose between options above which one and why. Thanks!

[kristac]

Could you put the window cling on the outside? Painting seems like an ok option. I doubt it would overheat the window. You could board it up with a piece of plywood from the outside. Good luck, that sounds frustrating.

[Pinky]

Could you put the window cling on the outside? Painting seems like an ok option. I doubt it would overheat the window. You board it up with a piece of plywood from the outside. Good luck, that sounds frustrating.

I was going to suggest the frosted glass window cling stuff for the inside but since that didn't work I think I would go the route of covering it from the outside.

[tiapam]

i agree with pps, i would put something on the outside of the window. i put some Wallies chalkboard panels on the outside of an exterior door about a month ago, so it is exposed and doing fine so far. no peeling, etc. they also have dry erase panels that are white so you have a choice of colors. the chalkboard panels are a little thicker than their typical decals, IME.

http://www.wallies.com/

they often have 50% off these items, if you sign up for their emails you should get a notice.

[JTsMom]

I have two ideas. Would it work to have something easily removable that you could put up when needed, then take down after nap time? Or are they in their room awake and alone? If so, could you put it up after they are asleep?

Otherwise, what about shutters that you could either lock from the inside, or install on the outside? That way, you could open them if you wanted to.

On the outside, you could make them out of something pressure treated, and paint them to match your house trim. On the inside, you could use any type of wood, and paint it to match, staple fabric to them, or paint a mural or something. If you go the inside route, I'd make sure you can somehow stabilize them when they are open b/c it would be way to tempting to swing on them if they were free swinging.

ETA: One other option, but probably a pricey one, would be retractable hurricane shutters.
http://www.crystalcoastawnings.com/rolling_shutter.htm

You could do the fabric thing with a heavy duty canvas, but then you would lose the option to open it. If you go that route, I'd use something like 2x4's, screwed into studs with heavy duty hardware.

[snowbunnies300]

Thanks for the replies. We don't want to block off the window as we want to keep it available for emergency purposes. I just mentioned to DH that if we had a second window screen we may have a solution. One side of the window cranks out and the other side is stationary. The one with the crank the kids can't get to the window cling so it stays put. If another screen in the hosue fits the other stationary window we may have our solution.