Garden play houses - how much do your DC use theirs?

[SnakePlant]

I’m thinking of asking DD if she would like one for DGDs. They are 4 and nearly 2.

The one I’m looking at is wooden and about 4’ x 4’. Do/did your DC use theirs a lot or once the novelty wore off was it a waste of space/money.

My budget is £200 max. Is there any other outdoor play item that your DC get lots of use out of? The garden is pretty small and on a bit of a slope and they still need space to use the grass so it can’t be anything really big . TIA

It depends really on various factors.

I think if they have a small ish house, they are a good idea to use outside as a kind of 'art' house. Blackboards up, chalks, pots with pens, glue, paper and watercolour paints etc. So some of the messier stuff can be done outside.

Do they have a garden slide or small climbing frame? At the moment with playgrounds not in use, I would be tempted to go down the small climbing frame route. That way they have something to do daily in garden to wear them out a bit. Maybe asking is best?

We had a cheapie ToysrUs one and DS loved it. He had a table and chair and would eat his lunch out there

Caspian thanks for this. I would definitely ask DD first but wanted to ask whether parents on here have found playhouses a good investment before including it as an offer. I think the garden is too uneven for a climbing frame, slide. There is only one really flat area (which is where I guess a play House would go) and it’s not really big enough for a slide or swing. It’s a difficult one because the garden is smallish and uneven.

I would think a climbing frame would get a lot of use but it would be really hard to find a suitable spot for one.

You could get a play tent, then it can be used outside, inside or collapsed as necessary.

We have one and DC use it a lot. We put a small kitchen and Olay food in there and old computer keplyboards to pretend they are at work. Wouldn't be without it

Minnie I hadn’t thought about a tent. Thank you. That seems like a very good idea. Will have a look and see what there is then ask DD. At the worst even if it didn’t get much use, they’re not stuck with a big, wooden house taking up precious space.

Mine an ancient plastic red and yellow one until we moved last year (it was I think third hand and wouldn't have survived another move) and it was used basically every day it wasn't raining (and some days it was).

Our old house was small but had a massive garden and it was an absolute godsend.

New house is bigger but the garden is slightly smaller and currently being taken over by some very elderly shrubbery which we inherited from the previous owners so no space for one here.

The plan is to open up the garden though, get some more turf put down and get dc a small footprint two storey play house /climbing frame type thing.

He is six and I reckon he will still be using it when he's 10. If we get the right one he might even use it as a sort of den/tree house when he's a teen.

As soon as they saw spiders they never stepped foot in it again!

we use ours mostly for storing garden toys, but it is very useful to have for that purpose

We bought one for the DC, a wooden Swiss Cottage style .
It was about 6'6" x6'6".
I could just about stand up in the highest point .
Bolt fixed to a heavy wooden base .

The DC loved it , we bought little table/chairs .

Roll on a few years , the house was occupied by eight years by our guinea-pigs ( we had eight of them over this period) so well used

I came here to say tent too. DS is 4 and loves his, we use it in and out of the house and as pp said it can just be collapsed when not in use.

My youngest loves her playhouse.

Thanks this is really helpful. I will suggest a tent or a cabin if DD can’t think what they’d most want.

Some things that you think would be a winner aren’t always enjoyed as much as you’d hope. Play kitchen was totally ignored after the initial novelty value had worn off . We were all surprised by that.

Mine love the playhouse but if space is limited I think they'd get as much enjoyment from a tent, plus there is the novelty value every time it is put back up.

You can get great little climbing frames that look like little igloos. These could also have a blanket thrown over to make a house (so dual purpose!)

tiktok oh that sounds an idea. Oldest DGD is happy with anything if you chuck a blanket over it and make it a den so this would fulfil two purposes. I’ll go take a look.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

Exactly the same here. Swiss Cottage style, and used more by the guinea pigs!

Used it for about a week before the spiders and bugs moved in then it was never used again! Altho wish I had saved it for dc3 as came down the other morning to find him playing with a huge house spider so don't think he's fussed! 😂 The best thing I found for the kids was putting sheets over the top of our 8ft trampoline and filling it with duvets and pillows, they loved that! Out there hours!