Encourage Outdoor Play with a Playhouse
Childhood playtime should be all about playing together, role play, imagination, making magical memories and connecting with the world around us. A playhouse can offer all these things.
As children are exposed more and more to screen time, social media and gaming, a playhouse can help keep a balance with good old traditional play.
So, you’ve wisely decided to add a playhouse to your outdoor space, perhaps as a birthday gift or Christmas present for your children. Now you need to decide on which playhouse is the one for you and your family.
Why Choose Wood?
The natural timbers of a wooden playhouse help them to blend in with the traditional garden. From the quaint wendy house right up to the chalet style playhouse with a dormer and second floor, the wood construction makes a playhouse seem like a ‘grown up’ home just for your children.
Wooden playhouses make an attractive feature in your garden with decorative elements such as window boxes and shutters adding the finishing touches. With a little TLC, such as annual treatment with a preservative, a wooden playhouse will be a long lasting and much-loved part of your garden.
How Big?
Playhouses do come in all shapes and sizes. You need to also consider the space around a playhouse – a good foot of extra space all round is needed for maintenance and for those games of chase. According to our experts under 3ft, the bottom of the garden is an ideal place for independent play.
A tower playhouse – raised up on stilts – offers extra space underneath which can be used as a hideaway for extra play, a storage area for all those outdoor toys and plastic cars, or can even house a sand pit. A great way to make the most of your garden space.
Just remember to leave room for your little one to grow into. Looking for playhouses with higher eaves is a good idea.
Style to Suit
You’ll find traditional playhouses with one window and one door, playhouses with verandas, two-storey playhouses and even playhouses with double door garages. A little less traditional are the wigwam playhouse and, for your budding soldiers and spies, the command post. For those super active youngsters, some playhouses have slides or swings attached to really extend the play opportunities.
You can paint your playhouse to suit your garden, your children’s preference or a particular theme you have in mind. Look out for playhouses that have extra features such as scalloped barge boards, shutters, window boxes and opening windows. A veranda is a great space for the kids to grow their own containers of veg or flowers, or to kick off muddy boots – with a playhouse, rain is no excuse for not playing outdoors.
Safety and Stability
All the playhouses offered on Shedstore conform to British safety standard BS EN71 so you can rest assured that your child’s play will be safe. Any glazing is shatterproof styrene or similar and doors are designed not to trap little fingers. Planed wood prevents splinters while railings keep little ones from tumbling off any platforms.
Playhouses should all be built on a solid base, ideally concrete or paving slabs. This ensures that the walls are aligned properly and the playhouse remains stable. Most playhouses come with an internal floor which supports the stability as well as making it a cosier, cleaner place to play.
What are you waiting for?
A playhouse will create magical memories for the whole family.
Don’t forget to leave enough time for delivery if you are purchasing your playhouse for a specific day such as a birthday or Christmas.
Send us some pictures of your playhouse in action to [email protected]. We’d love to share the magic.