Have you ever built your own play house???

[banslug]

I want to build a play house in the backyard for my boys.
We already have 2 swing sets (1 is a simple A-frame that holds 'my' brand new 3-seater swing and the other is a large set from Green Acres, almost identical to this:
http://www.greenacres.info/store/?catalogid=1273).

But I want to give them something more like a play HOUSE or shed, of sorts, where they can close the door, be safe (and dry) from the weather, and have some privacy.

I've googled and gotten some good input from sites, along with some prints, free designs, tips and ideas.
I know you can buy kits, but I thought it would be fun and less expensive to make it ourselves.
I'm wondering if anybody here has built their own play house?

Gayle

 

[bitmover]

We have built two different tree forts. The first one was more of a parent project and was meant to have a roof, but we got as far as the platform and rails and got de-railed, as it were......... we then helped the kids do a tree fort of their own, that doesn't have much of a ladder, but just some pieces of wood nailed to the tree where they can put their foot on to sort of shimmy up. This fort work actually stopped with the platform and does not even have rails. I guess we are not a good example of finishing projects! (but then I knew that.... having lived with a hole in the wall, wiring exposed, in the kitchen for a couple of years before we changed our minds and decided to move instead of re-model). I think you should go for it, and get your boys involved with it, and it'll be fun -- doesn't need to be perfect -- and they will feel proud to have worked on it.

-Beth

 

[banslug]

Hi, Beth! THANKS for the input on your projects. That's the EXACT kind of thing I'm talking about....just buying some wood and screws, powering up my cordless drill and OFF we go! I'm actually thinking of building off of the larger existing swing set. DS is talking about plexi-glass windows that he can swing open so he can shoot his Nerf dart guns out of. And a walkway from one side to the other, etc. LOL This ought to be interesting!

Gayle

 

[sparrow13]

Gayle that sounds like so much fun!! I never really had a fort. I never got a Baby Alive either and I'm bitter to this day.

Good luck with the project!!

 

[TeTe]

I never really had a fort. I never got a Baby Alive either and I'm bitter to this day.

Well, don't get me started on that cowgirl outfit I asked Santa for two years a row, yet never got!

Gayle, my cousins and I use to build our own playhouses, but they were more like floor plans! We used tobacco sticks to mark off the rooms, and used boards resting on tin cans as our beds! Boy, did we have fun!

 

[RapidBreath]

The neighbors did and it was great, all of us loved it when we were little.

 

[bitmover]

That's just it..... you have to remember that sometimes for kids, the building is almost more fun than the playing, and it certainly doesn't have to be perfect to be fun -- sometimes it's somehow more fun with the cardboard box, you know what I mean? Ah, the memories of the neighbors new refrigerator being delivered and playing in that box for days afterward.....

most importantly -- have fun with it!!

-Beth

 

[banslug]

Beth, as I type, my basement is home to a refrigerator box, oven/stove box, a HUGE antique toy box and countless bed sheets draped over BOTH opened futon couches! LOL I was just admiring it this morning during my workout and it brought smiles to my face.

I think I'm just going to hit a local lumber yard and pick up a bunch of 2x4s, plywood and screws and see what we create in the back yard!

Gayle

 

[Iris_g1]

Gayle,

I've never done anything like this, and don't have any ideas to offer, but I just wanted to say, whatever you create, please post pictures when you're done. I would love to see what you create

 

[bitmover]

Gayle, can I come play in your basement? Sounds like a great plan with the supplies! Let me know how it goes..... if I can, I'll point you to pics of our forts.

-Beth

 

[banslug]

I'm going to borrow a truck later this week and pick up some supplies. As we create, I'll post/share pics.

Gayle