When it comes to expanding a child’s horizons it seems harder and harder to accomplish these days. With the advent of hand held gaming devices and the proliferation of cable and satellite television it is only getting worse.
To that end, one way to find a way to get your child to play outside and unplug and learn the old fashioned way is to build an outdoor playhouse in your backyard. Outdoor playhouses are nothing new, tracing their roots back to the old days of tree houses, forts and the whole nine yards.
Of late they have taken a step towards the more extravagant and luxurious designs and parents have followed willingly. This isn’t to say that you can’t get by with a simple garden playhouse or castle playhouse, just that you need to keep in mind that your neighbors might put up some monstrosity and you will be hearing about it from your kids.
Given the current economic climate perhaps it will be you laughing and not your neighbor who loves to load up their credit cards! The beauty of outdoor play houses is that they allow your child to completely design how they are going to play.
No one is force feeding them the information like a television will. Plus it allows for kids to get their creative juices flowing and get some exercise at the same time. Playing dress up and then heading to the castle playhouse in your backyard to be saved from the evil dragon takes some effort and that won’t be lost on your kids.
Heaven knows that there is plenty of down time already in kids lives where they aren’t being active. Don’t be afraid to give them a place to express themselves both physically and mentally. 20 years from now that simple playhouse that you built all those years ago will pay off in spades with your kids both in terms of memories but also life skills.