Playhouse dilema

[green hippo]

Hi,

We're are continuing to have a dilema around our playhouse in terms of what to use it for. In previous years we have set up a range of role-play areas but find they get ruined within days even if modelled and supported. Last year we left it more open ended. We had an oven and washing machine in there plus a box of food and cooking equipment. We used it as a cafe and an ice-cream shop - led by the children's interests but found that it was often used as a dumping ground for a variety of resources and a source of frustration of having to tidy it up all of the time. Usually picking up broken resounces. There is a closable door which seems to encourage groups to shut themselves in and have a rave which includes children sitting or standing on the washer and oven! We often resort to tying the door open to prevent trapped fingers!

I'm really not sure what the way forward is. Could really do with something that is more permanent. Any ideas?

Please help! ?

[twinthinguk]

I am not sure about ideas but ours end up in exactly the same way, generally one or two children who are heavily into transporting will find any loose items in the play ground and hoard it all in the the play house! we have two new ones ( the plastic type) for this term so I am expecting them to be A) filled with mud and mud play within half an hour, and B) containing all the equipment from the resource cupboard by the end of session. We also use ours for role play following the children's interests, Macdonalds drive through is a firm favourite! we also turned ours into a cafe, ice cream shop, pay kiosk for the car wash, post office but they do need heavy supervision as our transporters will move everything very quickly. Its a balance between letting them lead the play and trying to provide something a little more themed. Ours have doors but only half , like stable doors so you can see in , I just make sure I tour round the playground every so often to keep my eye on what is happening in there, for some reason, we have a group who like to drag a tent into the playhouse and sit inside the tend inside the house! interesting watching schema in that play! lol we move ours around which the children seem to enjoy.

[narnia]

we got rid of ours

[Inge]

removed ours too, years ago now

 

Set up a home environment in a corner in an open plan style... that seems to be the contemporary way of living , and we decided to go with it..

 

We could see all that was going on at a glance . We still setup all the role play as others have said but in an open environment.. It also allowed 2 or more groups to pay in the are time, often with different themes going on .

 

In one setting we had no corner but the house was one of those wooden ones with no back that went against a wall so we turned it round, so the door was against the wall and the open side to the room, that worked really well too.

[Panders]

my indoor home corner is as Inge has said very open plan. Outside I ditched our plastic "fun house" this summer! for a host of reasons. We have plenty of den making gear, that will be the difference in inside/outside play.

[Lyanne]

We have a very heavy house that is open sided - basically a very solid frame with a roof (and needs moving but is 4 person lift so has had to wait till there's enough of us in!).

 

We moved it to next to the mud kitchen last year and had less of the 'going in there in a gang and kicking each other', but it still happened.

[korkycat]

We also removed our indoor playhouse frame - it was 3-sided and had door and windows and was very heavy. Now we have a backdrop and play has much improved and also visible. Makes it easier to clear up after all the transporting! I think it is mostly the fact that we have younger children (the joys of 2 year olds) these days that makes it a problem. We have a willow den in the garden with an open front and that is very successful.

korkycat

[Guest]

The outside playhouse was a bit of a visibility concern so most of the front wall was cut out. It's now got an open front except a bit around the edge for strength. It would make a perfect nativity stable, but now we can see it much better all of the time.

 

I was at another nursery with a playhouse with an upstairs lofty type level. One day we found a hat up there into which a child had carefully pooed. We only had one child who would even have considered doing such a thing but we had no proof. Most playhouses you can't see exactly what is going on until you're basically in them.

[narnia]

still giggling.............Dr Seuss forgive me for the parody................... Le Chat in la hat??? ( mods, feel free to remove my post if it's too near the knuckle.........but it was tamer than my take on his 1fish, 2fish, red fish, blue fish.... and don't get me started on Horton hears a who.... :huh: :lol: :lol: :lol: