With a huge range of playhouses on the market, where do you start? Here's a helpful guide to point you in the right direction.
If you choose the right one for you and your children, it will last for many years and become a treasured play area for the little ones and their friends! They'll love inviting their friends or siblings round to explore their new home, and this wonderful gift will provide a special space for their independence and creativity to flourish.
Playhouses are great for getting your children out in the fresh air, getting them active and allowing their imaginations to set the theme of play - with the added bonus of getting them to leave the television and computers behind!
With such a wide variety of playhouses on the market, and so many different designs, colours and materials to choose from, it's can seem like a bit of a difficult choice to make.
Some of the things to think about when choosing your playhouse are:
Size
Once you've decided where your new playhouse is going to be located you can think about how much space you've got set aside within this location, and therefore how big your new playhouse can be. Playhouses come in a range of shapes and sizes; some are at ground level with or without an internal platform, while some are raised on stilts with a slide and ladder.
Price
Along with the huge range of playhouses that are available, there is naturally a range of price tags that come with them. You might like to set your budget first as this will narrow down the search. Prices can range greatly, so it's also important to think about the aspects and features you'd like your playhouse to have, and this will then narrow your search further, leaving you with a manageable selection to explore that's within a price range you're comfortable with.
When setting aside a space for your new playhouse, remember to leave enough space around it for the initial assembly, as well as making sure there are no obstructions so your little one can access the playhouse easily. When you've decided how much space you have for your playhouse, narrow your search to playhouses of this size or smaller.
Features
Think about whether you'd like a playhouse with a slide and ladder or a ground level playhouse, or perhaps a ground level playhouse with an internal platform. This can depend on the age of your child and which features you feel are appropriate. Once you've chosen the type of features you'd like, narrow your search to reflect this while still reflecting your preferred size and price range.
Some of our playhouses come in a ground level or tower version, so you can choose which style is your favourite! Tower playhouses are perfect for adventurous little ones; they can climb the ladder to reach the platform and enjoy playing in the house before whizzing down the slide! These are particularly fun for very young children as the slides can be quite low, while a ground floor Wendy house is perfect for children of the same age or older, giving them a perfect space for tea parties and chatting with friends!
Materials
The usual materials for playhouses are wood or plastic. Wooden playhouses are more pleasing to the eye with a beautiful, traditional look and feel for long-term use, while plastic playhouses usually provide short-term play and are usually very small, catering for very young children.
Assembly
Our wooden playhouses come flat packed as pre-fabricated panels so they're really easy to assemble. The panels have pre-drilled holes and include all the screws you need, so you just need to fix the panels in place, and it's ready to play!
The more permanent nature of wooden playhouses compared with plastic makes them very durable and secure, while the assembly is really simple. Some people choose to hire an installation service, however this can be expensive and isn't necessary for our models; we've made sure ours are really simple with no special tools or skills needed. We do recommend that a friend helps with assembly, though, due to the heavy panels.
Maintenance
Plastic playhouses generally just need cleaning, but once faded by the sun they become hard to revive. Wooden playhouses need a little TLC and should be treated with a coat of preserver annually, but this makes sure they continue to look beautiful throughout all seasons and last for many years. (Please click here for advice on treating your wooden playhouse.)
Safety
Built with safety in mind, our models come with a number of safety features such as smoothed edges, safety hinges and soft-close magnets on the doors to protect little fingers.
Our wooden playhouses are smoothed as much as possible to avoid splinters or sharp edges. We also include safety-tread ladders so they're easy to climb, and high balustrades on the platforms, providing a safe and secure place for the youngsters to play.