Playhouses can be expensive, and they take up so much space. Why not make your own collapsible playhouse instead? This activity is a little tricky, but it's a great way for your child to learn about building, measurement, and design. When you're done working, she'll have her very own mini-house to play in whenever she wants!
This project requires a lot of cutting with a sharp utility knife. Make sure you do these steps yourself, but encourage your child to help with measuring and assembling wherever she can.
What You Need:
- 2 big cardboard boxes (washing machine or refrigerator boxes work well)
- Utility knife
- Pencil
- Yardstick
- Poster paint
- Permanent markers (optional)
- Craft glue
- Duct tape
What You Do:
- Get started by preparing your cardboard box. Cut off the top and bottom flaps, then stand it up to make sure it's sturdy. If not, trim the bottom until the box stands upright. Mark with your pencil which panels will be the front and back of the house and which will be the sides.
- Open up the box by splitting the glued seam with your hand. You'll have a thin flap of cardboard sticking out. It's important to keep this piece intact because you'll use it to reattach the sides of the box later on. Lay the box flat on a safe work surface with the inside (plain side) facing up.
- Now it's time to get started on the peaks. Help your child mark the center point at the top of the front of your house. Then have her measure 12 inches down from the top and make a dot on each side of the panel. Show her how to use the yardstick and draw diagonal lines connecting each side dot to the center dot. Then, hold the yardstick flat against each diagonal line and use the utility knife to cut out the extra pieces (the shaded pieces in the picture below). Discard the extra pieces.
- Now, you need to cut out the peak on the back of the house. Fold the box so that the front panel of the house lies on top of the back panel. Help her trace the peak onto the back panel. Unfold the box, then cut out the rear peak with your utility knife. Discard the extra pieces.
- With the box lying flat and fully open, draw a straight line on both side panels connecting the bottoms of the peaks. Use your utility knife and yardstick to cut the side panels along these two lines. You can save these scraps and use them to make shutters later on.
- Help your child draw the door where she wants it. Use the utility knife to cut all the way through the top of the door and the right side. Lightly score the left side of the door so it will open and close easily. Next, help her draw the windows in the center of the side panels. Draw an I in the center, then cut through the top, bottom, and center line of each window. To make shutters that open and close, score the left and right sides of the windows and fold the flaps back.
- To make the house collapsible, measure and mark the center point at the top and bottom of each side panel. Use your yardstick to draw a straight line down the middle of each side. Score along this line from the top of the side panel to the top of the window, then from the bottom of the window to the bottom of the side panel. Do the same on the other side of the house. Now the sides will fold in half easily.
- Now, it's time to make the roof. Pull out the second box and cut off the top and bottom flaps. Then, cut two corner seams of the box, opposite diagonally from one another so that what you have left is two sides of the box, still attached to one another by a corner fold.
- Now its time to cut the roof pieces to fit your house. Start by helping your child get the measurements. For the length of the roof, measure the distance between the front of the cardboard house and the back, and add 8 inches for overhang. For the width, measure the distance between the top of the house peak and the bottom, and add 6 inches for overhang (see pictures for reference).
- Use these measurements to cut your roof piece to size. The seam in your roof piece should go between top of the peaks of your house.
- Flip the house over so that the outside of the house (which is the plain cardboard inside of your box) faces up. Paint walls and roof, then add details with paint or permanent markers.
- Once the decoration is dry, find the extra flap of cardboard from the seam you opened in the beginning of the project. Fold the entire box in half so that you can cover the inside of this seam with heavy duty glue and reattach it to the outside of the box. (Note: You may need to score this seam so that it will fold nicely before you glue it.) Put some heavy books or weights on the seam until the glue dries. Reinforce the seam with duct tape and touch up with paint.
- Stand the house upright and place the roof on top with the center seam touching the peak of the front and the back. You're all done!
To collapse the house, remove the roof and fold in half. Gently push the sides of the house in so the center wall seams fold. The house will accordion in on itself and be flat, with the front door facing forward.
Now your child has a playhouse she can use whenever and wherever she wants. When she's all done, just fold it up and stick it inside the closet!
By Heather Swain
Excerpted from "Make These Toys: 101 Clever Creations from Everyday Items" Copyright 2010 by Heather Swain. Used by Permission of Penguin Group Inc., New York All Rights Reserved.
Add your own comment