Outdoor playhouses offer children many opportunities to explore independently and imitate real life in the safety of a space designed with their height in mind. Playhouses come in many different shapes and sizes: some have windows and doors that open, others have verandas or balconies, and some are on stilts. These 'homes' can be set up with cooking and family role-play resources, picnic blankets and cushions, or they can be turned into shops, railway stations, castles or Superhero homes.
Julie Mountain, director of outdoor play consultancy Play Learning Life, says that there's 'no doubt' that children love outdoor playhouses. But she warns, 'They're great if a setting has a large outdoor space where other types of play are well catered for - including informal den building. But the presence of a playhouse should not detract from other forms of play.'
She adds, 'All too often I've seen settings spend a lot of money on something that takes up a lot of space and it means they can't play with wheeled toys any more. Or it's positioned in the only place where they ever get any sun or it's in the place where they used to sit to read stories.'
HELPING YOU CHOOSE
Here are some points to consider when investing in an outdoor playhouse:
- Ensure you really do have enough space. Consider not only the footprint of the shed but the space needed around it, to get in and out and for children's play spilling over outside.
- Ensure that a playhouse is not at the expense of the more flexible spaces and dens that children can create themselves.
- Decide if you want a shed or a playhouse. Most sheds are adult rather than child-sized. If you want to join in 'playing house', then buy a shed, but if it's for children only, invest in an outdoor playhouse where they can look out of the windows, the door is the right size and the ironmongery is easy use with their small fingers.
- Visit your local shed manufacturer to look at displays so that you can get a feel for how it will look in your space; how well built it is; what the quality of wood is like; what the windows are made of, and if it will withstand a lot of children playing in it.
- Consider the safety aspects of the doors and windows. Many outdoor playhouses don't come with ironmongery, for example, latches that hold the doors open or closed, so these may need to be added to avoid fingers getting trapped in hinges.
- Ensure that the windows are safe by either removing them completely - and sanding down the frame to avoid sharp ends or splinters - or fixing them permanently with wood glue or screws.
- Think about location. Place it by a tree or raised vegetable beds to extend the children's play by giving the house a garden. Keep gardening tools in it or on hooks outside so it all becomes part of imitating real, grown-up life.
- Ensure that only playhouse resources are stored inside. If it is used to store general outdoor resources, it is less likely to be used appropriately, unless you are willing to empty it each day.
- Consider if you want a playhouse on a raised platform with steps leading up to the door. Being higher than everyone else gives the children a new perspective on their environment.
- Wait to see how the children want to use the space before spending money on, say, a kitchen. It might be that the children prefer to use the shed as a train station or shop. Start by experimenting with different resources, starting off with some cushions, a picnic blanket and some paper and crayons. Get a feel for who likes to play there and let the children shape it themselves.
- Consider inviting some parents to paint it. It will then start to look like a special place in the garden.
- Ensure that nursery staff have good sightlines into the playhouse.
ON THE MARKET
Ms Mountain says a local shed manufacturer should be able to build you a playhouse for £300 to £400, depending on the size. If you would prefer a commercially available model, then here is a selection to suit all needs:
The Pixie Pod (right), £795, from www.dragonswood.co.uk, has been designed following feedback from nurseries that wanted a structure that was easy to see into and safe. The playhouse, which is 1.5m tall and 2m2, has two side windows as viewing points and an open entrance point.
- The Children's Den, £600, from Cosy Direct on 01332 370152, can be used by several children at once for all sorts of role play. It is made of solid redwood and has antique door handles and hinges. Its safety features include rounded edges on frames and acrylic safety glass.
- For bespoke playhouses, hand-built to rigorous safety standards for the educational market, try www.theplayhousecompany.co.uk. The Cottage on a Platform costs £2,964 including VAT & delivery, with an optional installation charge of £300.
- For an extra large playhouse for collaborative role play and for adults to play alongside comfortably, try the Giant Playhouse (unpainted), £1,195, from Cosy Direct.
- For settings with limited space and that also need outdoor storage, the Outdoor Handy House, £999.95, from www.tts-group.co.uk, can be transformed into a shop, cafe or garage, with the open hatch as shop counter or serving hatch.
- The Alfreton Lattice Lookout, £375 from Cosy Direct, is a sturdy hideout which can be used to observe nature, or could be a bus stop or a ticket office.
- An outdoor 'room' made from top-quality treated timber is great for exploring nature from, telling stories or using as a potting shed. See the Living Room Roof, £999.95, from www.tts-group.co.uk
- The doors of the Self Select Storage Shed (right), from www.playgardens.co.uk, open in two parts, like a stable door, allowing it to be used as a playhouse or a playshop. The 3m wide unit is priced at £6,500, fully delivered and installed.
CASE STUDY
Children at Woodlands Park Nursery School and Children's Centre in South Tottenham, London can access a variety of different enclosures in their outdoor space, including a traditional 
playhouse, a crooked house, a recycled house and an area under the climbing frame that can be used by children to create their own dens.
Head of centre, Peter Catling, says, 'We've tried to use different types of material and design where possible. The recycled house in the birth-to-threes area is very much the children's own space and children often use it for their own hiding games and as a place to observe what's happening around them, as it's on a raised platform. Sometimes it's set up in a more traditional way. The playhouse that a parent built in the larger garden for three- to four-year-olds is for more traditional play - cooking, family role play - and it's set up at different times with different cultural resources. This has more mixed usage than the role-play area indoors in terms of boys and girls.
'The play in the crooked house is much more varied. Children use its larger interior space for action games - castles, Spider Man and Batman - and as a base to operate from. They bring all sorts of resources into it - containers, crates, twigs, leaves - and there is a lot of mixing of potions and soups with water and earth. It has a concrete floor that can be swept so children are free to play in an uninhibited way.
A lot of negotiation about use of the space goes on in here and sometimes about gaining entry.
'We've found that the development of these spaces has supported girls to be active in the outdoors. Lots of them use bags and trolleys as they set off on shopping, picnic or cinema trips and they dress for the part. Sometimes, depending on children's interests, we plan for a particular set-up in these spaces - for example, Goldilocks and the Three Bears or a Superhero home. More often, we let children bring resources that they have chosen to use in these spaces and build on their interests.
'The outdoor playhouses are set in a wooded corner around a small raised hill and from the top of the hill staff have a good view. They are also moving around and weaving in and out of the play so we have good sightlines. We actively encourage den-making with cardboard boxes and planks and we find that children like to make dens within dens, for example, in the enclosures under the climbing frame.'
MORE INFORMATION
Play Learning Life is an independent social enterprise working with practitioners and children to help create truly enabling, playful outdoor environments. For more information on designing, managing, resourcing or simply making better use of your outdoor space, email: julie@playlearninglife.org.uk or visit www.playlearninglife.org.uk
