Siting the kids playhouse in your yard should be the first item of business. Hot summer sun can make the inside temperature soar to 110 degrees or more. Very dangerous for small children who may not realize they are easily susceptible to heat stroke. Try placing the playhouse in an area that will receive shade from the hot afternoon rays of the sun.
Morning sun can warm the playhouse thereby drying it out from overnight rain or heavy dew and keep mold at bay. Damp ground is never healthy for children to consistently breath or inhale moisture. Make sure the area drains water well and quickly. No standing puddles should be allowed. If placed on grass, keep the grass mowed short and well trimmed to prevent as little air borne spores being cast off from the children’s play.
A quick and simple playhouse that will afford hours and hours of fun can be assembled in a day from simple wooden shipping pallets, some scrap lumber and a tarp and few nails or screws.
Placing one or two pallets side by side on the ground will determine how large the interior floor area will be. Make sure the pallets are level front to back and side to side and then nail or screw them together to create a floor.
If the pallets are closed faced no additional wood is needed to provide a smooth floor. If the pallets are open faced, you want the spaces between the slats to be no more that one quarter inch wide or so. Be mindful that little fingers and toes can fit into very tiny crevices. Once satisfied with the floor start the sides using additional pallets by standing them vertically around the perimeter of the floor leaving one out for the entrance doorway.
Fasten all the pallets securely to the floor. Now add some cross braces on top of the vertical pallets tying the entire assembly together making sure to put one brace across the top of the doorway to tie the sides together. At this point push, pull and tug on your work to make sure the kids cannot push or pull it down. Kids can be tough on their playthings for sure.
By placing a center pole in the middle of the playhouse and making it two or three feet higher than the sides will allow you to place a tarp over the pole making a circus style tent. Securely fasten the tarp to tops of the pallets to prevent it from blowing away. The blue plastic tarps you see sold everywhere are cheap and can be tossed away after a summers use by the kids.
Leaving some of the side openings between the pallet slats will allow fresh air to pass through and keep the inside dry and cool. Decorate your playhouse with the kids by using old paint of many colors or other favorite things they like to play with. It can be a dinosaur cave one day, a king’s castle the next and a princess’s fairy tale home the next. Let their imagination create the world they want to be in that day.
This entire playhouse can be built for just a few dollars and a few hours work. Pallets are often just thrown away by stores and are free for the taking. Please always ask before you take them.