Life Skills Kids Learn Through an Outdoor Playhouse
Investing in an outdoor playhouse for your kids has many benefits, and learning a range of life skills is at the top of the list. From the introduction to wood-based projects to learning about responsibility, it is amazing what you can teach your kid with a wooden playhouse.
If you are thinking of purchasing a kids playhouse, you can rest assured your kiddo is going to pick up a variety of important skills from this experience.
Project-Based Life Skills From Assembling The Playhouse
Let’s start with the life skills that come from helping you assemble playhouses such as the Arctic Nario and Blackbird. Picking up skills during this project can prepare them for future tasks, from building a birdhouse for a school project to assembling a piece of furniture without help. Furthermore, asking them to help you assemble their playhouse reminds them to follow instructions while introducing them to basic tools.
Introduction to Wood-Based Projects
The pre-made playhouses come with the pieces you need to assemble the product. This is the perfect way to introduce your kids to wood-based projects, as the panels of some playhouses can easily be put together in less than three hours. A project such as a playhouse not only shows them how to create something new but also shows them how the time and effort spent on a project are worth the reward.
"With children, it is the joint moments of delight that build the social brain."
- Mariah Moser
How to Follow Instructions
When building a new structure, such as a playhouse, you need to ensure you are following the instructions in the manual. Your kid is already learning how to follow instructions through certain toys and games or their classwork, and building an outdoor playhouse reminds them that reading through the instructions is essential to a successful project. Plus, it is easy for both you and your kid to follow the step-by-step instructions together.
How to Use Different Tools
You may not need many tools to assemble a wooden playhouse, but a DIY playhouse such as the Little Hideaway may require a power drill to attach the panels. Use this time as a lesson in properly handling these tools, from taking safety precautions to accurately using each tool. Even if your kiddo is still young, introducing them to using tools now can help them develop and enhance the skills they are going to need later. Of course, you also want to remind them not to use any of the tools without your supervision until they are older.
CHECK OUT OUR OUTDOOR PLAYHOUSES
Playhouse Boy Cave
Playhouse Grand Farmhouse
Playhouse Snowy Owl
How to Paint and Treat Wood
While a pre-made outdoor playhouse has already been painted and treated, the DIY kids playhouses come unpainted and untreated. In addition to letting your kid pick the color scheme, you can show them how to properly paint the wood. After all, they may decide to use paint in future projects. Now is a good time to teach them how to accurately treat the wood as well, especially if they may need to treat wooden items and furniture when they are older.
Life Skills and Important Feelings
It does not matter if you are taking three hours to assemble the Playhouse Bluebird or six hours to assemble the DIY Little Clubhouse, the feeling of admiring your hard work is something you want your kid to remember forever. While these feelings may not seem like life skills to some people, they can give your child the pride and self-confidence they need to take on future tasks beyond assembling and painting items, such as cooking, sewing, repairs, and other essential skills.
Gives Them a Sense of Accomplishment
After your kid helps you assemble their playhouse, and they admire a job well done, they are sure to feel a sense of accomplishment. Even if the job was easy for you, your kiddo may feel they worked hard to learn how to use tools, assemble panels, and paint a DIY outdoor playhouse. As you are about to learn, their sense of pride and accomplishment only grows as they decorate and maintain their playhouse.
Self-Confidence for Future Projects
Kids who help assemble, decorate, or maintain a playhouse have the self-confidence they need for future tasks, from taking wood shop in school to keeping their dorm room clean. What may seem like a simple, ordinary task to you can be a big deal to your kid. The results remind your kid they can handle certain tasks on their own, and this is a life skill you want them to carry into their tween, teen, and adult years.
General Life Skills From Maintaining The Playhouse
Whether you are surprising your kiddo with the Grand Farmhouse or DIY Little Clubhouse, they still need to learn how to maintain their playhouse. Even if they do not take part in the assembly, it is still important for them to learn how to clean, organize, and decorate their space. After all, they are going to leave the nest someday.
How to Express Themselves
You decorate your home as a way to express yourself, right? Your kiddo can decorate their wooden playhouse as a way to express themselves as well. Whether they are choosing store-bought decor or creating their own, this is an excellent way to remind your little one to be themselves, and they need to be able to express their style and feelings throughout their life.
CHECK OUT OUR DIY PLAYHOUSE KITS
DIY Playhouse Kit Little Bungalow
DIY Playhouse Kit Little Cottage
DIY Playhouse Kit Little Farmhouse
Encouragement to Use Their Imagination
A kids playhouse is a great place to encourage your kiddo to use their imagination. This inspires them to come up with ideas for various situations, such as decorating with handmade wall art or planning pretend adventures with their friends. It also keeps them curious and always ready to learn, from deciding if they should change the color scheme of their decor to wondering what happens if they start a garden in their flower box. Finally, games such as “House” and “Restaurant” gives kids a fun way to think about the future.
Maintaining Their Own Space
Kids with an outdoor playhouse learn skills such as tidying their space and caring for their box garden. The result? They realize they can maintain their own space, and this is something they can use in their bedroom, playroom, and home in general. Besides, keeping a space clean is a skill they need to adopt as they grow older, and what better way to start than with their playhouse? This also allows you to help them as needed, such as showing them how to hang a picture or tend to their garden.
How to be More Independent
Your kid is not going to live in their playhouse, but it does give them a taste of independence, even if it is only during playtime. While they may have some independence in their home, it feels different in their playhouse. They have a place to play outside their bedroom or playroom, but they are still in the backyard. Furthermore, your little one learns how to entertain themselves for a few hours, while knowing they can still call you for help if needed. Feeling independent is also linked to learning how to maintain their space and enhancing their problem-solving skills.
How to be a Good Host
It is no secret your kid is going to want to host tea parties, play dates, and sleepovers in their outdoor playhouse, and this gives them the opportunity to learn how to be a good host. Teach them how to straighten up before their event, come up with game ideas, and ensure their guests are comfortable. They can even learn how to choose snacks that appeal to their guests and are easy to share, as well as how to pay attention to their guests, not be bossy, and showcase good manners.
Enhances Their Problem-Solving Skills
If there is one life skill kids can learn from both assembling and maintaining their playhouse, it is their problem-solving skills. For example, you may need a place to store smaller pieces during the assembly, and they may solve that problem with a small container that is easy to see in the grass. Once they are inside their playhouse, they may decide to reorganize their toys and furniture to make a specific item fit inside a certain space. Other problem-solving skills may include determining where to hang decor and how to entertain their friends.
Let Your Kids Learn Life Skills Through Play… and Wooden Playhouses
As you can see, providing an outdoor kids playhouse is a great way to help them adopt many life skills, from following instructions and using tools to cleaning their space and being a good host. Assembling and maintaining an outdoor playhouse gives them a sense of accomplishment and independence while boosting their self-confidence and problem-solving skills, and this is in addition to the hours of fun in the backyard.
There is nothing like a product that teaches children while providing plenty of enjoyment, and if this is what you want for your kid, a wooden playhouse is the answer.
When you are ready to look through the wide selection of high-quality outdoor, DIY, and custom playhouses, look no further than the inventory at WholeWoodPlayhouses.
"A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires."
- Paulo Coelho
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Written by WholeWoodPlayhouses