The Artful Parent

6 Kids' Playhouses, Forts, and Tents for Creative Play Indoors

Do your kids love playhouses as much as mine? Whether they rig something up themselves (often) or my husband and I set something up for them (once in a while), my daughters and their friends absolutely LOVE playing in their house within a house. Having an intimate space with defined borders just their size inspires all kinds of creative play.

Here are just 6 of the kids' playhouses, forts, and tents that we've enjoyed:

8 Sensory Activities to Fill the Witching Hour

The Power of Sensory Activities

The other day my kids and I came home to a sink full of dishes, an art table that was hit by a tornado, and a living room that had been turned into fort city the night before.

In short, my home was a mess.

When we walked in the door my girls, ages 2 and 4, each wanted my attention—one asked me to help her with a Valentine-making activity and the other wanted me to play a mermaid game.

And me...

I had one eye on the dishes and another on the clock that was ticking closer and closer to dinner time, and I wanted to help my girls find something that they could work on together, without my assistance.

Do you have moments like this?

My Kids' Favorite Building Set -- Using Straws!

When I interviewed Maia the other day, she claimed her straw building set to be one of her favorite Christmas gifts. I thought I'd follow up and share a few of the structures she's built with the straws as well as other things she's done with them. 

First, though, here's a picture of the straw builders and connector pieces in their box:

Sarah's Silks GIVEAWAY :: Playsilks & Dress-Up Clothes for Kids

Today's giveaway is for a $50 gift certificate to Sarah's Silks, one of my blog sponsors. 

Would you like to provide your children with the gift of playsilks and dress-up clothes for open-ended, creative play? Sarah's Silks, a small business run by Sarah Lee and her family, provides sustainable silks for creative childhoods. They sell everything from playsilks, canopies, capes, soft swords, and more. Here are some photos of some of her beautiful products:

Mama May i :: Handmade Learning Toys for Little Kids

We like wooden toys in our house. We like colorful. We like our fun and learning rolled into one.

The toys and products at Mama May i are all that and more. They are an excellent alternative to all the cpc (cheap plastic crap) out there. A bit more spendy, but then that's what you'd expect with beautiful wooden toys that will last and last and are a joy to handle.

Making Fake Snow :: Indoor Fun for Kids

My kids love snow. I imagine yours do, too.

They love to stomp around in it, squish it, play in it, sled through it. They love to make snow angels and throw snow balls. They love that the world is transformed into a sparkling white, fluffy wonderland.

We had an early snowfall this year, before Halloween, but none of it stuck. So no snow days for the kids yet.

Daphne's New Wood Kitchen (A Love Affair)

Daphne has a new wood play kitchen that she cooks at every day, multiple times a day. She loves her little kitchen and feels sorry for me that I don't have one just like hers, but my size. She asks if we should get one for me, too. Don't I want one?

And when I tell her that I can cook just fine in the kitchen I have, she looks at me with gentle pity in her eyes. She knows she has the better deal.

Eco Cloth Dolls by Dolly Mama Eugene (and a GIVEAWAY!)

Simple cloth dolls are a rarity in this day of big box stores and the seeming competition to make the most commercial of commercial dolls. Yes you can find aisles of plastic dolls in any big box store—dolls from all the movies and TV shows that do everything from talk to wet their diapers. But simple childhood dolls that are huggable and soft? Dolls that leave something up to the imagination of the child? That can adapt to any pretend play situation the child comes up with? Those dolls are harder to find.

Luckily for us, there are still those who make simple cloth dolls for children. Reba of Dolly Mama Eugene is one of those people who lovingly handcrafts the kinds of dolls we want our children to have.

A Rainy Day Play Giveaway! (Kids' Dress-Up Clothes & Halloween Costumes)

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A Rainy Day Play is an etsy shop and business owned and operated by Cassidy, sewer of costumes and mom to 4 children. She makes fun dress-up clothes for kids including superhero capes, fairy tale cloaks, pirate hats and hooks, Robin Hood and Peter Pan costumes, jet pack wings, and mermaid tails. (My daughters both requested her mermaid costumes when they saw me working on this post.)

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When I asked Cassidy how she got into sewing costumes for children, this is what she said...

Creative Play with Melted Crayon Rocks

Remember those melted crayon rocks we made back in June? Well, the kids have used them for a lot of creative play over the summer and I thought it would be fun to share. They were an engaging art project to begin with and now act as prompts, accessories, and key components of some great play.

Here are some of the ways they have used the melted crayon rocks: