Here's one I made earlier!

Do you remember Blue Peter where they made a fantastic looking house out of a cardboard box? Or A-Team where they made a tank out of practically anything. Well heres your chance to say "here's one i made earlier". Well not the tank we'll leave that to the A-Team.

Although alot of my friends want to inspire their kids they just don't have the time, energy or creativity. They want something thats practical and safe and doesn't take hours to set up or clean up and i may just have found the solution.

I came across this really cool site where you can buy pop up cardboard playhouses. Basically it's one piece of recyclable cardboard that simply pops up and folds down as needed.
Yes it's a simple idea everyone knows kids and animals love the packaging more than the product but it's so simple i'd never really thought about it.
Why buy one when you could just make your own i hear you say, well you could just make your own and if your creative like me fantastic go ahead! This is for those people like many of my friends who either aren't creative or just don't have the time.

So lets talk pros and cons, why bother...

Pros
* Saves time
* easy to upack/store away (flatpack)
* can be used inside or outside
* helps children create their own imaginative world - developing role playing, storytelling and social skills not to mention creativity with colouring.
* can be used as a quick hideaway for toys etc
* can be a work of art built with your child aiding the bonding process
* manufactured from recycled material and is fully recyclable
* may even stop your children expressing themselves on your walls and wallpaper (no promises)

Cons
* remember it's cardboard so it won't hold up to rain or outside elements permanently
* dimensions are approx 960 (length) x 830mm (width) x 800mm (high) so it may take up a bit of room
* usually already has designs so if your wanting to start from scratch a blank one would be better.
* encourages the use of paint, pens and crayon it's likely to get messy.

All in all i absolutely love this product and have purchased a number for friends and family many of whom are surprised at the affordable price. I thoroughly recommend it! We need to encorage kids to get their creative juices going via mediums other than tv, think of it as one big giant colouring book.

I know i'd have loved one as a kid, go on use the kids as an excuse you know you want to.