Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Playsilk Playhouse
 About two weeks ago, in an effort to keep the cushions ON the couch rather than turned into a "playhouse" on the floor (which only perpetuates jumping, tossing, rolling and inevitably, heads hitting the floor, tears, and bad feelings), I remembered our set of yesteryear clothespins, clothesline, and our playsilks that had been sitting in a basket for some time. I decided to string the clothesline between a pillar and an egress door in our basement, and hung all but one of our playsilks from it, draping down toward the floor. I saved our remaining, very large rainbow playsilk for the "ceiling" and clipped it to a bookshelf to suspend it, creating a very cozy, fun playhouse. The kids LOVE it, I mean L.O.V.E. it! The first day we put it up, rather than clamouring for the TV when we got home, they asked to play Let's Go Shopping, a HABA game, instead. When Scotian arrived home from work, he was happily surprised to find the three of us happily exchanging groceries in the playhouse!
When Spunky was a baby, I used to string up the clothesline along with the playsilks and he would spend a LOT of time crawling in and out, in and out - not only was it adorable, but it provided him with tactile play and provided me with time to make supper! Our playsilks have been capes, cuddle blankets, you name it, but their popularity for building playhouses is definitely unmatched!
Because of the angle and the configuration of my basement, it's very hard to get a good shot of the playhouse, but the way the light is filtered, and the warm, enclosed feeling you get from being inside is very welcoming. As I type this, Spunky is playing happily inside, his cars driving up and down ramps made from strips of wood!
You can see from the disarray of toys inside that the kids enjoy it - and I don't enforce rules in here, if they want to leave it messy, it is their space! Of course, I have to resist going in and tidying up, but unless there is a skirmish happening inside that requires mom intervention, I try to leave it alone, a place where they enjoy eachother's company or some alone time and make their own rules.
We will have playsilks arriving back at the store in about two weeks - I find myself explaining time and time again to people what they're for - and while they are simple, uncomplicated items, they provide hours and hours of fun in our house.
And now to review Let's Go Shopping! This is a HABA game that looks very unassuming from the box, but it is a ton of fun - even my mom and dad have enjoyed games with the kids! Spunky is still a bit too young to play the games (there are four variations), but BananaMuffin has no trouble, so I do believe that somewhere in the 3-3 1/2 range is an appropriate age for this game. Despite not easily participating in game play, Spunky can still match the game pieces, play memory games, and do all sorts of other activities, he simply isn't ready for games that require taking turns.
The first variation of the game requires that you take a card from the stack, the image on the card dictates which piece of food/grocery item you take from the pile in the middle. The person who takes the next card takes that matching grocery item and so on. If the item you picked is already taken, you take it from the person who has it, so that the player with the most food at the end, wins. It sounds simple, but it really is a LOT of fun. The kids love it, and the games are fast, so they aren't getting bored! The other three variations are more and more complicated as your child's development allows. I highly recommend it!
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