It’s the summer holidays and my 6yr old daughter Millie, 2yr old son Gabriele and I are loving the beautiful weather. I’d imagine every parent in Britain right now is either covered in glitter, glue, paint or cereal as we juggle our little angels, trying to keep them entertained, fed, watered, suncreamed and happy 24/7. We’ve planned lots of family walks, picnics and days out, but for when we’re at home the children love nothing more than to play outside and explore the garden.
Millie says “I have drawn a Horse School on the roof of my dream house. I like to horse ride and horses are very friendly and lovely animals. There are carrot trees in the garden so that the horses don’t have to bend down to dig them out of the ground, because it’s hard to pick vegetables with hooves. The house is made of wood so that it’s kind to the earth, and the roof is orange because horses love carrots so orange is their favourite colour. I have a trampoline for the horses too, a slide so that they can whizz down from the roof into a swimming pool, and a horse truck to drive them back up to the top again incase they get tired. I have given the horses two ladders by the window incase they want to go and play inside, because they’re too big to go through the front door. There is music, flowers and a horse track on the roof, and when they walk they go clip-clop because their horseshoes are made of metal. The horses can play all day long in the sunshine and I can train them to do tricks and get rosettes for being well behaved.”
We have a small garden with a single patch of grass and a shed, which has been practically filled with tools, ladders, mowers, spades and our family of rabbits, so the children haven’t ever been able to play inside. The children helped to paint it and make curtains and add windmills to make it look pretty for the bunnies, with puppy dog eyes for one of their own. So you can imagine our excitement when we saw the #TigercubHideout competition by Tigersheds to win a pretty little playhouse, perfectly sized for two very excited children and a lovely way for the children to enjoy their garden. Millie stood with her finished picture in the exact spot where she would choose her shed to be if she won. The children love to role play, pick fruit and serve it up to friends and family from a bowl like a little shop, and if they had a playhouse it could actually become their own little business. Tiny furniture, homemade jams, gingham curtains and teapots filled with orange squash! I can picture their little faces now.
Millie had a fantastic time designing her dream house and put a lot of effort and time into colouring in carefully and thinking about what her and the horses would love most about a house. It’s amazing how creative and inspiring children can be, and their ideas and dreams are so beautifully uninhibited. And as ever I reminded her that it’s the taking part that counts, so long as you have fun and try your best then that’s what matters most. You have to be in it to win it!
The beautiful Tigercub Hideout House is built from premium European spruce and measures 3’ x 5’. It features durable tongue-and-groove shiplap cladding, a weather-resistant basecoat and a heavy-duty mineral felt roof. You can paint it, add a window box, furniture or bunny cages.
UPDATE: 19/09/14 Teddy & Gift Voucher
Although we didn’t win the Tigercub competition the children were delighted to receive this cheerful little tiger and gift voucher for £30.00 which we will be putting to good use very shortly as Father Christmas has mentioned that he might bring a playhouse for the children this year if they are very well behaved so watch this space!