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It is not easy to keep the kids busy during the long winter evenings. An excellent way out is houses for children. In them, they can “hang out” for hours, rearranging something, dragging and changing toys. Most importantly, they are busy.
What children’s houses in the apartment are in stores
If we talk specifically about indoor playhouses, they are mainly represented by products made of plastic (namely, houses) or fabrics (they are rather play tents). There is still a not very common type – inflatable ones made of polymer film. For kids up to 4-5 years old, a good option: both warm (not playing on the floor) and safe.
Plastic houses for children are much more common, they are often collapsible. If necessary, they can be disassembled into relatively small parts and hidden or transported to another location. The minimum height is from 110 cm, the maximum for two-story ones is about 2 meters. The smallest in area occupy about 1,2-1,3 square meters – it depends on the thickness of the walls. Material – PVC. With proper quality, it is absolutely safe (there must be an SES certificate). Species and varieties – sea:
- Open, such as a summer kitchen or gazebos.
- With windows and doors, with and without shutters.
- There are houses with a veranda (the area may already be 2-3 м2).
- Two-story – under 2 meters high.
Playhouses made of plastic are good because they are easy to clean, you can safely take them with you to the country, for example. In winter it is a home game house, in summer it is a country house.
But not all rooms have the opportunity to leave the house for the night. In this case, it will be more convenient to have a folding version of the “tent” type (they are also called a “play tent”). A fabric is sewn onto a flexible steel wire frame. All this is twisted into a very small circle, which is placed in a box 50 * 50 * 10 cm or even smaller – depending on the size of the “structure”. Installation is even easier: take it out of the box and let it go. Under the action of the elastic force, the frame unfolds, and the fabric is stretched on it. Everything takes a few seconds.
This type of tent house is even easier to transport, but you can’t just set them on the ground. It is advisable to make a platform from boards, plywood, etc., you can spread an old carpet, a piece of linoleum, carpet …. in general, the idea is understood.
The designs are approximately the same as in the photo above, but the colors can be very different: with cartoon characters, a princess’s home, a berry, etc.
These are, perhaps, all ready-made houses for the game that can be placed in an apartment. Is it still a loft bed, but this applies more to furniture. But there is a decent number of options for home-made designs – different formats, from different materials.
Do-it-yourself houses for children in an apartment (photo reports)
The good thing about handmade things is that you customize them to fit your size and needs. So it is with children’s houses – you can perfectly fit even a stationary building, and folding-folding models can be made quite inexpensively.
How to independently build a loft bed for a child, read here. And in this article you can find a description of the construction of a car bed (with step-by-step photos).
From a bar (sheathing with fiberboard, plasterboard and plywood, you can also chipboard, OSB)
For this personal housing, a place was found in the hall – the nursery is too small, and the sons really wanted to have their own “room”. It was decided to allocate two or three squares in the corner near the door. For sheathing, remnants from the construction site were used – a little fiberboard, drywall and plywood.
In the permitted area, we put a frame made of dry timber 50 * 50 mm. We fix the racks to the floor and ceiling with the help of corners and dowels. Between the racks we put crossbars from the same beam, making the frame “doors. In general, we collect the frame of the house. Adjacent walls are immediately sheathed with drywall.
From a board 50 mm thick, we cut out two stringers – the bases for the steps. We make steps 25 * 25 mm. It is difficult for small children to climb, but the older one will be fine, and in a year the younger one will grow up.
We attach the stringers to the floor and the wall, we additionally install a powerful bar on the floor, we fasten it well. Under the stringers on the wall, we also assemble the frame (it is visible in the photo below). We put props and under the stringers. The thickness of the board, in principle, is enough for adults, but additional insurance will not hurt anyone. At the same time, a crate is formed from the outside of the stairs for attaching the skin.
We start sheathing the frame from the inside (mostly drywall is used). Traditional technology: cut off fragments, fasten with self-tapping screws. We cover the roof with boards (25 mm), put a sheet of plywood on top.
We begin the cladding of the stairs. For greater rigidity in the middle of the depth of the step, we nail the transverse bar. It should be in the same plane with the skin. We nail with three nails on each side, we fasten the sheathing (thin chipboard) from above.
What is a house without lighting? We draw a line from the switch located nearby, install a lamp inside, and then we will bring the switch to the side wall of the stairs. All wires are in a non-flammable corrugated hose. Let not very beautiful, but safe.
Let’s move on to the exterior. There is nothing complicated here either. The main thing is a normally charged screwdriver.
Next, we begin to assemble the railing – the board 60 * 20 mm was first polished, then went into action. The corners are closed with two boards, the doors and the window are decorated.
Little things remain – install the crossbars on the railing. And then paint.
At first, we decided to make the railing not very massive. Then they seemed very flimsy, and another plank was nailed to the edge of the steps. It remains only to paint.
How to make a sports corner for children in a house or apartment with your own hands, read here.
Of cardboard
Not so monumental, but no less convenient for the game, the house can be made of cardboard. Only it is necessary to take not corrugated (it quickly breaks and wrinkles), but hard, in which household appliances are also packed.
Draw the project, put down the dimensions. For one child, an area of u1bu110bXNUMX sq. m., that is, the length of the walls should be approximately one meter. Height – preferably XNUMX cm or higher. The design is your own. It’s simple: cut out windows, doors, make a roof. All is ready.
Ideally, if there is a box from the refrigerator or washing machine, something as large. If you don’t, ask your friends and acquaintances. The condition for granting a guarantee of equipment is the presence of its packaging. So people are forced to store boxes. The warranty period is running out, the container has long been forgotten and not thrown away. Lies, gathers dust, and you will be just right.
In such boxes, windows-doors are simply cut through, a roof is molded from something. That’s it.
Preliminary it is desirable to examine the inside of the box. They are fastened with staples, and they can stick out somewhere. So that the child does not get hurt, check everything. It is necessary to glue the corners and joints of the cardboard with tape. He will hold the walls, and the dangerous staples will be closed.
If a flat roof is not suitable, it is easy to build a gable roof from another box. You can simply put it on the corners of the walls, or you can cut “ears” in the upper part of the wall (or glue it so as not to lose height), make slots in the roof, thread the ears into them, bend and glue.
If you want a more civilized look, you can take care of the finish. For example, take thin polystyrene foam, cut into strips and put on foam. And cover the roof with “tiles” – sheets of colored paper. It looks prettier that way.
Cardboard houses for children can be covered with fabric. It is easier to fix it with staples from a construction stapler. They turn out pretty good too. You can paste over with paper – the remnants of wallpaper, for example.
What to make the frame of a play tent
When making a tent, the main question is what to assemble the frame from. There are usually no problems with “walls” – a piece of fabric is easy to find, but the base is a problem. There are two good options: wood and plastic pipes. What kind of plastic to use is up to you – on soldering, glue or collapsible fittings (the best option, but also the most expensive). Construction is up to you. From these pipes you can collect anything.
The same design can be assembled from bars. Only they need to be processed very well so that there are definitely no splinters.
Another option is a triangular tent. Two rectangular frames are movably connected at the top. This option is convenient in that it can be folded.
Another version of the same design in the male version in the photo below. Of the options here is “starry sky”. Small holes are made in dense fabric, which are loosely tied with threads. When viewed from the inside, the vault resembles the night sky.
To assemble this tent, you need four boards and three wooden rods. Holes are drilled along the edges of the boards according to the diameter of the rods.
The boards are connected in pairs with rods in the form of two letters “P”. Then the unused edges are crossed so that the holes made coincide. A third rod is inserted into these holes. For reliability, all joints are glued with wood glue. All that remains is to sew and attach the cover.
Another option is a play tent in the form of a wigwam. These are several boards connected at the top. So that the “ribs” of the frame do not move apart, they can be tied up 10 cm above the floor level, and another strapping belt can be made approximately at the middle of the height. The design will be quite rigid and will withstand the onslaught of children.
And a very simple, frameless option – sheets or bedspreads suspended from the middle and tucked under mattresses.