Back to School Tips

Fall means study time

Oh, back to school. It means many things to many of families. Whether your kids are headed back to public school, or you're starting another year of homeschool, or if you're facing an empty nest and sending kids to college, fall is a time when family's usually hit the books in earnest. This can mean precious moments watching your children finally understand various principles and a lot of aggravating times chasing your kids around nagging them to study.

In honor of this universal family experience, I thought I would share a few tips we've used to make school work more productive and less stressful for everyone.

Make time for play. I've written before about how the decline of unstructured play has contributed to ADHD and behavioral problems, but this is where the rubber meets the road. It's easy to over program our families, shuttling from soccer to karate to dance, but just like those things are important, so is the chance for kids to be kids. Make sure that after homework, lessons, and chores, there is time each week for kids to let their imaginations roam and their bodies be active. Of course, we think one of our playhouses is the best for this, but just turning kids loose in the yard is a great start.

Create a special place for homework. It's so easy to be distracted by younger siblings, video games, and TV shows, so help your children focus and create a place where they can go to do their school work. Help them stay on task with necessary supplies: pens, pencils, erasers and if you have the space, you can even let them set up a small desk/chair. Show them that their studying is important. We can even help you build fanciful and playful furniture to create a place any child would look forward to hanging out in.

You are your kids most important teacher. Regardless of where your children go to school, moms and dads are children's first and most vital teacher. Measuring the ingredients for dinner can become an exercise in addition and subtraction. Weeding the garden can be a great discussion about Earth Science. Open your mind to the educational possibilities surrounding you.

Here's to a successful and happy 2010/2011 school year!

Get Outside and Play! 6 Ideas to Enjoy Summer With the Kids.

Childhood is a magical and irreplaceable time for your kids, but it can be lots of fun for parents to let loose and laugh with their families. Playing with your kids helps create great memories as well as develop important social skills. Are you enjoying the long summer? Here's our family's top six ideas to play together while it's still warm outside.

Laughter is the best medicine,
preventative and otherwise. 

1) Are your kids lucky enough to have a playhouse? Go the fabric store and pick out fabric for curtains and ribbons for tie-backs. Use nails with large heads and let the kids help hang them.

Still waiting for your dream outbuilding? Any doorway, window, or opening can become playful when your kids hang fabric, stringed beads, weighted down ribbons (hot glue pretty glass 'rocks' to the ends or tie something on the ends like metal nuts or beads), or even paper chains from doorways.

2) Choose a shady area for a sand box. Spoons, garden implements, and plastic dinnerware can all be part of the fun. Don't forget the buried treasure!

3) Build or buy some kid-sized furniture. Giving kids a place to eat, sit for for tea-parties, or just hang out on a couch can spur creative make-believe and fun.

4) Teach your kids old-fashioned games, like "Off the Ground Tag." You can use cardboard boxes, blankets, or anything to make an area to play. If you step on the ground, you're it! "Freeze Tag" and "Ghost in the Graveyard" are two more fun choices.

5) Sleep outside (or in the playhouse) on a hot summer night.

6) Hang up a 'zip line' for transporting things from the play set, deck, or designated area on the ground.  Send secret messages to each other.

Featured Project: Krohns Castle Playhouse

Krohns Castle

Three two-story, connected structures. A princess tower with pointy roof. A castle tower with turrets. Could you imagine a more unique and amazing playhouse to let children's imaginations run wild? I'm not sure we could.

Sketch of Krohns Castle

Fancy Builder was contacted in 2009 to construct this play castle worthy of a young Queen Guinevere. The Utah family requested an extra-special structure with lots of additions to encourage imagination and active play.

After several conversations, Fancy Builder provided a playhouse drawing including three structures with a climbing wall, a drawbridge between structures, a swing set, and several other activity areas. The family was thrilled and signed a contract to move forward.

Krohns Castle in the yard

Sergei set to work building the playhouse while the family anxiously awaited delivery. After about a month and a half, the beautiful Krohns Castle was finally complete. Fancy Builder delivered the custom playhouse to its new home in the backyard. The family was delighted.

It took a few extra days to get all of the different elements perfect (we had to make a minor change to the swing set, waterproof the structure, and tweak some minor details) but when we were finished, everyone couldn't have been more pleased.

Some of the features the family were most excited about include the rope bridge between structures, sure to be the best spot for speeches and tricky escapes from dragons.

We also added a pulley system with a bucket to create a way to send secret messages and play silly tricks on each other.

Last we heard, the family was loving their playhouse and creating great lifelong memories there. We wish them well!

See more of our playhouses and prices by visiting Fancy Builder's website.

2 Quick (and Cheap) Projects to Encourage Play

While (of course) we think every kid should have one of our playhouses in the backyard, we understand that's not realistic. But it's still important to find ways to play.

We already wrote about the great book The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative, Activities Lead to Healthier, Happier Children here, but here's a quote that really sums it up:

"Over the past two decades, children have lost 12 hours of free time a week, including 8 hours of unstructured play and outdoor activities.  In contrast, the amount of time spent in organized sports has doubled, and the number of minutes children devote to passive spectator leisure, not counting TV but including sports viewing, has increased fivefold from 30 minutes to over 3 hours. The health consequences for children resulting from the disappearance of play (obesity, attention deficit disorder) are already apparent."

So what are some things you can do to to encourage important, imaginative play? There are lots of ways using things you already have around the house or simple inexpensive materials. Some are even things we do in our playhouses. Here's our two simple ideas you could do today.

Chalkboard paint. It's not quite as functional as a "real" chalkboard, but chalkboard paint is an inexpensive and easy way to add playful elements to your house. Our current favorite way to incorporate it is to give each child a place to write themselves reminders or draw pictures. This can be in their rooms, lined up in a mud room, or anywhere you have the space. Here's some easy instructions: 

Ung Drill from Ikea

-Grab a cute frame (we found this Ung Drill frame at Ikea for $24.99)

-Roll painter's tape into rolls and put on the back of the picture template from the frame. Position the frame where you want it to be. (Alternatively, you can use the template to cut a piece of MDF or plywood to avoid painting your wall.) 

-Tape off the area around the template. Paint inside the template. Let it dry and apply another coat. Repeat once more for a total of three coats. 

-Allow to cure for 24 hours. Frame. 

-It's handy to add a small molding ledge or a nail to hang a cute bag off of to hold chalk and an eraser. 

-Watch your kids' artistic sides shine! 

A quick and easy play area

Create a mini-retreat. You don't have to have a giant area or a specialized structure to give your children a place to let their imaginations run wild. Something as simple as hanging a canopy in a corner of a bedroom can create opportunities for adventure and make-believe. 

So go play! It's good for you.

Featured Project: Bavarian Playhouse

Bavarian Playhouse by Fancy Builder

We've been hard at work finishing up the playhouse for the 2010 Salt Lake Parade of Homes, a Bavarian-inspired playhouse for a lucky 4 year old boy and a 1 year old girl in Herriman, Utah.

When the family contacted Fancy Builder in February, they knew they wanted something fun for the kids but weren't sure if they wanted a fort, a train station, or something more playset-like with swings and a climbing wall. We exchanged emails with photos and brainstormed together. After some time, they decided to go with something whimsical and Bavarian. Something perhaps a gnome could possibly live in. How fun! I drew up some ideas and sent them over.

Drawings for the Bavarian Playhouse

The family LOVED the sketches and had the perfect spot on a hill for the house and its tower to sit on a hill overlooking the valley. They sent over landscaping plans and together, we worked out some finishing touches for the details.

Some of the fun and functional elements added were a sandbox under the tower, a slide coming from the tower, a patio (perfect for little ones to greet tea party attendees), and a flower box to plant with cheerful summer blooms.

Play area layout

After the playhouse footprint was established, we set to work on the interior layout. Every kid needs a loft with a secret door, right? We designed one with a framed picture to disguise it. We also designed peep-holes, opening window shutters, multiple doors, and other fun elements to inspire creative, active play.

The interior is built out of solid pine, which makes the entire building smell like a Christmas tree. Not only does pine smell great, but it's also a great choice because it is a sustainable resource. Pine is also naturally decay and rot resistant, and it resists wear and tear well (which playhouses get plenty of!).

When we went to drop off the playhouse, we got some pictures of some of it's best features. Here's the darling peep-hole (sliding) on the front door (hilarious for little girls, as you can see).

Door peep-hole

Exploring the secret door

And remember that secret door we mentioned? Turns out it's pretty fun to explore. You climb into the loft and when you push the panel under the picture, you can get to a secret little area perfect for storing treasures, books, and treats. Here are our two little tester girls checking it out.

We climbed up and down the ladder, to and from the loft, and played with all the windows and doors. When that was all mapped out, we moved over to play in the tower, complete with slide.

Bavarian Playhouse with Tower

The tower is a fun area where you can slide down a wavy slide, play in a sandbox, or just survey the land. The girls loved it.

We're excited to see all the great things that happen with this playhouse. These kids definitely have the best environment for make-believe, fun, play, and learning.

We wish this family well and hope to see you at the 2010 Salt Lake Parade of Homes!

Kids wave goodbye as we leave

Play: It's More Than Just Fun and Games

We've all heard the criticisms: kids watch too much tv. They play too many video games. They're over-programmed and don't get outside enough. But is it really true? And why does it matter?

According to David Elkin, author of The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activites Lead to Healthier, Happier Children, our moms and grandmothers had some things right. Our kids are too plugged in and it's impacting their development.

For centuries, kids used play to develop social skills, hand-eye coordination, and even academic skills, like math. As an example, by playing with blocks children develop concepts of addition and subtraction, size, length and location. And among the most important life-skills developed through play is called "executive function," the ability for a child (or adult) to self-regulate his or her actions. Children with developed executive function do better in school and in life. Perhaps because of the changes in play, this important cognitive skill is diminishing in children.

According to NPR, "A recent study replicated a study of self-regulation first done in the late 1940s, in which psychological researchers asked kids ages 3, 5 and 7 to do a number of exercises. One of those exercises included standing perfectly still without moving. The 3-year-olds couldn't stand still at all, the 5-year-olds could do it for about three minutes, and the 7-year-olds could stand pretty much as long as the researchers asked. In 2001, researchers repeated this experiment. But, psychologist Elena Bodrova at Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning says, the results were very different.


"Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago," Bodrova explains. "So the results were very sad."


So play is important. But what is play, exactly, and how can we support it as parents? According to Elkin, it's unstructured, unscheduled, and flexible. It's not as much a toy as an activity, or a healthy balance between the two. It's make-believe and what can look like "doing nothing."

So play a game of freeze tag with your kids. Spend a day pretending you're princes and princesses. Your kids will thank you for it.