Imaginative play in the garden

With the sun shining at the moment and myself and Little Bird venturing out into the garden most days, I start to think about play items for outside to help LB with his play skills. One of the areas I am keen to help him develop is imaginative play as this helps him to learn about the world around him. A wooden playhouse would be perfect to work on this key developmental skill and would be great fun but also look gorgeous in the garden painted up in pretty colours.

We could personalise the playhouse to Little Bird's interests which is mostly anything to do with farms. I think this lovely Honeypot Dutch Barn style playhouse would be perfect and would certainly look very smart in the garden. LB could pretend he was the farmer, finding all the animals in Old Macdonald (a song that is sang many, many times a day!) Pretending to be different characters helps with social development, a skill that is so hard for LB as he has autism. Working on pretend play can also encourage and build confidence and help with problem solving skills. 

A few props with the playhouse would work well, perhaps some mini gardening tools, play animals and furniture. We could pretend we were collecting chicken eggs or chasing after the naughty goat. Great opportunities for practicing vocabulary and at the current moment, leaning action verbs to increase LB's language skills. Playhouses provide an exciting and safe environment in your garden for children to play and have hours of fun.

Source: Pinterest

A playhouse could also incorporate play equipment such as slides and sandpits for plenty of make believe opportunities and a good space saver for a smaller garden. Extra fun to climb and slide and what an amazing clubhouse for your kids to have friends over to play in. 


Another addition to a playhouse would be to have a play kitchen whether it is one made from old furniture with a bit of DIY or one already made. With sweet little cupboards, pans and play food, I'm not sure who would like this more, me or my son :)


Source: Pinterest

As I'm home educating LB, I am so keen to ensure that I provide him with the best opportunities and a playhouse would give us another location to play and learn in. Seeing for myself that imaginative play can be hard for a child with autism, I want to nurture and develop those skills very closely for they are key to encourage life skills.  

Do you have a playhouse or what sort of style playhouse would you have?