DIY collapsible cardboard playhouse

Aug 01, 2012 3:36 PM by Jennifer Kirk

Posted in Parenting / Family Fun / Crafts

Easy to make cardboard playhouse

Turn a cardboard box into hours of entertainment for your little ones with this DIY collapsible playhouse.

Cardboard boxes are a hot commodity in our home -- even my 8-month-old appreciates a good drum fest with empty cereal boxes. Pretty much the perfect toy, boxes are free, plentiful (if you eat the way my boys do, that is) and provide the creative possibilities that can be a great exercise for a child's imagination.

My kids especially love making forts out of boxes, and it seems that for them, the smaller and cozier the better. While intended for my youngest, this easy-to-construct cardboard playhouse continues to entertain my older boys. And I made this house especially with small spaces in mind, because when the kids tire of it, the playhouse collapses down flat for easy storage.

cardboard playhouse set up

Start with an empty cardboard box

empty cardboard box

Position cardboard box

Turn box on side so the opening is perpedicular to the floor.

Cut the top of cardboard box

Cut off the top entirely and save the piece. This will later form half of the roof. cut off top of cardboard box

Add tape

Add a pop of color and some extra support to the bottom flaps, or the floor of the playhouse. tape flaps of the cardboard box tape the flaps

Cut the pieces for the roof

Retrieve the piece you saved for the roof of the cardboard playhouse. Cut off 1/4 or so to create the steepness of the roof. If you would like a steeper roof, you can cut off more.

From another cardboard box, cut out another roof piece that is the same size as the first. create the roof of the cardboard playhouse

Tape the roof together

Tape the two pieces you just cut together to form the roof. tape roof together

Build the house

Tape the roof and the cardboard playhouse together. Tape the roof and cardboard playhouse together

Make it collapsible

Place the playhouse facedown. Cut down the center of the back and bottom. Make sure it's the exact center so the cardboard box will fold down properly. Next, cut along the fold where the back and bottom meet. cutting the playhouse down to make it collapsible

cut cardboard box

Add tape to the new cuts

With the cuts, the box will easily collapse flat. Make sure the back and bottom flaps fold outward. With the cardboard box flat, tape the edges of the cut flaps together. Then, open the playhouse back up and reinforce with tape along the side seams.

adding tape to the new cuts

taping the cut lines

Fold the cardboard playhouse

You should now be able to collapse your playhouse for storage. start collapsing the playhouse

finish collapsing playhouse

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Tags: diy crafts kids rooms play time

Comments

Comments on "DIY collapsible cardboard playhouse"

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How big is the box at the starting?

Thanks for sharing, I have a day care and need to make a quiet area, this is perfect .

Is the cute cloud pillow homemade or bought? I really want to make it for my daughter!

Thanks Jennifer, what a fab little project and so quick. Unfortunately I didn't have the funky pink tape so I focused on the interior instead and wallpapered it with magazine pictures. I can't wait for my little one to discover it in the morning.

I love this idea! It is so practical and each child can design his own play house, garage, den, Wendy house. The project would be a winner with most children. Fun to make and hours of play. Thanks for posting it Laura! I will post a link for my ezine subscribers.

Space saving, free, fun activity and useful for play when finished. My daughter is going to love making this! Thanks

This is so cool! I found a picture of this on pinterest but it didn't link to your site. I'm glad you put the name of your site in the text on the photo so people could find it! I've since changed the link to where the pin goes that I pinned, hopefully others will fix theirs, too!

thanks so much am, making cardboard house deluxe and this will make some super extensions ;)) thanks!!!!

This is awesome!

This is an amazing idea!! thanks so much for sharing!!!

Great idea. I have just made this for my little ones. Thank you for sharing.

What a cute idea. I can't wait to try this. I'll be using the "Diego" or "spongebob" tape that I've been seeing at Walmart during my last few visits for my grandson!!

How big was your box to begin with?

Melinda, it's Duck brand duct tape I picked up from Target. I've also seen it at the craft store, Lowe's, and Walmart. Hope that helps!

This is a really cute idea. Where did you get that thick pink masking tape?

This is such a great idea!!

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DIY collapsible cardboard playhouse