(ENDED) KidsCraft Playhouse: The Creation Cottage – review & giveaway

This giveaway has ended and comments are closed.  The winner is #26 Clenna.

Sometimes toys surprise me.

When I was offered an opportunity to receive and review a cardboard playhouse I was skeptical.  I really didn’t think we needed another big toy around the house.   I showed my husband and he said “that’s cool, you HAVE to get that.”

So I accepted the opportunity (I chose The Creation Cottage, they also have Shuttle Imagination) and, of course, I was the only one here to put it together when it arrived.  I hate the sound of cardboard rubbing against itself.  Hate it.  Like fingers on a chalkboard, hate it.

But I’m a mom, so I persevered…

In the box

starting assembly

There were 4 pieces.  That’s it.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  I didn’t even use the instructions (my Architect’s License comes in handy sometimes), it was pretty straightforward.  And it didn’t feel like fingernails on a chalkboard either.

For the most part the flaps fit easily in the slots, but not so easily that they come right out.  I did have trouble at the very end with the last one but I just couldn’t seem to get a good angle/grip on it.  A little bit of elbow grease and it locked in.

flap and slot assembly

total assembly time = 10 minutes

Once I had the cottage assembled, the rest was easy….just add children.

their favorite part

every day they add more color and creativity to it

I really was pleasantly surprised with The Creation Cottage.  The kids love their “house” and are always doing something in it or around it.  Every day they break out the crayons and markers and add more colors and designs to it.

It is pretty big.  My husband, his mom and I have also spent some time in the Creation Cottage (not all at once), and we easily fit one adult and the two kids in it and really didn’t invade each others personal space.  But the cool thing is that if the kids get bored or I get tired of it being in my living room, I can disassemble it, fold it flat, and put it behind something for awhile and then break it out again at a later time.

It appears pretty durable.  My son does what most rambunctious six year-old boys would do to a cardboard house and it has withstood his antics and body slams just fine…a few extra dents maybe, but still standing.

I can’t really think of anything that I would do that would improve the Creation Cottage.  There are some extra slots on the side that confused me, but otherwise we are very happy with it.

WIN IT

The good news for you is that I also have a cardboard playhouse from KidsCraft to giveaway!  One winner (USA only) will receive their choice of either The Creation Cottage or the Shuttle Imagination.

HOW TO ENTER

Visit KidsCraft and look around the site.  Then come back here and leave a comment telling us one interesting thing you like about the company or the products.

EARN EXTRA ENTRIES

• Become a fan of KidsCraft on Facebook – 1 EXTRA
• Follow KidsCraft on Twitter – 1 EXTRA
• Subscribe to my blog by RSS or EMAIL – 1 EXTRA
• Tweet the following – 1 EXTRA (once ever…not daily)
  • Enter to win a kids playhouse from @KidsCraft and @WhatsThatSmell http://wp.me/pfNov-4VB

Leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

Giveaway ends on Friday April 9, 2010 at noon CST and is open to the USA only.  Winner will be chosen from all eligible entries using Random.org.

Note: I received a product to test for this review.

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