How can a construction site also be a dollhouse? Depends on the child looking at it. This is my son’s Christmas present this year. It is a construction site made of an inexpensive plastic shelf, foamboard, and velcro.
I cut pieces of foamboard to match the sides of the shelf. I then put the velcro on the shelf and removed the adhesive strips from the other side (while the velcro was still attached to each other). With a sticky side open, I lined up the foamboard and firmly pressed it on the shelf against the velcro. Now the wall and velcro pieces lined up perfectly. I did this around 3 sides, but you could do it around all 4.
I cut the wall pieces in half, so my son could carry the pieces around in his construction trucks. If you are making a dollhouse out of this, you would not want the walls cut in half. But this variation allows my son to construct his own building using his trucks. The best part about using the velcro is that he can demo it as well, and then rebuild again and again. No need for taping or anything. Mommy is taking a styrofoam ball and painting it black to make a wrecking ball for his crane truck. :-)
If you choose to make a dollhouse with this, you would not have to use the velcro, you could just tape the foamboard (or even posterboard) on the shelf. I used a skinnier shelf unit. The dollhouse version might look better with the longer unit. I think those come as 4 shelves, but you could just not put on the legs and 4th shelf. It is that easy. The dollhouse variation will allow your daughter to decorate the walls herself. She could draw, paint, or wallpaper it with cutie scrapbooking paper. You could use a TON of scrapbooking accessories to make this shelf a home!
Not only is this an extremely creative toy option for your child, it is CHEAP! I made mine for about $15. Yep, $15. The shelf was $9.97 at Walmart. THe foamboard was $1 each piece (3 pieces) at the Dollar Tree. The velcro was $1.50 at JoAnn Fabrics. The larger shelf version is only $14.97 at my Walmart. So this is a VERY frugal gift for your kid. Your child will have hours and hours of enjoyment playing and being creative. You can buy a dollhouse for $80, if you want. You just plain out can’t buy a building for your kids to construct. You can do blocks, erector sets, and logs, but no building. This is a neat twist on building (construction site or dollhouse) and teaches and promotes some serious creativity. I am SUPER excited to see my guys face when he sees this. I will have to update you all on the response.
This post was linked with other on Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.
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