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Make Your Own Tree House for Pretend Play

How to make a fun tree house as a dollhouse alternative for pretend play.

Almost a year ago I posted about the trees we were removing from our backyard (in order to replace with much more useful trees I hasten to add). Whilst most of the tree remains were hauled away to the green waste area of our local rubbish tip long ago, I kept a number of large branches with plans of one day buying a drop saw and a hot glue gun to make a treehouse for pretend play.

Well, good things come to those who wait and that day finally came!

How to make a treehouse as a dollhouse alternative for pretend play

And all it took were a few old branches, a drop saw, a hot glue gun, a little string and two self tapping hooks.

We added in our favourite Schleich animal figurines,

and created a cool oasis with a piece of blue fabric and some river stones.

The rope ladder is simply small twigs and string, attached with two tiny self-tapping hooks.

Treehouse play scene ladder

Less than an hour to make for hours and hours of treehouse pretend play fun!


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Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  2. Michele Hill says

    love it christie - great job. This projects in my To Do list with an entire folder of images from blogland and just waiting on my dad and his handyman skills for it to be done. You have one lucky girl! PS we are a big fan of Schliech animals here too arent they great

    • Christie Burnett says

      It was sitting on my to do list for a good long time too, Michele, sometimes husbands need a little push in the right direction! LOL Dad 101 did cut the wood cookies for me (though I am sure that I could have handled the saw!) and then it was just me and a hot glue gun.

  6. sarah says

    Oh my you are a clever cookie Christie. The tree house is terrific! I especially love the little chimp sitting on an armchair up top. Very, very sweet. I don't actually even know what a drop saw is, but maybe we need one here too!

  8. jenny says

    Oh wow Christie, that is all kinds of fabulous! Immy will be the envy of all her pals!

  10. Maureen says

    We have been working on the same project this year. A grandfather from our program has some big pieces of wood drying at his house and we already have smaller pieces and thicker sticks. Can't wait to put it together. Yours look great! So simple, so much fun.

  14. abbie says

    Tried making this for Christmas this year but it just isn't sturdy enough for the little, clumsy hands of my girls. Need to use bigger pieces and attach them more securely. Love the idea though!

  18. Two Chicks and a Hen says

    This is wonderful! I love the primate climing the ladder! But really, I just love the whole thing. Fantastic.

  20. katepickle says

    OMG this is awesome! I've been eyeing off the very expensive shop bought tree houses for ages, never once thought to just make one myself! I think I might have to attempt this as a present for M's birthday!!

  22. Susan@improvamama says

    what an inspiration! I love this...I'll be hunting around for branches this week to attempt a version of it.

  23. sandy says

    LOVE THIS!!! How refreshing you are! Such a creative spin on playing with sticks! Thank you for sharing : )

  24. Tricia says

    That is Unreal Christy! I've been nagging daddy Eco to make something like this for the last year or so thinking that it would be a task that required nails and screws and all those fancy carpentry things i find so frustrating. I never thought of using a glue gun! Aren't glue guns wonderful!

  27. Sheau says

    What a great idea and beautiful creation. We saved our Christmas tree trunk and hopefully we can make something similar with that. Do you have to sand the blocks you cut?

  30. Marnee says

    I've finally got my branches...now to get to work. Will post pics when/if we ever get this project complete :)

  31. Jeremy Hendrix says

    Have some wood drying right now to have a go at making one of these. Did you do anything to seal the wood after you had glued the pieces together? I'm thinking of gluing it together and then coating the whole thing in a water-based polyurethane...what do you think?

  32. Cari Gouldbourne says

    This is amazing! I would love to make one of these for my 2 1/2 yr old. I am in love with these animals...much nicer than any I have found. Do you recall where you found them?

  33. Pat Matera says

    Your creation was such an inspiration that after my husband and I helped a friend cut down an overgrown bush in her yard, I harvested the branches that looked promising and dragged them home to make my own creative setting. I ended up with "The Land of Make Believe". My husband screwed the branches together to make them super durable, I added mini vines of ivy, built stairs, a rope ladder and populated it with my peg people . I am so delighted with it. I can't wait to deliver it to my grandkids in 3 weeks. It is easily disassembled as far as the decorations go so the "guys" can turn it into dino land or what ever and all can stretch their imaginations as far as they will go. Thank you so much!!!!

  34. Stefanie says

    What age group is this for? I have four nieces aged 9 down to 2. I was thinking of making this for all of them but unsure if one is too old and the other too young.

Trackbacks

  3. Mom Crafts DIY Treehouse Toy from Fallen Tree BranchesPlease Mum's Picks | Please Mum's Picks says:
    [...] from her yard Childhood 101 founder Christie Burnett came up with the brilliant idea of crafting a DIY treehouse toy from the remains. She gathered branches at the time of removal, always planning to repurpose them [...]
  9. [...] collection of objects for a fun imaginative play time. Look how Christie from Childhood 101 sets up a tree house playscene. Or this beautiful fairy garden with tiny doors from the blog Irresistable Ideas for Play Based [...]
  12. Φτιάχνω με το παιδί μου ένα δεντρόσπιτο για τα ζωάκια του! « Nipio.net says:
    [...]  απο [...]
  13. How to Have a DIY Décor ‘Tree-for-All’ with Reclaimed Branches - 1-800-Recycling says:
    [...] Your feline friends will be tickled pink when they behold the splendor of their outdoorsy yet equally refined tree branch grooming perch, and if you have children, why not make them their own playtime version? [...]
  15. [...] Look how fun and gorgeous the play set! This is endless hours of animal play for your little people. If you are a DIY person, check out this amazing homemade tree house for the animals from Childhood 101. [...]
  18. […] Una idea sencilla para construir una casa con trozos de troncos, que hemos encontrado aquí. […]

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