Home >> Games & Cards >> Kids Games

How to Build House Games for Kids

Children often love to play house, pretending to be the parents of stuffed toys and dolls, cooking imaginary dinners and throwing impromptu tea parties. These kinds of games are often the purview of little girls, but little boys like to get in on the fun, too, especially if it involves pretending to be pioneers, pilgrims or princesses and knights.
Though many children need no props to help their imaginations along, they can certainly help. By providing your children with a space and supplies to play house, you are encouraging them to play a fun, safe game that helps them develop social skills and practical skills for the future. Plus, setting aside a structured space for these games eliminates mess from it in other parts of the house.

Things You'll Need

Miniature furniture
Old cupboards and dressers
Paint
Paintbrushes
Fabric remnants
Old dishes
Tea set
Fake food
Silverware
Trundle bed and bedclothes
Toy shelving or toy box
Childrens' framed art
Battery powered lamps
Floor pillows

Instructions

- 1
  Designate a room or small space in the house for your children's games. Pick a spare bedroom that you rarely use or curtain off part of a finished attic, basement or even part of their playroom. Make sure to give them enough space to run. The area should be easily accessible for safety reasons.
- 2
  Paint miniature furniture to match your children's tastes. For several little girls, pinks and pastels may be appropriate while the addition of aqua and spring green may be appropriate for boys. Look for discount furniture at thrift stores.
- 3
  Convert old cupboards and dressers into playhouse furniture. Paint a stovetop on an old, low dresser and replace the drawer pulls with oven knobs to create a fake stove while some of the drawers can hold dishes. Paint a small cupboard white inside and out to create a mini refrigerator. Place fake plastic food inside.
- 4
  Set the small table with a fabric remnant table cloth and a tea set. Children may not mind mismatched yard sale pieces.
- 5
  Put the trundle bed in one corner and separate the areas with some toy shelving or a toy box. Make the bed with real bedclothes. Decorate the entire area with framed pieces of your children's art, tiny battery-powered lamps and floor pillows.

Kids Games