Learning happens daily. A kids playhouse may not seem like it should be a platform for a history lesson, but these small kid-sized structures actually have many great qualities that lend itself to learning about history . There are many ways in which a playhouse can be used to introduce and explain some historical concepts to kids. Here’s how:

Some of the more basic outdoor playhouses are actually a great replica of what a house was like before the technological advances that we have gotten accustomed to having available .

If a child has a wooden playhouse, which is reminiscent of life on a prairie or in a rural village, there are many features that it is likely to have that are of historical value. For example, some wooden outdoor playhouses look like they were made from rustic logs or have thatched-styled roofs. Parents can discuss with their children how homes were constructed with resources available only in the immediate area or with manual tools as opposed to electically powered tools. Making it fun, you may want to do a basic compare and contrast with today’s tools, building materials, modern ammenities and architectural features.

Not all playhouses have electricity for lighting.Ask your child how kids from past generations did their school work without lights, computers and other modern amenities.  Historical events and their timing can be hard for a child to understand.  A fun activity is one where children can pretend they are from a particular time in the past where they can use only items from that time period.  For example, they can pretend they are a pioneer in the plains of the midwest,  child from the Victorian era, or an owner of a medieval castle. 

Another area of historical interest is how food was prepared and stored in lieu of having things like refrigerators. Without refrigeration, how was food able to keep from spoiling?A simple experiment that you and your child can do is that using food, like a slice of bread or slice of fruit. Have the child put the food in a safe place inside of the playhouse and watch how it deteriorates because of lack of refrigeration. To compare the difference that refrigeration makes, have your child place the food in an “ice box” or cooler.

Refrigerators were not invented until much later in history.  Talk to your child about the many ways people in the old days were able to preserve their food: salting meat, canning fruit and drying vegetables.  There will likely be many conversations around what people were able to eat and how they were able to eat foods without getting sick!

It’s easy to be able to help children understand history a little better when one uses a kids playhouse. These may seem like simple concepts, but for a child, learning all of this is valuable and encourages more questions and a more in depth study of other historical concepts.

Playing to learn is one of life’s best ways to educate a child, and it’s one of the ways that kids learn lessons that stick with them for life.

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