This was an easy project and something I use so often – my first inexperienced attempt to make a miniature treehouse!…There are some really gorgeous pictures online as inspiration – it totally depends on your level of wood working skill and the tools you have available to use. I’m constantly using them in play provocations for the children with varying loose parts and am always excited when I see the reactions and outcomes.

Items we used: sanded non-toxic wood in varying size and shape; sand paper; glue gun; drill and screws.

The hardest part is finding the correct pieces of wood. We had cut down a number of trees in our garden the previous year and after checking they were non toxic species had stored them to dry for a number of months. Alternately find a saw mill that is able to sell/donate you off cuts. Along with some larger wood rings we used for the base and platforms from a saw mill, we had enough to start assembling and figuring out how everything was going to fit together.

The process was largely trial and error. The pieces all had to be sanded and smoothed to ensure no splinters could make their way into little fingers – although I didn’t want it to have too much of a “finished” look. (You can achieve this by de-barking your wood and applying beeswax sealant or coconut oil to it). I wanted it to be quite high in relation to the children to encourage play on different levels. Patient husband put the main screws in the base and larger branches and platforms that formed the basic structure. Once these were in place we pretty much played around with the smaller rings creating steps to the various platforms.

We used the left overs to make other smaller wooden elements for play. The process was really fun and has since then inspired me to make many more basic wooden play “landscapes” for the children to use. They really love the natural solid comforting texture of the wood and spend ages adapting the materials to suit their creative moods.