Customer Reviews

Step 2 Naturally Playful Story Book Cottage

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With 3 boys ranging in age up to 11, we have owned 4 or 5 playhouuses that have all eventually found new homes elsewhere for varying reasons. The only one I regret giving away was the LT victorian mansion, but alas is was 6 ft tall and took up the better part of the living/dining rm for 2yrs. Now, we have the naturally cottage and I have no more regrets. It is tall enough for me to play inside with the kids, it has a secret escape door through the fireplace, a kitchen sink, shelves for stuff and an indoor and outdoor seating area, all of which I assembled myself in under 20 minutes. Step 2 did such a great job engineering this thing it went together without me being wrestled to the ground by a giant piece of plastic and crying Uncle. This is a great playhouse, good solid construction, easy assembly and nice to look at. My kids love it so much they wont let me move it outside, that is a problem for which I cannot blame Step 2 and for which my husband is still giving me a hard time.

I bought the Naturally Playful Cottage for my 2 children. We absolutely love it! It was easy to assemble, and we can all 3 fit inside. As a speech-language therapist, I am very satisfied with the pretend play that this playhouse evokes! We added a few plants around the outside and it looks like a real cottage.

We went to Toys R Us to find some sort of play equipment for our back yard. I had looked at things online, and we were pretty much going to get some sort of climber/slide combo, but then when we got to the store he saw the house and made a b-line for it! My husband wasn't too excited by the house because it's not "cool", but after seeing how much he loved it we knew we had to get it. Now, you should know that there were about 4 or 5 different play houses and the same amount of climbers/slides set up in this store, but even though he played a little on the others he always went back to the Naturally Playful cottage. So, we thought about it for a day or two since we still really want something for him to burn energy on (that will have to come later) and I went back by myself to get it. I learned through others reviews on play equipment that sometimes the boxes are just enormous. Good thing I did. We have a Lexus GX470 (their medium sized SUV) and even though I removed the third row of seats, the car seat, flipped down the second row, and was by myself, this thing would NOT fit in our car. We took the pieces out of the box and even then had to do some manuvering to get it in. So, just a warning! It is worth all that trouble though. My husband put it together in no time, and our son was immediately trying to play with it while he was assembling it. The only thing he had trouble with was the fact that he put one of the walls on backwards at first (that's what happens when you skim over directions!). Our son now wants to go outside all the time and play in his house. He even ate his breakfast there this morning because I couldn't get him inside! I was able to fit inside the house with ease and watch him eat. I am 5'9, weigh about 145lbs and I sat on a Step2 folding chair we bought to go with the house since there are no chairs inside it. Those little folding chairs are great! They felt so sturdy I wasn't worried about it buckling beneath me. Anyway, you need to buy chairs if you want some inside. Outside on the little 'patio' there are two built in seats that are attached to the little side walls. These don't seem as durable, and both tables have a sort of kick stand support that isn't so great. The tables can fold down if you want, but when they are up if your kid leans on them you can see it bend a lot. A previous reviewer said their kid broke the table, and I can see how this would happen. That's why I gave it four stars. Inside is a cute telephone that he loves, he constantly goes through the escape hatch in the fireplace, loves the clock inside, and likes to spin the nozzle on the faucet in the kitchen sink. My biggest piece of advice to you is think carefully about where you want it (inside vs. outside), because wherever you decide is where your child will always want to be! Definately worth the money.

After letting our daughter play in all the girly houses, she decided for herself, that this was the on she wanted. We did need a truck to bring it home. And it only took about an hour to put it together, and wasn't hard at all. As we were putting it together..........I looked up, and there was almost every kid in the neighborhood standing by, just waiting to play..........LOL. So, it did take a few of the bigger kids to help move it, but it was so worth it, when they got to play. I would suggest buying some kind of flooring as we are planning, cause we are having to move it everytime we mow the yard. We just scoot it to the side, the move it back. But my darling daughter loves it, we are planning on getting th picnic table as well.

We were so thrilled that Step2 came out with a Playhouse and sandbox that blend into our backyard. Our 1 1/2 year son and 3 year old daughter are having a ball playing with both! They love the Cottage's secrect crawl thru and enjoy sitting at the outdoor patio for snack time.

Thanks, Step2. Keep up the good work!

we just got our naturally playful cottage a few weeks ago and it's already a big hit!! it is so cute and looks great in the backyard. it wasn't too bad to put together but i would say that you need 2 people to do it. my 16 month old crawls through the back door, goes in and out the front door and loves the doorbell and the "cordless" phone! the little table and seats on the outside are a slightly tight squeeze for him to sit down but once he's seated it's a great place for a snack. overall, we totally love this playhouse and i would say it's the best looking one i've seen.

After months of reading reviews, "testing" out playhouses at the local Toys-R-Us with our son, and talking to anyone we knew that had a playhouse for their kids, we chose this absolutely wonderful house. While it was a few dollars more than we really wanted to spend, it was well worth the investment. Assembly is pretty quick and easy with the majority of parts built very sturdily. Our two year old son has been playing with this house for about a month now and do not beleive that he has missed a single day playing in it. He plays in or around this playhouse constantly and we have been forced to let him eat the odd meal in the house because it was easier than trying to pry him out of the house.

Since I would say overall that this playhouse is excellent, without any major problems, I will just hit our favourite features and a few areas that could be improved slightly:

The especially good
- Secret back door is great for all types of games.
- Addition of outdoor patio to playhouse adds the potential for tons more fun.
- The inside size of the house is great as it is big enough for parents to also play inside (which my son often insists upon).
- It just looks nice; very stylish and the colours that don't give you a headache.

The 'not so' good
- While they have not peeled off yet, we do not think that the various stickers will last very long.
- The two tables are not very strong and, unlike the rest of the house, does not stand up as well to a toddler playtime.
- Shutters on all the windows would have been a treat.
- The walls did not fit together perfectly during assembly; we made some rather small adjustments with a knife and everything slid right into place.

I would recommend this playhouse to anyone and everyone.

We bought this playhouse for our daughter and she LOVED it! So did the other kids that come over to play! It has a back escape hatch, a kitchen, and a little table set mounted on the outside along with a phone! When I take my daughter outside this is the first thing she goes to! Terrific Playhouse! We liked it over the rest and still do! No regrets!

We bought this house recently for my son and daughter. Frankly given the size, I was amazed at how easy it was to put together. The pieces all fit as described and went together smoothly. I did have an extra pair of hands to hold the first two or three peices as you get them lined up, but after that it was no problem at all. I think it took 20 minutes or less from opening the box to play time. The kids love this and have been having a lot of fun with it as well as the free teeter-toter that came with it at the time. We also go the matching picnic table to we have a complete set. The nice thing about it too is it is not made of such bright colors as some other sets out there, so it blends in with the landscaping and looks more 'real.' We are definately pleased with our cottage.

I purchased the cottage last summer for my 17 preschoolers and put it together in about an hour with the help of a teenager. (I don't know how some of you did it in 10-15 minutes! It took that long or more to get it out of the huge box!) The children love it but I do not like the way the sink fills with water everytime it rains here in Seattle. (A design flaw). I have also had to chase a few children off the roof after they have climbed up on it by stepping onto the chairs and exterior table. (One bottom corner came unhitched under the weight of one tiny four year-old and can't be fixed unless we take the entire cottage apart.) We finally brought the pink plastic phone indoors as the children would drop it in the play yard or cottage sink and I'd have to go retrieve it and dry the phone out. (The phone rings, "talks," etc., and can't handle being wet.) I do love the natural colors and have purchased the small climber. I plan to purchase the picnic table next. Thank you Step2 for the more natural colors! I am soooo tired of looking at bright orange, red, blue and green plasic yard toys. The pastel colors from Little Tykes was a good step but this is even better.
Teacher Diane:)