Category Archives: Outdoor Toys

Little Tikes Picnic n’ Playhouse

Age 1-3, Outdoor Toys, , , , ,
"This is awesome!" – Madelyn, 2 years old
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Those were Madelyn's first words when she saw the Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse all put together.  While Tim was building the playhouse she couldn't stay off of it and had her share of yelling at, but now that it's built she doesn't want to come out of it.  I don't blame her.  She eats her breakfast and lunch in her playhouse when it's nice outside while I enjoy a nice peaceful meal on the back porch.  So besides being a great toy for Madelyn, the Picnic n' Playhouse from Little Tikes gives me a few minutes to myself each day that I literally didn't have before.  Who would have thought a toddler playhouse could do that for a mom?

The Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse is relatively easy to put together.  The only tools we needed were a mallet, a power screw driver and the playhouse was built within about 2 hours including breaks.


What Madelyn loves about the Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse:Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse

  • She can eat inside or outside the house with the fold-down table and pop in/out chairs
  • The working light
  • She likes to play princess or captain on the platform at the top of the slide and climbing wall
  • She gets to call all of her friends from inside her playhouse with her very own cordless phone
  • The slide is her relaxing spot when she's tuckered out from a long day on the phone

What I love about the Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse

  • It's spacious enough for both Madelyn (2) and Sebastian (9) to fit inside and enjoy
  • It's easy to move from place to place in the yard.  I like to keep her out of the sun.
  • I can enjoy a snack outside the house while she's inside but were both sitting on a slide out chair.

I wish..

  • The slide was a little longer
  • That there could be a floor
  • A doorbell would be cute!
  • I had one when I was a kid.

You can buy a Little Tikes Picnic n' Playhouse right from the Little Tikes website or from Amazon.com.  I think it's shipping free from Amazon.com here.  Double check.

Ladybug and Roly Poly playgrounds by Uncle Milton’s Toys

Age 5-7, Outdoor Toys, Toys

Ladybug_viewer Uncle Milton’s ladybug and roly poly domed habitats have colorful playground equipment, a lid that snaps shut and air holes.  One night Sebastian left a little ‘jumping bug’ in the dome overnight and to my surprise it was still alive in the morning.  It must have spend the night sliding and playing under the playground equipment to help pass the time. 

Each playground dome has playground equipment suitable for a different type of bug.  Because we don’t have many ladybugs near our home, Sebastian put other bugs in the dome and they (the bugs) enjoyed it just as well.  I favor the roly poly dome.  Roly poly’s are so cute and fun to watch.  You don’t have to put roly poly’s in the dome if you don’t have any around your home.  Pretty much any bug will do although it is probably best not to put two bugs that don’t get along, prey and predator, in the same dome.

At less than $10 each these playgrounds make great gifts.

You can learn more about the playgrounds at the Uncle Milton website and you can check current prices at Amazon.com

Little Tikes Sand & Water Fun Factory

Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Outdoor Toys

Both of my kids, 2 and 8, love the Little Tikes Sand & Water Fun Factory.  I appreciate the compact size while the kids enjoy the two sides, one for sand andLittletikessandwaterfunfactory
one for water.  The toys that come with the sand & water fun factory are just enough to keep my kids entertained for a good while.  Madelyn usually plays with the water side while Sebastian builds sand structures and plays with the gears and funnels above the sand and water areas.  I particularly love the sun shade canopy.  Our front porch gets a lot of sun in the afternoon so the sun shade is really appreciated.  It can even be raised or lowered to accommodate the different angles of the sun throughout the day.

Besides the gears and funnels that attach to the underside of the lid for each section, the sand & water fun factory comes with several toys including a boat, a truck, and a shovel all of which are perfect for little hands.  The lids drop down when play time is over to keep protect the sand and toys from those pesky animals (cats.. we have two), and the sun.  The water side has a drain which makes it easy to empty after use so the water doesn’t sit and attract things we don’t like such as mosquito larvae.  That was really good thinking on Little Tikes part.

Madelyn likes to watch the truck go down the ramp that attaches to the side of the sand & water fun factory.  When I first saw the ramp I thought surely the truck would fly right off of it, but to my surprise it goes really fast and stays on through the end of the ramp.

I really like the design of the Sand & Water Fun Factory. I think they’ve done a great job and thought about the kids and parents when designing this toy.  As a parent, I appreciate the sun shade, compact size, and I am impressed with how easy it is to put together.  I had the sand & water fun factory up and ready to play with about 20 minutes after unpacking it from the box.   Another great thing is that it is light enough to move from place to place in the yard.   We usually sit on our front porch in the morning and early afternoon then migrate to the back yard in the evening so being able to move the sand & water fun factory is really great.

The video below is of Madelyn playing with the Sand & Water Fun Factory.  We have both sides filled with water because we left the top open and the sand got rained on and was not fun to play with after that.  Bad mommy!

You can buy the Little Tikes Sand & Water Fun Factory at eToys for $49.99 or less making this a very affordable outdoor toy that will last a long time.