Best eco-friendly cardboard playhouses for Chicago kids

My Very Own House cardboard play house (© Pharos)

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Many decorate-them-yourself large cardboard playhouses are available for kids who would like an eco-friendly, recyclable play space. Here are some of the best!

Benefits of a cardboard playhouse

With a little imagination, cardboard appliance and moving boxes can become do-it-yourself playhouses. However, sometimes parents do not have the craft and drawing skills needed to build elaborate cardboard gables and chimneys or sketch architectural details on the box sides.

In these cases, families may want to look into purchasing one of the following cardboard playhouses. Kids can still develop their creativity and fine-motor skills by using art supplies to color and decorate the sides of their cardboard playhouses, and they will gain a sense of accomplishment from assembling and creating their own playspaces even if they haven't done it completely from scratch.

Cardboard Play House by Kidsonroof

This 100% biodegradable cardboard play space is made from 100% recycled heavy-duty white cardboard and comes packed flat. Once assembled, it measures 47 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 34 inches deep and comes with six windows, two doors, and a mailbox. Because the sides are plain white with no details added, kids can color and paint them or even glue felt, furry fabrics, or other 3D textures to them to personalize their new play space.

Locally in Chicago, The Red Balloon Co. in Bucktown and Andersonville sells the Kidsonroof Cardboard Playhouse for $56.

Color Me House

The Color Me House is constructed of sturdy, 2-ply recyclable cardboard, with plain white sides and no staples or sharp corners. When fully assembled, it measures 35 inches by 27.5 inches by 48 inches high and comes with windows with flaps, a door, and cute punched-out shapes on the roof of a crescent moon and stars in the shape of the Little Dipper. It can be packed flat for easy storage.

Families can buy it locally in Chicago at Little Green Baby at 4654 North Rockwell Street or online at the Color Me House Web site for $39.99.

My Very Own House by Pharos

My Very Own House by Pharos comes as an already-assembled single piece and needs only to be folded out for play. When kids are done, it can be folded flat again for storage. When fully expanded, it measures 4.5 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet and comes with four windows, two doors, and two mailboxes. Its white sides are covered with details drawn with black lines, such as shingles, stonework, and shrubs for children to color with the eight included washable markers. Retailing online at Target, amazon, and Just Baby Toys for around $30, it is an economical and sturdy choice that provides kids (and their parents!) plenty of play space.

The Playhouse by Cardboardesign

The environmentally friendly plain brown Playhouse by Cardboardesign is made of recycled corrugated cardboard, must be assembled, and can easily be stored flat when not in use. Measuring 35 inches by 31 inches by 47 inches when assembled, it has six windows and one door with a mailslot. The Cardboardesign Kids Playhouse is a more expensive option for a cardboard clubhouse, retailing online at the Cardboardesign Web site for $76. (Locally, the gift store at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago carries other Cardboardesign play spaces, but not currently the playhouse.)

Cardboardesign products are made in America, and Cardboardesign is the American version of the British company Paperpod Cardboard Creations.

This Little Piggy's First Playhouse (©This Little Piggy)

This Little Piggy's First Playhouse

This amazingly intricate cardboard home is my favorite just because it is so detailed, with gables, shutters, and window boxes that not many parents could add themselves to homemade box houses. If you are going to spend money buying a cardboard play structure instead of just tossing your kid a shipping box, it should have a wow factor to justify the cost.

The environmentally friendly Little Piggy's Playhouse is made of strong corrugated cardboard in the U.S.A. and is fully recyclable. Measuring 22 inches by 24 inches by 28 inches after assembly, it comes with one door (with a window and fillable mailbox), three windows, a chimney, and a window box. It comes in both plain brown and white cardboard, both of which can be decorated and colored however kids see fit.

On the small side, this detailed cardboard home is better suited for younger children, unless older ones want to use it as a home for stuffed animals and dolls. The group of architects and digital designers who created it, however, are planning to construct bigger versions as the original Little Piggy grows older and bigger.

This Little Piggy House donates 5% of their profits to charity and encourages families to send in photos of satisfied little piggies enjoying this playhouse. The Little Playhouse I normally retails online for $49.99, but is on sale now for $44.99.

Ndebele Small House by Driade

Just for kicks, we end with the Ndebele Small House designed by Vittorio Locatelli for Driade. Rather than providing a blank slate for children's artistic expression, this last cardboard playhouse comes preprinted with designs inspired by the "bold geometric patterns" the women of the south Ndebele tribe of South Africa use to decorate the mud huts the men construct for the family. It's lovely to look at, but you're not going to want to let the kids anywhere near it – this showcase cardboard box hut retails for a cool $366 at Unicahome.