Having newly landscaped our garden to transform it into a family-friendly outside space, it was predictable that it’d soon be taken over by Toddler L. As summer approaches, we hope to spend a lot of our time in the garden, thus it makes sense to get a few outdoor toys(ex:little tikes cape cottage) for the sprog to play with since I sit in my deckchair sipping a mojito.
We don’t have the largest garden in the world, but it’s now more usable after the building work. There isn’t a space for large items like a swing set or climbing frame, but we’d earmarked a bit of room for a compact playhouse. When it arrives to items such as this, only one name springs to mind – Little Tikes.
Little Tikes Cape Cottage Outdoor Playhouse Review
We’re great fans of Little Tikes. We bought the Side by Side Kitchen for Toddler L at Christmas, and have a number of the Lil’ Ocean Explorers toys which we were lucky enough to review after their begin last year. We’ve always found their stuff to be durable, fun and educational, so it was a no brainer when they got in touch to enquire if we wanted to review the Cape Cottage playhouse.
Below, you’ll get my written review of the Cape Cottage, however first, here’s a quick vlog showing it in action:
Product Description
The product is described as:
This Little Tikes Cape Cottage in red and black has so much fashion! Packed with realistic features that little ones will love, it arrives with an arched doorway, working doors, window shutters, mail slot and brick details. There’s lots of role-play inspiration for active imaginations in a small, compact design (Size Height 124cm, Width 89cm, Depth 109cm).
Product Experience
As you’d expect, the Cape Cottage comes in a pretty huge box. On opening it, I was greeted with some pieces, counting 4 x walls, 2 x roof, 4 x window shutters, 2 x doors, 2 x flag holders, 1 x stickers and some large screws. I had a fast look at the instruction booklet and all looked very straightforward.
I started by putting the walls together – this was an easy process of slotting one wall within another, then fixing them together using big, plastic screws which you tighten with a special tool.
I’d just completed putting the four walls together when the British weather struck – blue skies turned grey and the rain came. The home construction came to a premature end and we all headed inside, a lot to Toddler L’s dismay.
The next day, I did my best Tommy Walsh impression by continuing work on the house. With the walls done, the next move was to fit the roof.
After that, this was a very simple process – the two roof panels slot together in the middle, fix together with screws and then clip strongly onto the top of the walls.
There are then some grey caps which slide over the red bits of the wall which protrude through the roof – this aids to secure the roof in place and give a uniform appearance.
The next step was to join the flag holders onto the two walls which have doors – this is the only bit of assembly where you require an actual screwdriver. The final part of the assembly was the doors and window shutters, which just slot into the relevant holes.
There’s also a sheet of stickers inside the box. This peel-off stick to the pertinent bits of the house to make it a little more lifelike.
Thus, for instance, there’s glass for the windows, a house number, a door handle and a letterbox. These are pretty simple to stick to the house; however, they are really sticky so you need to make sure they are lined up properly before pressing down.
And that was that. The house was done. I have no thought why new builds take so long to create when I was able to do this in 15 minutes – I half imagine Barratt Homes to get in touch and offer me a job.
Overall, it took about 15 minutes to assemble the house, then another 10 to attach the stickers. Considering how big the box is, I was expecting it to take a long period to put together, but it truly was a simple and easy process.
We’ve had the Cape Cottage for just over a month now and it’s a great hit. Though slightly younger than the suggested 2-6 age range, Toddler L has had no problems playing with the house.
She’s loved opening and closing the doors, taking her toys into the home and posting things through the letterbox.
She’s also oddly obsessive about ensuring that all of the doors and windows are closed at all times – I expected this level of privacy to arrive when she was in her teens, not now!
As you’d expect from Little Tikes, the Cape Cottage is really sturdy and rigid – I have no concerns whatever that something will snap off or it’ll blow over.
The playhouse is also surprisingly detailed, mostly when it comes to the tiles on the roof and bricks on the walls. The stickers also add more finishing touches for additional realism.
The inside of the Cape Cottage is amazingly roomy given the small footprint. I know this because Toddler L has dragged me inside on multiple events.
I’m not the biggest of fellas, but I can contentedly sit inside with my legs crossed. As such, I can see this playhouse being ample big enough for Toddler L (and her friends) for some years.
Who knows, it may still be her first proper house due to the difficulty in getting onto the property ladder these days.
Since mentioned earlier, something I love about Little Tikes toys is their emphasis on helping your kids to learn and develop through creative play.
We’ve been so surprised at how quickly the sprog has mimicked us when it arrives at playing with her kitchen – putting things in the oven, speaking on the phone, drinking out of cups, etc – and I can see the Cape Cottage being accurately the same.
I doubt it will be very long before she’s playing with her dolls in the house or pretending to cook in there.
I have no negatives to say about the Cape Cottage, though I have two constructive comments. Initially, it is very basic inside and it would be nice to have something in there to entertain her.
Though having said that, the Cape Cottage is the cheapest of the Little Tikes playhouses and more all singing and dancing ones are available, therefore I guess the limited features of this make sense when looking at the price.
Secondly, I’m slightly confused about the flag holders as they don’t do anything. It would be better if the box contained two bits of plastic for flag poles – this would let kids make their flags then put them onto the outside of the house. Right now, there are just two flag holders who don’t do anything.
Cost
It can be purchased directly from Little Tikes or some other retailers like Amazon. Considering the fun we’ve previously had with the playhouse and the number of years it will last, I think this is a fantastic price.
Summary
We were already Great fans of Little Tikes and the Cape Cottage has only added to our positive impressions of the company.
The house is well designed, sturdy, fun to play with, educational and looks good. Toddler L has loved playing with the Cape Cottage as getting it and I fully expect this to continue for some years.
The playhouse is fairly basic as it only has a couple of features – opening doors, opening window shutters, letterbox – though this is to be expected on an entry-level playhouse.
You can spend more money on a playhouse with extra features, but for us, Cape Cottage is more than adequate, mostly when we wanted something compact.
The great thing about toys like this is that they encourage development through imaginative play and change based on their age. Currently, Toddler L loves opening and closing the doors, yet shortly, she’ll get new ways of having fun with it as her little brain develops.
Overall, we really like the Cape Cottage and I’d have no hesitations in recommending it to others seeking a compact playhouse.
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