This article of NYTimes.com talks about many parents in U.S. like to spend significant sums on building playhouses for their children in nowadays troubled economy. In fact, the playhouse makers report that they are as busy as ever and the playhouses they have built become larger in sizes and more expensive in costs. Many parents who buy playhouses state that the goal of having playhouse is to inspire their children to play outside and promote their creativity. According to those parents, the fun the children have in the playhouse is priceless. However, child psychologists think that parents do not have to spend much money to encourage the kind of unstructured imaginative play. On the other hand, the playhouses are often custom-built based on parents’ specifications. For example, John Schiller and his wife spend $50,000 to build a customized playhouse which has the same Cape Cod style as the Schiller’s expansive main house for their 4 year-old daughter, Sinclair in Texas. Interestingly, the playhouse builders think that the playhouse is not only a place for children to play, but also a decorative expansion of their parents’ houses. Actually, a psychology professor at City University of NY, Steven Tuber thinks that those playhouses may meet the parent’s sense of impressiveness, but they are not relevant to the child’s need and desires for a play space.
I think this article is relevant because we discuss how the childrearing exports tell parents about creating an ideal playroom for their children in order to revitalize their home in our class. Progressives think that the playroom benefits both the children and their parents. It is a space that satisfies children’s developmental needs for self-directed play and also frees mothers from frequent disorder. Furthermore, playroom authorities urge parents to furnish the playroom to suit children’s tastes. Many designers think that decorating playrooms is the opposition of the room’s purpose. They believe that an empty, unfurnished room will guide children in the direction of using their imagination.
