Whatever happened to tree houses?

[HikingStick]

I've seen fewer and fewer tree houses over the years. What's the deal? Are parents too afraid of letting their kids play eight or ten feet off the ground? Are parents simply to short on time to build these icons of childhood? Could it be due to the fact that new neighborhoods often lack the mature trees that are needed for treehouse construction?

What's your experience been? Did you ever have a treehouse as a kid? Have you ever built one? Do you have any tips for someone who may want to build one? What trees are best? Which trees should not be used?

Maybe we can have a tree house renaissance in our area, and then have a "Parade of Tree Houses" to celebrate!

*** UPDATE ***

Well, my family and I have decidced to build one. Read on, and you'll learn about all of our delays, and our eventual progress!

[DCGrandma]

I think that today's kids are too much into the electronic games, computer games, ipods, etc. It is unfortunate because I agree that building a tree house would be a great project for any kid. It would teach them math, design, creativity - their imaginations would be challenged - somthing missing in today's society. Our kids always built "forts" and had a ball doing it!! We sometimes drive by our old neighborhood just to reminisce about those days long ago - those forts are still there today!! Nothing used to bug me more when our kids would be sitting in front the TV or were playing "Game Boy" when it was a beautiful day outside. It is amazing what building those "forts" did for their imaginations. But as a parent I needed to "encourage" them to do something creative. Now this creativity is evident in their own homes and with their own families. It was worth the effort to get them out of the house and have them build those forts or tree houses or whatever!!!

[HikingStick]

I just ordered The Dangerous Book for Boys. One of the sections in the book is on constructing a tree house. We will run to Menards on the first weekend after we get the book, and we're going to give it a shot.

I plan to ask the kids (boys and girls) what features they want. I've been thinking of some (I'll list them below). What do you think would make a great tree house?

Tree House Features

• Enclosed room/clubhouse area
• Small landing/porch
• Trap door?
• Pully and bucket (to bring up stuff)

[thedog]

budget cuts with the price of gas,food,house payments there is no moneys for things like that.

[HikingStick]

I concede that budget pressures limit discretionary spending, but our family would normally spend some money on some form of entertainment each mont (even if only a handful of movie rentals). If we re-allocate those funds to a treehouse to get things started, we will be building something that will (in my opinion) give better returns than watching some movies. I think some of the kids are gearing up to earn some money to contribute to the project, too.

That said, I don't think tree-house making dropped off only in the past two years. I think it happened before that, while the economy was still hot. Do you think it's only the economy, or is there more to it?

[SherryH]

I think technology has changed the interest of kids. They are more geared to staying inside with big screen TV's, video games, cell phones and computers. Kids had to use their own imagination to create a fantasy place to go to such as a tree house when I was growing up. Today you don't have to leave the comfort of your Lazy Boy chair and a video controller to go to a different world.

We didn't have a lot of tree houses in my neighborhood while growing up, but almost every yard had a fort of some kind that the kids played in. I'd like to see tree houses make a comeback.

[HikingStick]

I think technology has changed the interest of kids. They are more geared to staying inside with big screen TV's, video games, cell phones and computers. Kids had to use their own imagination to create a fantasy place to go to such as a tree house when I was growing up. Today you don't have to leave the comfort of your Lazy Boy chair and a video controller to go to a different world.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Is it any wonder why obesity is on the rise, even among kids? Around our house, we've opted to go without cable (mostly to save more than a few bucks each month, we get very little via rabbit ears on the TV, and video games are a privilege that must be earned (and time playing them is limited). We encourage the kids to go out an play as much as we can, so we are really thankful that springtime is finally ramping up.

I guess my screen name won't mean much in a few weeks, once we start building our tree house, because most will be able to put two and two together. I'm still waiting for The Dangerous Book for Boys to arrive. I'm not sure I've been this anxious about anything since I was a kid.

[HikingStick]

Well, the book arrived this weekend. The boys have been browsing through it ever since, so I'm glad I looked at the section on tree houses before it left my hands. Hopefully, we'll be able to visit the lumber yard next weekend. I've learned that lumber prices are way down (almost half what they were a year ago for some items), so there probably will be no better time. The first step, beyond finalizing our tree selection, will be to set up a platform. We'll start with two 2x6 boards attached to the tree with three 1/2" lag screws, as the base for the platform. I have a numer of boys, so I'm trying to figure out just how big we can make it without making it too heavy.

[SherryH]

I hope you are able to share a few photo's with us once you get started on the treehouse. It sounds like a great family project.

[HikingStick]

I hope you are able to share a few photo's with us once you get started on the treehouse. It sounds like a great family project.

It would be up to the folks at the Herald Journal to allow photo-posts or attachments here in the forum. If that doesn't happen, I've thought about blogging the process (through a publicly hosted service) because others might be interested in learning from my inevitable mistakes.