How useful is a teepee/play tent - observations from practice
You should know that I can call a very inquisitive and bright little fellow my son. Jakob is very talkative, asks a lot of questions, and takes every opportunity to explore the world. But he also enjoys routines and structured daily routines and can easily become overwhelmed by stimuli. I was very curious to see if and how he would respond to a play tent.
When the prototype of our teepee arrived at our house, Jakob was immediately more than excited. He actively helped me assemble it, and when it was fully assembled in front of us after just a few minutes, his joy was unmistakable. We didn't have anything similar at home up to that point... no play tent/playhouse or anything like that... and he immediately asked if this was HIS house, haha. When I told him it was his and he could do whatever he wanted with it, his eyes lit up. He immediately dragged the heart-shaped pillow from his bed, a blanket from the living room, and some children's books and old magazines into his teepee and invited me in. We spent over an hour and a half in the tent... reading, cuddling... and he was very excited about the window, which he constantly wanted to open and close, and about the pompom border, where he quickly discovered that by gently twisting the pompoms, he could completely close and reopen the entrance. It was wonderful to see how much joy he had with it.
After playing with it, I folded it up like an umbrella and put it in the corner, and for the next two weeks, he wanted me to set it up for him almost every day so we could play in it... sometimes in the living room, sometimes in his bedroom, but also on the terrace or in the garden... to be honest, we never got bored.
That's why I decided to give the assembled teepee a permanent place in the living room and was curious to see if its use would change if he didn't always have to ask me to set it up, but instead it was always available in its assembled state.
And it was indeed interesting to observe! The frequency has hardly changed... it was and still is played with almost daily... but I noticed that he now also uses it occasionally as a kind of "retreat." For example, after a long day at kindergarten followed by errands and a visit to the playground, his first stop at home is almost always the teepee... and then usually alone, while I, for example, put the groceries in the fridge... as if he's relaxing and unwinding there from the day's exertions. But he also sometimes uses it after a lost board game or other frustrating incident... as if he's unconsciously using it as an emotional regulation tool.
As a prospective psychologist, these observations were extremely interesting, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the benefits the teepee brings. There's hardly any other toy in our four walls that 1. brings him so much, 2. is so multifaceted, and 3. is so long-lasting joy... and 4. also has meaningful added value... a win all round!
If you have children around you (which I assume you do, if you read my blog), then you probably know very well that not every toy brings equal joy and excitement. Some gifts are thrown into a corner after a few minutes and never looked at again, while others become beloved companions for many years. Often, it's impossible to predict at the time of purchase whether the former or the latter will be the case. With my son and the teepee, it was certainly love at first sight! And since I'm more than convinced of the beneficial educational and psychological aspects, I can wholeheartedly recommend purchasing one!
With that in mind, have fun playing, cuddling and relaxing,
your Martina from LIONHERZ
