When we started talking about building a house, I knew I wanted it to be a family affair.  My desire was to involve the kids and make it fun because after all, it should be an exciting adventure.

Here are 7 things we did to make building a house extra fun for our kids:

1. Share the plans.  Let your kids see and spend time looking at the blueprints.  My kids loved looking at where their bedrooms were going to be and the position of their windows and closets.  Now obviously, you don’t want them amending the plans, and my kids certainly had their imaginative ideas, but involving them helps build their excitement in the process.

One suggestion would be to wait, however, until the plans are more finalized so kids aren’t disappointed when their room switches from the front of the house to the back of the house and everything is rearranged.

2.  Visit often.  We had more fun stopping at the house on the way home from school and during the summer to see what had been done that day.  I will tell you that at the beginning of the building process, things happen big and fast.  It is super exciting.  But once the walls are up, things slow down drastically as far as your kids are concerned.

(Once my daughter’s room was painted, she started spending more time up there . . . dreaming and dancing.  This is one of my favorite pictures.)

3.  Make a Time Capsule or Message in a Jar to hide during construction.  Each of us wrote a note and put it in an old peanut butter jar for someone to find in the future.  I included personal information about us (names, how long we had been married, etc.) and when the house was built, along with one of my favorite Bible verses.  The kids wrote about themselves and drew pictures.  Dan wrote a letter sharing the goodness of God in our lives and in building the house.

I debated on hiding it in a wall or in the dead space we have in the foyer, but I opted for under the back stairs.  Hopefully, it will be a good long time before our little peanut butter jar is found.

4.  Write on the 2×4’s.  Have your kids write their names or pick a verse to write on the framing of the house.  My kids were so excited to print their names on the doorways of their closets, claiming the space as their own.

I wanted to write so much more all over the house (like the verses I did in our last basement construction project), but I quickly saw that my builder and the contractors mark up the framing with instructions or placement notes.  And that was something I did not want to mess with!  So take care where you are writing and play it safe.

5.  Going right along with the last idea, let your kids draw on their floors before the carpet goes down.  Let them use their imaginations, draw their favorite toy, or even just scribble if they are young.

6.  Make a memory of how big your kids were the year you built the house by tracing their bodies on your bedroom floor.  I cannot take credit for this one because under the carpet in my mom’s room are tracings/colorings of my brother’s and my body when we were young.

My kids enjoyed this as well.  I traced both of their bodies and they colored themselves, clothing and all.  It was so fun!  And I know that years down the road {years!} when we change out carpet, I will find those precious drawings once more.

* Plywood isn’t the easiest to color on, so encourage them to do their best.

7.  Do Something Unexpected.  We spent years working on the plans for our house and there were several “special” features that I hoped to include.  I always wanted a hidden door somewhere . . . which I got.  But since it is a secret, I can’t say right now . . . maybe on periscope one fun day.

My son has a little passage from his bedroom closet to the bottom of the hall linen closet . . . the kind you have to crawl through.  We are also dry-walled for another kids’ clubhouse under our basement stairs.  I just have to paint and throw some carpet remnants down.

And my back stairs are unfinished so that I can {hopefully soon} paint them fun colors and on them, write verses, phrases and even the latitude and longitude of the house.

But the best thing we did in the house was put in a slide.  Yes, a slide.  It is a fast, spiral enclosed slide that takes you from our mudroom to the basement in turbo style.  It holds up to 250lbs so adults can enjoy it as well and don’t think we haven’t!

And before you think it is out of reach from a cost standpoint, I bought it at Lowe’s for $500, plus tax.  Not a bad investment for all the fun we’re having.

This is how it looks finished:

Here are some ideas for unexpected fun: 

• Secret passages
• Hidden doors
• A firemen pole
• Special cubbies
• Crawl throughs
• A space with fun, crazy, kid-friendly colors
• Something creative with dead space
• A kids’ clubhouse under the basement stairs

Do it simply because . . . it is fun!

Are you building a house?  Leave a comment below and share which idea would you like to do or one of your own.