We did a bit of tidying up that involved several trips up and down the stairs. So we installed an elevator in our foyer! Problem solved! Added bonus — the buttons on the inside of the elevator helped with Clara’s number recognition.
Suddenly, I had no shortage of helpers to make the trips up and down the stairs. This is the ultimate in lazy parenting, people.
We used the bottom of an egg carton to make the buttons and attached them to the wall with a little masking tape. Super quick and easy, and the girls are still having fun with it!
It made putting away the laundry lots more fun for me too! Here it is in action!!
Elevator Pretend Play from Valerie Frugal Family on Vimeo.
I linked this post to:
Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming
Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Made By You Monday @ Skip to My Lou
The Play Academy @ Nurture Store
Dear Valerie,
Now that we have an elevator at home, can I finally get my fireman’s pole?
Love,
Mark
ROFL I’ll get right on that!
Love this idea! How cute. I wish my stairs were like that with the folding door. I’ll have to think how I will do this. My girls would love it. Thanks for the idea and your video was so fun to watch.
For something so simple, it was a big hit here! If you have a closet with sliding doors, that would work well too. Have fun! xoxo
I swear, I love coming to your blog just to see what creative things you’ll come up with next! This is fantastic.
That is so sweet! Thank you!! xoxo
Gettin’ pretty snazy there!
I agree with Jenny – this is too much fun!
Great fun!
We don’t have any closets or doors like that, so I’ll have to do some thinking. It looks like great fun.
I’m sure you guys will come up with something that will work well! The kids I used to baby sit for would play elevator all the time in the corner of their kitchen, and they just mimed the doors closing and everything. Good times!
That video is so darn cute!
Mark, thanks for the kitty shot! I enjoy seeing the furry members of your family once in a while. I think he wanted in on the action, since the stairs are soooo strenuous… especially when you have four legs instead of two…
Merlin really is the World’s Laziest Cat. He got in on the elevator action too! 🙂
Related to Mark’s comment, when we were looking for a house there was a single guy who had put a pole into his living room, he claimed it was to honor firefighters……… It didn’t look like it would be good for that.
I want a staircase like that!
That is SO funny!!!!
He was simultaneously honoring firefighters and supporting single moms.
We should all strive to be like that man.
This is not being a lazy parent..it’s being an ingenious parent!! Leave it up to you to find a fun creative way.
p.s your video is super hip.
Thanks, Vanessa! The girls started looking for any excuse to go up and down the stairs after they had their own elevator. So funny!!
Love the video. I now wished we had another level to install a pretend elevator. We might have to do a sideways elevator. 🙂
That would be totally awesome!!!
hehe love it!! Looks like everyone had a blast!
Love it! Great idea!
very cute.
Too funny!
That is too funny. My daughter would love this! We don’t have any bi-fold or sliding doors though.
What an absolutely adorable idea!
That is too fun! I love this idea and especially how the cat was interested in it, too! 🙂
Too funny!
That makes me want to have stairs!
Oh Valerie!
You have a gift…what else can i say!
(hugs)
Your Canadian buddy…
Jody
I’m going to make one of these this afternoon. I love the expression on Clara’s(?) face, how excited is she?!
That makes me so happy!! Have fun!! 😀
That was pretty cute and made even better by the cool video. Loved the actual movement of the elevator. 🙂
Thanks, Petula! We had far too much fun shooting that video!
What a great idea!
Fantastic! I love it. thanks!
I love your video, it was so much fun to watch! I wonder what the inside buttons look like, and is that a LIGHT when it goes up and down?? What a super simple and super brilliant idea – like everything else you do! Thanks!
It is indeed a light!! We used a flashlight and waved it in front of the door as though the elevator was going up/down. It looks so funny from the outside of the elevator!
The inside buttons look exactly like the outside ones, but there are more of them and they have numbers instead of the arrows. Simple!!
You’ve done it again! This is going to be a must do at our house! Thanks!
That’s fantastic!!! Have fun! 🙂
Valerie, I ‘cheat’ too! A few weeks ago I played hide n’ seek with my daughter and her friend. I hid in a closet we’d never used in the game before and put a chocolate bar in my pocket. They spent a long time trying to find me in the tricky hiding spot, and I enjoyed my quiet time in the dark, eating a secret chocolate bar :o)
That is SO funny!!!! I’ll have to keep that in mind for the next time we play a game of hide n’ seek! 😉
What a FUN idea! My boyZZ will LOVE this!!!! Thanks so much for sharing!
That makes me so happy!! Yay!! Have fun!
That is just fantastic! I LOVE your video! Amazing… really. And so much fun! You are making me wish I didn’t have all the doors off my closets now. 😉 (Transfered to curtians… sigh. Not near as much fun.)
Love Val
Hmm…. I think curtains would make for a nice play theatre!
This is hilarious! I love it!
Thank you! This is such a great idea! We have a single story house, but I’m thinking the arrow buttons at either end of the hallway, numbers just inside either end of the hallway & corresponding numbers next to each door. Does that make sense? I think my kids will love this.