Parents Review of the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse
Have you seen the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse? I hadn’t seen it either until we took a trip to Menards while visiting my parents. I took the girls back to the play area so that they could play while my husband and father got some tools for a home improvement job. While we were there, the girls and my son played on just about every piece of equipment displayed at the store. Having recently lost one of our older playhouses in the basement, I told the kids that if they found something we might purchase a set in the Spring. It was then that the kids saw this adorable playhouse and begged me to bring it home.
Not knowing anything about this playhouse, I took a picture of the product tag and did some more research when I got home. Seeing it was a Step 2 product, I knew that it was going to be very well made, but also expensive – something my husband and I were hoping to avoid. With how much the kids loved it, we decided to go into our savings and purchase our new little playhouse early from Amazon. After having this set in the basement for two weeks, here is what we think of the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse.
Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse: Assembly
As some of you know who have followed this blog for awhile, we have purchased quite a few Step 2 items. In all honesty, I am a big fan of Step 2 since they make such amazing products. The problem I do have with Step 2 is that some of their products are a beast to put together. Luckily, this wasn’t the case with the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse. With the assistance of my husband, we were able to put the entire playhouse together in less than 45 minutes. This playhouse came with very well written instructions, something that was a relief for me since I wanted to put together this playhouse mostly myself.
Since it only required the use of a screwdriver and drill, it was pretty easy for both of us to put together. I do recommend having a second person helping, however, since the pieces are a bit bulky! Finished, the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse measured about 59″ high, 72″ long, and 52″ wide. As you can see, it is a fairly large play set. Since our playroom is in our open basement, we had no problem fitting it there, but it may be better as an outside toy for most families.
Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse: Durability
Having owned quite a few Step 2 products, I had very high expectations for this play set. Luckily, the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse lived up to my expectations! It is very well built and is the normal quality you would expect from Step 2. One of the things I love the most about this play set is that it is made in the United States. I love supporting companies that will still make toys in our own country, and I feel more confident knowing that the kids won’t be exposed to any harmful chemicals that have been found in Chinese toys!
While it may not sound like a big deal, I also want to mention that the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse is very easy to clean. There have been little ‘accidents’ in our playhouse, especially with the kids being sick. No mother wants to think about it, but the best way to know if a toy is easy to clean is if you have to deal with throw up. We had one of these nasty incidents a few days after we got the playhouse. Lucky for me, it was very easy to clean up – being something that was a major plus in my book for this play house.
Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse: Kid Friendly
From the moment we had the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse, the kids immediately fell in love with this playhouse. It has a very cute, open design with a fake fireplace, build in grill, plastic bench, Dutch doors, and a large window. Open houses are very important since it means you can fit multiple kids in the house easily. One of my daughter’s friends and many of their shared friends come to the house to play. We found that four to five girls could easily fit in the playhouse due to the open design, all of them playing and having fun. They especially love the big open window since they were able to ‘serve’ food to everyone out of it. The girls even washed dishes in the play sink – making it a very fun and educational play date for all the girls.
There is really only one things I don’t like about the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse – the doorbell. This playhouse comes with a cute little electronic doorbell that actually does sound like a real doorbell. While it doesn’t come with the 2 AA batteries it needs, that isn’t my issue with it. The problem is that the doorbell can very quickly get annoying. It only took two days before I took the batteries out of the doorbell since my youngest son was obsessed with the sound of the bell. If you have this playhouse indoors, I highly recommend not putting the batteries in the doorbell and keeping it as an imaginary doorbell. You will thank me later – trust me!
Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse: What Others Think
So far, we absolutely love the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse. My kids absolutely love it and can’t seem to spend enough time in this playhouse. The last time we had kids over they were playing with this toy nonstop – making me a very happy Mom! Based on our own experience, I would give the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse a 5 star rating. On Amazon.com, many parents seem to have the same opinion as me since they gave the toy a 4.9 out of 5 star rating, making it one of the most popular toys on the site. Here is what others parents are saying about this adorable playhouse!
” I purchased this item for my grandson’s 3rd birthday, he absolutely loves it. This house is very sturdy and the open air design allows quite a few kids to play in it together, I even fit in it. The bbq section is a big hit but I recommend purchasing various food items to promote the imagination. My son put it together without any assistance from anyone….he said it was fairly simple. I recommend this over the more expensive model…which I contemplated….but it was just a big house with nothing to do.”
” We chose this to establish a dramatic play center outside for our preschool program (we are at a public elementary school and have a separate playground for our preschoolers). Our children range in age from 3 to 5 1/2 and developmentally range in age from 1 to 6. This was the answer. All of the children are able to access it, it allows the teachers to see easily into it, and 5-6 children can use it at the same time (more often try). It really encourages the children to have parties and invite each other to come and eat … just right for our door play space. It shipped quickly, and our custodian said it was easy to put together (just a few screws). I’m quite certain it would work well for a home, home or center based day care, or even a school. Well designed.”
” I bought this playhouse for my 4 yr old daughter for Christmas after spending hours scouring the internet reading reviews. Even though it has only been 2 weeks my daughter absolutely loves it! Everything I read about this playhouse was true…sturdy, easy to assemble, easy to clean. Really enjoying watching my daughter play in it!”
Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse: Where to Purchase
While you can find the Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse in some hardware stores, we purchased ours at Amazon.com. They had not only the best price on this Step 2 playhouse, but also shipped it right to our door for free. As some of you may know, nothing is more frustrating than bringing children to big box retailers or hardware stores, especially if they know they are getting something fun. We made this mistake last time we bought a play set for the kids – which was even more of a disaster since we brought a broken play set home. After that experience, I swore to get my play sets from that point forward from Amazonsince they shipped it for free and have a new questions asked returned policy. What is better than getting the best prices and customer service on all of your children’s toys?
Step 2 Gather and Grill Playhouse: More Reviews
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