Indoor Fun: Coloring Castle

I picked up this cardboard "Coloring Castle" at Joann's on clearance for just under $5 last summer. I had originally intended to use it as a Hanukkah gift for the boys, but then it got shoved way into the back of our attic space behind a bunch of boxes, and I didn't even remember that I had it until the other night. Since it's been stormy here, I figured it would be perfect for indoor play while we're stuck inside.

Unfortunately, even though assembly was as simple as "Insert tab A into slot B," doing it by myself with two impatient preschoolers jumping all over me meant that it took me almost an hour to assemble the darn thing - the directions had like 30 steps or something ridiculous and were almost impossible to read (I actually put one of the towers in the wrong place thinking they were all identical and then had to cut my own slots for a couple of tabs - oops!). When it was all said and done, it's actually quite sturdy, and I reinforced the seams with strong packing tape so that it will hopefully hold up to two rambunctious boys for awhile. I don't think it was worth it's original $20 price tag, but $5 for hours of indoor fun can't be beat!


The boys spent most of the morning giving the castle their own artistic touch


They love that it's big enough for both of them to fit inside

Sutton is especially thrilled with the front door that opens and closes :)

Now, of course, it would have been even more frugal of me to have just created something from one of the old cardboard boxes that we have, but I like that the castle came with it's own personality, ready for decoration...as long as you have the patience to put it together!