With Easter and spring right around the corner, we are getting really excited about warmer weather! Acclimating back to MN cold winters after being in AZ for two years wasn’t bad, but we all really miss the sunshine and outdoor play! So I was super excited to receive a Little Tikes Go Green Playhouse to put in our rather empty back yard! The Go Green Playhouse is tons of fun with some great eco-friendly extras!

My overall review of the Little Tikes Go Green playhouse is that it is AWESOME! No question, this eco-friendly house has the basics of a normal playhouse plus a functioning sink, outdoor garden, rain-collecting water barrel, solar light, and recycling bins! Even some fun and creative ideas about recycling water bottles as “lights”, hanging kid-made bird feeders, and a roof-top garden! I’m not a super eco-friendly person, but I love the fun with the intentional environment friendly aim!

When they say assembly required, they aren’t kidding. It took me about 2 hours with a power drill to put the Little Tikes Go Green Playhouse together. There were parts that it would have been way easier and faster with two people, but it was do-able by myself. Some holes are pre-started, some are not. There are about 40 screws involved, I had 2 leftover and I’m not sure if I missed them some where or if the were extra. The whole assembly is really simple to understand, just some awkward angles for screwing and it’s difficult to put pressure on hollow plastic, so a combination of my power drill and screwdriver worked well. The hardest part was getting the rubber plug into the garden part. The easiest part was placing the 5 stickers! Once done, everything is solid! I’m not worried at all about the door or roof falling off or blowing away. I’m not even worried about my 3-year-old little man breaking parts! It’s solid.

There are limitless eco-friendly possibilities to this house! My favorite are the little garden and rain barrel setup! The small garden spot can be used to grow flowers or vegetables, or simply be a sandbox. We plan on planting a little garden with Micah after we move across town in April! The little rain barrel collects rain water from the roof and gutter that can then be drained out a spout into the separate part of the garden or into a little watering can. I love this idea because it teaches my little guy how easily rain water can be made useful, and means he’ll have a little supply of water for watering his garden or playing with. He’s thrilled he can use it and is really excited about planting and maintaining a little garden plot of his own!

Another eco-friendly tip is to use the small, flat portion of roof for a roof-top garden or grassy area! Micah currently uses it as a drying platform for everything he washes in his working sink, but we will fill it with dirt and grass seed in April!

Other eco-friendly tools of this fun playhouse are the recycling bins and the solar light! Micah knows about recycling within the house, now he loves to walk around the yard and pick up bits of broken toys and garbage to put in his own recycling bins because “the garbage man is coming right now!”

The Little Tikes Go Green Playhouse even comes with a booklet of eco-friendly ideas! They include putting water bottles full of colorful water in the holes to be like colorful lights! (Be careful, if you wiggle the house too much they will fall out!) Other ideas are making egg-carton bird feeders to hang, doing experiments with ice cubes, and even using the box to make play postcards and menus! We will likely use the box as a coloring arena for distraction during our move, and then can re-purpose as a boat, rocket ship, or postcards and menus afterwards!

Other than the above functions, the other thing my son is most excited about is the working sink! The sink functions with a pump – just press down on the pump and water shoots out of the faucet and into the sink! My son spent 45 minutes cleaning small toys and items from the backyard as soon as he found this out! The water supply comes from the basin under the sink, and then drains back into the same basin to be re-used. I wish the sink could draw water from the rain barrel, but they are separate. The pump is easy enough for him to push, and the water sprays out enough for him to use but not so much that he is soaked instantly. Actually, after his 45 minute washing session, he was barely wet! It’s bound to be tons of fun all summer long!

Other than that, the doorbell dings, the door opens, the recycling bins are removable, and the sunlight lets light in. The little cell phone is water proof, because it’s plastic and totally non-functional! A shovel, rake, and watering can even come with the set for gardening!

I said earlier that I’m not worried about the Go Green playhouse breaking, and that’s the truth! It is plastic, but it’s thick, flexible, durable plastic. We had Little Tikes toys in Arizona that were passed on from other families, sun-faded over the years but still going strong. I fully expect this to last many years and don’t have a single worry about my kids accidentally breaking anything. We love all the products we’ve ever had from Little Tikes and this playhouse is no exception.

Little Tikes has this great playhouse and more to bring in the warm weather and great outdoors! Check out Little Tikes Go Green Playhouse and Little Tikes online for yourself! Also check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for more!

I received a Little Tikes Go Green Playhouse to review for this post. Opinions are 100% my own.