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
July 27th, 2010 on 12:07 pm
Dear Valerie,
Now that we have an elevator at home, can I finally get my fireman’s pole?
Love,
Mark
July 27th, 2010 on 12:13 pm
ROFL I’ll get right on that!
July 27th, 2010 on 12:09 pm
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.
July 27th, 2010 on 12:14 pm
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
July 27th, 2010 on 12:33 pm
I swear, I love coming to your blog just to see what creative things you’ll come up with next! This is fantastic.
August 4th, 2010 on 9:24 am
That is so sweet! Thank you!! xoxo
July 27th, 2010 on 1:00 pm
Gettin’ pretty snazy there!
July 27th, 2010 on 1:01 pm
I agree with Jenny – this is too much fun!
July 27th, 2010 on 1:10 pm
Great fun!
July 27th, 2010 on 2:10 pm
We don’t have any closets or doors like that, so I’ll have to do some thinking. It looks like great fun.
July 27th, 2010 on 5:07 pm
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!
July 27th, 2010 on 2:27 pm
That video is so darn cute!
July 27th, 2010 on 2:37 pm
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…
July 27th, 2010 on 5:09 pm
Merlin really is the World’s Laziest Cat. He got in on the elevator action too!
July 27th, 2010 on 3:16 pm
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!
July 27th, 2010 on 5:10 pm
That is SO funny!!!!
July 27th, 2010 on 9:23 pm
He was simultaneously honoring firefighters and supporting single moms.
We should all strive to be like that man.
July 27th, 2010 on 4:15 pm
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.
August 4th, 2010 on 9:29 am
Thanks, Vanessa! The girls started looking for any excuse to go up and down the stairs after they had their own elevator. So funny!!
July 27th, 2010 on 4:21 pm
Love the video. I now wished we had another level to install a pretend elevator. We might have to do a sideways elevator.
July 27th, 2010 on 5:07 pm
That would be totally awesome!!!
July 27th, 2010 on 4:22 pm
hehe love it!! Looks like everyone had a blast!
July 27th, 2010 on 5:08 pm
Love it! Great idea!
July 27th, 2010 on 5:50 pm
very cute.
July 27th, 2010 on 7:45 pm
Too funny!
July 27th, 2010 on 7:46 pm
That is too funny. My daughter would love this! We don’t have any bi-fold or sliding doors though.
July 27th, 2010 on 9:21 pm
What an absolutely adorable idea!
July 27th, 2010 on 9:40 pm
That is too fun! I love this idea and especially how the cat was interested in it, too!
July 27th, 2010 on 11:15 pm
Too funny!
July 27th, 2010 on 11:26 pm
That makes me want to have stairs!
July 28th, 2010 on 12:00 am
Oh Valerie!
You have a gift…what else can i say!
(hugs)
Your Canadian buddy…
Jody
July 28th, 2010 on 12:26 am
I’m going to make one of these this afternoon. I love the expression on Clara’s(?) face, how excited is she?!
July 29th, 2010 on 3:38 pm
That makes me so happy!! Have fun!!
July 28th, 2010 on 12:15 pm
That was pretty cute and made even better by the cool video. Loved the actual movement of the elevator.
August 4th, 2010 on 9:33 am
Thanks, Petula! We had far too much fun shooting that video!
July 28th, 2010 on 12:41 pm
What a great idea!
July 28th, 2010 on 5:02 pm
Fantastic! I love it. thanks!
July 28th, 2010 on 5:27 pm
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!
July 29th, 2010 on 3:40 pm
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!!
July 28th, 2010 on 10:51 pm
You’ve done it again! This is going to be a must do at our house! Thanks!
July 29th, 2010 on 3:40 pm
That’s fantastic!!! Have fun!
July 29th, 2010 on 6:34 am
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
)
July 29th, 2010 on 3:41 pm
That is SO funny!!!! I’ll have to keep that in mind for the next time we play a game of hide n’ seek!
July 29th, 2010 on 11:53 pm
What a FUN idea! My boyZZ will LOVE this!!!! Thanks so much for sharing!
August 4th, 2010 on 9:30 am
That makes me so happy!! Yay!! Have fun!
August 1st, 2010 on 9:19 pm
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
August 4th, 2010 on 9:32 am
Hmm…. I think curtains would make for a nice play theatre!
August 5th, 2010 on 10:52 pm
This is hilarious! I love it!
August 9th, 2010 on 7:31 pm
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.