Shiver me timbers, a tree house boat
Durban dad builds garden structures to keep children off couch, off ipads and in the outdoors
TIRED of watching the children in the house becoming couch potatoes, an umhlanga father went back to basics and built them tree houses.
The father hoped this would encourage his 3-year-old son and 4-year-old twin niece and nephew to spend more time outdoors.
Phillip Carlisle, 48, said he became concerned last year when his son Hunter spent long hours watching TV or playing with an ipad. He was also concerned that his niece and nephew – Arabella and Finlay – were also glued to their screens.
Carlisle gave the idea much thought, and eventually decided he would come up with creative ways to get them to spend more time outdoors. This was when it occurred to him that the good-old fashioned tree house would be a fun distraction for the children and would motivate them to play outside.
And so, his began.
“I started to look for scrap pieces of wood or anything else which would assist me to build the tree houses,” he said. “It took me only a month to build them both and one of them had been built in the shape of a boat.”
Since December, Carlisle said he had seen a significant change in the amount of time the children spent outdoors. “adventure”
“I just wanted them to start enjoying their childhood and to be encouraged to play outside, like many of us did when we were younger. We didn’t have ipads and cellphones.
“Children today are so consumed by technology that they miss out on enjoying their childhood.
“I didn’t want this to be the case for my son as well as my niece and nephew.”
Carlisle paid close attention to detail when he built the boat-inspired tree house which includes special features such as a captain’s wheel, flags, a bell and cabin.
To give it the personal touch, he named it the SS HUNBELLAY – a name fused with the three names, Hunter, Arabella and Finlay.
The other tree house has a special sundeck feature which includes a table and chairs.
“The tree houses were not something that I designed beforehand. I had to improvise along the way and thought of features that I could add.”
Carlisle, who previously worked in the construction industry, now spends his time as a project manager in the social enterprise industry and also does freelance writing.
He said he loved building tree houses as a hobby and now that the two were a success, he planned to work on many others in the future for equally concerned parents..
One neighbourhood friend, Alex Peltz, who was so impressed by Carlisle’s work, that he decided to rope him into building one in his backyard.
“I started that last month and we managed to complete it. It has become very exciting and I am sure other parents would also now be motivated to consider doing something like this for their children,” said Carlisle.
Clinical psychologist Dr Cathrin Venter, who works with children, said it was important, especially until the age of 8, that children engaged in regular physical activity and spent time outdoors.
“They need to be physically active in order to help with neurological activities and to achieve their milestones. If children don’t climb or jump around enough, it could affect their development,” said Venter.
She said being outdoors and engaging in physical activities was important for neurological development, physiological development and also for psychological development.
“Playing outside with others also helps kids psychologically. They learn basic life skills from this like what it means to help each other out or take turns,” said Venter.
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Set in a tree-filled garden like this, a tree house can be used for recreation or as a workspace Philip Carlisle is in the picture.