ISO best play tent for DD?

[abstonka]

Need advice from tent experts... My DD (just turned 5 and ~48") wants a play tent for Christmas. She is always building tents out of my blankets in the living room. So, I have been watching the princess cottage thing by Playskool on Amazon. It is huge, but we have enough space. I remember seeing the price get pretty low last year, and right now it is $55 - 60 on Amazon, which is much cheaper than its retail price.

I don't mind spending the money for that "tent" if it will hit the spot. But, my concern is that I can satisfy the tent want with a more inexpensive, smaller tent since she is already used to climbing under and crawling around. Am I overshooting the mark by even considering the huge Playskool thing? I was just thinking she'd need room to stand up. Maybe not standing up is part of the fun? Thanks in advance for your opinions. I don't want to screw up this one.

[lellolicious]

I had an EZ-Twist spiderman tent that i swore by because my kids loved it, but i wanted to hurl it out a window every time i had to put it away because i could never get the darned twisting maneuver right the first (or even twentieth) time. These days, we use our IKEA igloo tent that cost under $10 more. Once my kids got over the novelty of having a new tent, they didn't really care what it looked like... it's all about how easy it is for me to disassemble, because i get really tired of it taking up space when they're not using it.

BTW - my parents have the rose petal cottage store or whatever it is... it's just like the one you posted and they got it on Walmart.com for like $15 last year. They said it wasn't the easiest thing to put together, but they don't put together kids toys that often. Also, they only have one side (the "store" side) and not the other half, so it's less like a tent.

[Tondi G]

IKEA has good tents and tunnels. We have a basic model but I've seen a castle and an igloo over the years. They are basic and easy to put together and take down. The price is usually good too.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30073090

[ellies mom]

IKEA has good tents and tunnels. We have a basic model but I've seen a castle and an igloo over the years. They are basic and easy to put together and take down. The price is usually good too.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30073090
We are getting the Ikea tent for the girls this Christmas. It is a great price and seems well made. I really wanted the "coffee shop" one Target had a couple of years ago but in all honesty the girls couldn't careless.

[squimp]

Definitely Ikea. They are nicely made and for $15 can't be beat.

But be aware, if say your child's adorable and teeny but rambunctious playdate friend decides to take it somersaulting around the house, one of the poles may break.

[ellies mom]

Definitely Ikea. They are nicely made and for $15 can't be beat.

But be aware, if say your child's adorable and teeny but rambunctious playdate friend decides to take it somersaulting around the house, one of the poles may break.
That would actually be my youngest child. She was always somersaulting our old one.