Spongex DreamBuilders Clubhouse

Did not hold up, even first time assembled. Junk.

My son got this as a gift for his 4th bday. We were so excited to put it together when we got home. After opening the bag and finding small pieces of broken plastic (these came from the snap caps) and noticing that some of the corner connector joint slats had broken off inside the other piece, I realized it wasn't going to be as great as I thought. The plastic pieces are cheap and poorly made. Putting the clubhouse together was a nightmare. The connector elbows are not 1 piece. They are 2 pieces that are supposed to hold together by 4 little slots that slide into the other half (these slots were broken & stuck in the other side). And with 3 foam sticks clicked into them they all pulled apart. After a few minutes, my son gave up and asked me to put it together. After 30 minutes of having to re-connect the corner joints over and over again, I gave up, went to the store and bought some super glue. Only after gluing all the connector joints together would the clubhouse stay together. The idea is great, but this was obviously NOT tested on children before the final design was produced. If the connector corners had been 1 solid piece and not 2, it would have solved most of the frustration and I would have rated it higher.

We found this at a store and I just had to have it for my little boy's 4th birthday. It was pricey - and so the only thing we would be able to buy him, but I figured it would be worth it. It was a little bit of a pain at first trying to figure out the best way to get it together. You have to be sure and push the end caps on tightly. Also, if you pull to hard, the connectors would come apart. The design could definitely use a little help. Once my boy figured it out and we had it set up, they LOVED it. They played house, drive through, and then we took it apart and put it up as a tunnel where they could hide. Once you get past the pain of the connectors, this is really a great toy and it provides a lot of thought process for the child to figure out how to put it together to make what they want.It does take a lot of space, so be prepared for that!

Do not waste your money on this product. The company obviously went to manufacturing knowing that this thing doesn't even stay together. Actually, it stays together perfectly as long as you don't touch it, allow kids to play in it, breath on it, or allow an average sized butterfly to land on it. The connector pieces don't fit snugly together so it constantly falls apart as you try to set it up, and there is absolutely no rigidity to the framework at all. While I was trying over and over again to get the thing to stay together, I watched my three kids build their own "clubhouse" out of pillows and other things from the living room. They were much more successful and had a better product in the end. I watched this piece of (bad engineering, non existent prototyping, false advertising) cascade and tumble into a pile of worthless pieces after my son touched one side of it. It was then that I realized what this product reminded me of every episode of Gilligan's Island, where anything that Gilligan made or touched completely fell apart.

I generally try to be fair in these reviews, and as fair as I can be is this thing is a complete nightmare to put together. And once it IS together, it does not STAY together. After battling, battling, battling with it, it has lasted about 3 minutes total with my 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 year old crawling through it before it's completely fallen apart. Flimsy and a waste of time and money. Thankfully, this was bought at a second hand store and given to us as a gift. It looked hardly used. Now I know why! Ugh! I'm currently writing this review while cuddling a crying child in my lap--he's THAT disappointed in this product too! Tears!

Very poorly designed. Does not stay together. Will not recommended this product.

Total waste of money. Thankfully for us it was free (a pass-on from a friend moving) so we only lost our time. The pieces are flimsy...a nightmare to put together...you get oneside completed and then the other side falls down...Now it might work if you glue it together but other then that i see no way of this being put toggether...Oh yeah and the green roof...its doesn't attach...it just sits on top and we all know how well that works with kids....my kids ended up using the pieces as fake swords and i got to say much it was a much better use!!!