or for FREE...old sheets draped over a table or a clothes line hung inside or out. Sometimes the most basic leads to the most creativity and imagination.

camping tents for adults don't cost as much as some of those things!

Agreed. This defeats the whole purpose of developing symbolic play and imaginative play with children. Blankets draped over furniture or a clothesline are great! Decorating a box from out behind an appliance store to make a house is also great fun along these lines. Kids who are purchased all kinds of completely unnecessary toys often grow up not knowing how to be resourceful or think flexibly about things.

Yes ... but I loooove the first picture from the etsy shop. Impractical and exorbitant, yes, but still oh so pretty.