Building Play Forts With Kids

My oldest son was probably 4 or 5 before we ever built a play fort. It’s not because we didn’t want to, it was just because he didn’t have any older siblings to teach him about them, and I hadn’t even thought about it for some reason.

Interestingly, my wife had never done play forts when she was younger. Of course, she played in forts outside, but never inside the house. So I can’t blame her for not showing our son what a play fort was and how it was built. The first time I started moving furniture all over the place and making a mess with blankets, she was really confused.

Since that first time, we’ve built many play forts with the kids, and they’ve built many on their own. It makes for a great way for the kids to use their imaginations, and to be active inside the home when they can’t get out.

The other great thing about a play fort is that you don’t really need anything you don’t have in your home already. You’ll need some blankets, and you’ll need something to hang the blankets on - generally you’ll just use furniture in the home to hang the blankets up on. Also, you’ll need something to hold the blankets on the furniture; heavy books, clothes pins, or similar type items can be used. I would make sure you keep any high priced items that can break out of the way.

To really up your fort game, I’d recommend that you have a really large blanket, or a few of them. They make for better forts overall. A big blanket can stretch farther, thus giving a much more wide open space for kids to get into. Chairs, boxes, and other items can be used for both a wall and something to help keep the blanket up higher.

Don’t be afraid to move a couch or other piece of furniture to make different configurations of a fort. Turning a couch a different way could make for a much better fort, or could add for more hours of fun as your kids think up a new way to play.

Let kids build forts in their rooms if there is space to do so. If you have bunk beds, it’s actually really easy to build a basic fort that everyone can get into. It can also be fun for your kids to sleep inside their own fort in their room - get them thinking about how they can make it large enough for that to be a possibility. Also, make sure whatever is holding it up is stable so nothing falls on them in the middle of the night (yes, we’ve had a bad experience with this).

Finally, don’t be afraid to get in the fort yourself. I like to get in my kids forts for a few minutes when I can - sometimes they’re too small, and so I have to hang out around the outside of it. If I know I’m playing with them though, I make sure to build it up a bit higher and wider so that I can join in on the fun. If you have trouble getting on the floor, try building something higher, or else work on figuring out how you can start to get on the floor (obviously if you have knee problems, that may not be an option).

Have fun playing inside with your kids. Build several forts, and let your kids really use their imaginations.