Fort Building
Fort building is one of those creative play activities that can be done from ages 2 (with lots of help!) up to the teen years.
When my sons were little adventurers, they delighted in creating enchanted forts - whether at school, in our backyard, or right in the heart of our home. I discovered that having supplies neatly tucked away nearby sparked their imaginations, leading to frequent building sprees. Our living room often transformed into a fantastical construction zone, where sofa cushions became sturdy walls, kitchen chairs turned into towering turrets, and every sheet and blanket was draped like the finest silken canopies. Soon, the entire space beneath became a secret hideaway, where they and the neighborhood children would crawl in, bringing along their favorite toys and books, ready to embark on the grandest of adventures.
Our Playclips are small and easy for children to use to build their own magical fort! They will clip and securely hold Playsilks, blankets, and sheets onto tables, chairs and sofas.
Our new Playforts are the newest addition to our fort building collection. We've heard from parents and teachers how much they love how lightweight and easy the Playfort set is to build and take apart - each Playfort set comes in its own canvas bag for easy storage! See how our friend Liz and her little ones put together and decorated their Playfort here.
Secret play forts are magical places where childhood memories are made. Being given the autonomy to help create their own play space is incredibly meaningful for children - and with simple fort building tools like Playsilks and Playclips, it's easy for them to bring their dream play space to life!
I hope you'll share some ideas of how your children build forts in the comments below. We will randomly choose one winner that will receive a Playfort Kit of your choice on 8/19, closed! Melissa Alfred you won!
Everyone who enters will also receive a coupon code for 30% of Playforts on 8/19 through email
We love seeing the many ways our community uses Playsilks to make their own beautiful forts! Indoors and outdoors, big and small, here are a few examples to inspire your next fort building adventure:
Left to right:
My kids love using the forts to build castles, they’re really into dragons right now. The love lounging in them to watch movies and hang out.
Laura Ciccone on
My two daughters make a fort at least once a day. It’s hours of fun for them and their imagination just runs wild. They will use anything in our house.
Robyn on
My girls use bed sheets and blankets to create their forts. We tie them to the stair banister and use painters tape to hold some up on the wall where we don’t have anything to really use to secure the sheet. They create entrances with couch cushions and dining room chairs. My favorite fort they’ve built they used their imagination (sparked with some help from Bluey) to create a fort mansion with several rooms including a grocery store and library where we could check out books and read in a separate area of the fort called they called the book nook. Fort building is a favorite activity in our house!!
Audrey Benson on
My young kids love fort building. They usually create their forts using couch cushions, sheets, blankets, pillows and clothespins. They then fill them up with whatever toys for current game play. Keeps them busy for hours!
Kerry J on
3 chairs and some large blankets, pillows, flashlights and some books! My children have loved playing in forts since they were little toddlers, once built they will be in there all day playing different ways!
Megan on
We would use ours in the loft at the family cabin up north on rainy days when everyone is stuck inside together in a small space. My 4 year old and his almost teenage cousins would have a blast. I think they’d use it as a prop for a concert and a puppet show stage too!
Rebecca on
My boys have been loving throwing blankets over the coffee table for a sturdy play fort!
AB on
I loved making forts as a kid! Now my little enjoys building caves, tunnels, and more. This fort would bring so much more joy, and allow a space to be a private getaway.
Bonnie Imamoto on
The playground in our neighborhood has a number of giant oak trees. After a good storm those trees create a wonderful collection of fort materials! Many a lean-to have been created against the trunk of those oaks with purposes ranging from pirate ship to ice cream shop. My boys could spend hours building forts while the playground structure goes completely ignored.
Jamie Fraser on
We love using blankets and ALL the pillows to hold them up. Bed, couch, table! So many options.
Sally on
My 2 year old is early in his fort building journey. We have a cardboard box that we colored and call his castle. He likes to bring his pillow and lovies in there and decorate it with play silks.
Jan on
My six year old daughter creates forts under couch cushions with her play silks tied and draped over the top. She loves her “stained glass ceiling” as she plays house or castle.
Leah on