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.
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:
We have six children ages 1-12 years and they love building forts! We can never make them big enough, though. A kit would be so over the top! 🤩
Jennifer F on
We use ropes to tie around my daughters room and then lay blankets on the ropes. Makes a tent that has a high enough top so adults can come in.
crystal on
My daughter loves using our kitchen table, chairs, and blankets to build a fort where she piles in her stuffed animals!
Elizabeth on
We love building forts with our couch, our nugget, and lots of blankets and pillows! My little loves it, and even brings our dog in there. Precious memories for sure.
Rae on
Fort building is the best for kids! My kids love to use a combo of their nuggets, blankets and silks.
Cora on
We love fort building, pretty much daily! Typically the kids will use the sofa cushions, which isn’t ideal when I’m constantly trying to keep the house tidy chasing around two toddlers all day! But my mama heart knows these are the days!! These days are fleeting and I want to look back and relish in a beautiful childhood experience for my babies. That said, often times my kiddos will find other fun fort building places that I much prefer. We have a pickler and wooden dome and often those are foundations to add blankets or silks onto of for the ultimate fort! I love watching them go camping in a cave, or cuddle up inside with a pillow and toy. Their imaginations are amazing to watch and it reminds me daily of what’s truly important in life 🩷
Lindsey on
One of our permanent spots; we use the large cotton rainbow one as the ceiling of our quiet/rest spot.
Caitlin Collins on
The nursery and the guest room next to it have an adjoining tiny closet built into the slope of the roof. With those doors propped open and blankets over top, the hidden cove is perfect for letting imaginations run free!
Heather on
The first fort we built together was when she was a newborn and we were snowed in without power and water for a week. My husband built a giant fort with our blankets and couch cushions and used our dogs as space heaters. Our little fighter is now 3 1/2 years old. My daughter and I make forts using our nugget cushions and our giant play silks. We usually have a tea party together with her many stuffies. We have made a treehouse where she played with her light box in the dark. We’ve played castle where my husband pretends to be a dragon and knocks down her walls.
Michelle Lagunas on
We often spend our days constructing volcanos, fairy houses, animal dens, palaces and cozy caves with our large play silks and clips. There are ever more things we can imagine and build. My four year old often wears her silks as elaborate costumes and princess trains or capes, maid Marion headdresses and gowns. Our only limitation is that we need more silks to grow our imaginary worlds!
Katie Hughes on
My 2 and 4 year old love making forts by using our pikler triangle! Sometimes it’s an ice cream shop, sometimes it’s a princess castle! The play opportunities are endless!
Elise on
My twins love building fort outside with sheets, sticks and branches. They haul books and blankets and the dog out for the day.
Paula Perry on