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 currently just use the traditional tried and true method of draping blankets over chairs, the chairs being the posts. We also take off the couch cushions, balance them and drape blankets over the top.
Alissa on
While my son does not yet own a Playfort, he gets creative using a variety of materials and media that he can access to create and build his own version of a fort. He’s used couch cushions, pillows, blankets, cardboard, tape, etc. sometimes he even paints the outside of his forts to add extra details or decoration. I love to see him in his imagination while playing in a fort. We’ve built forts inside and outside in the past. He’s pretended to be Link in the Legend of Zelda before while building me a fort to hide me away as a princess he was set on protecting. Something about creating a fort is such a fun way for kids to get innovative, inventive, and artistic with their original ideas and imaginations which I love!
Molly Watko on
My son has a house frame floor bed and we love to drape blankets on top of it. We use his play scarves as curtains for any gaps between blankets!
Alysia English on
We love building forts with our silks and letting them billow in the wind!
Amyie on
What a beautiful and creative Playfort! My kids have tried many options…from cardboard boxes to couch cushions and blankets, but definitely nothing as inspiring as this!
Dana on
My son has that canopy bed that turns into a bunk bed and he likes to add extra blankets and things to the frame to make forts. I’ll have to suggest playsilks next time.
Melissa on
My girls love to make playforts between their beds to creat castles. Or in their playroom they create performance stage forts
Hannah B on
My daughter and I love to make forts with blankets draped over furniture, and recently she made one from a giant cardboard box we got in the mail
Liz on
Fort building is one of the few things my large age gap kids enjoy doing together! They usually clip silks and bedsheets to the couch, bookshelves, barstools and chairs. It takes up the whole living room 😂
Leigh Anne Monroe-Warren on
We use our nugget couch and regular couch cushions with some play silks and blankets for forts!
Nicole B on
Playsilks bring so much magic to any objects. My 2 kiddos use the silks in combo with anything to make canopies for picnics, beds for babies, dog houses for pretend stuffies. The joy and whimsical charm silks add are endless. We are grateful for the open ended play of Sarah’s silks!
Kasie on
Love these play forts! Our girls do their best collaborative play making little structures like this! Come fall I can see them bringing it all outside and loving the way the wind moves the silks in the garden.
Ally on