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 sons just started into this fort stage!! But my girls use to do it as toddlers! If he’s anything like the girls I’m sure he will love it as well!
Janice Garcia on
I build forts with my two 1/2 year old and his sister with anything we can find like blankets, parts of the couch, table, chairs and so on! It’s so much fun! We do some accessories with cardboard like swords, crowns and so on to make our “castle” fort feel more realistic and fun!
Maria Costa on
My daughter has four giant play silks over her house style bed instead of a traditional canopy. It’s magical!
Brooke Deck on
My daughter loves building forts out of cardboard, wooden arch, clothes pins and her little playsilks or quilt to make a beautiful fort. I’ve recently helped her make little “fairy houses.” As she’s getting older she would love a play fort set! A child’s imagination is an amazing thing.
Erin Carpenter on
My six sons will build a fort with anything they can find, everywhere we go. Whether it’s furniture in the middle of the house, driftwood at the beach, or cardboard boxes. We recently moved to a 5 acre property where they’ve spent the summer building an entire village of stick forts they call “Tumble Town”
Anna Boatman on
My daughter is two, and we build little forts around and between the couches but we have to use our regular blankets! She likes her play silks so much, that they have to be inside the fort with her or she’s carrying them around. Last night all the silks came to bed with us :)
Carol on
My kiddos use anything they find! Blankets on chairs, blankets over playpens, books, play couches, cardboard boxes….they are super creative.
Stefani on
Forts are always fun for my sons and even for myself! they look beautiful and uplift mood!
Alina on
My girls put their scarves over their climbing frame.
Regina on
We use everything comfy cozy in the house! Even the doggy beds sometimes!
Chelsea on
My four year old daughter loves building forts anywhere and everywhere! She’ll use anything that works. Boxes, blankets, cushions, mats, toys, anything that she can get her hands on. Our tables, chairs, sofas, beds, the baby pen, and crib have all been foundations for her forts. In the yard, she has used boards, the baby slide and baby tent. She gets very creative. After getting her playsilks and clips, her imagination has been unlimited. Her toddler little brother just enjoys climbing in and out her creations. It has been lovely watching them play together and wished I had playsilks as a kids.
MYXL Mama on
Our baby girl is 13 months and she loves when we build forts using her play couch cushions! We also love draping our little play silks to play peekaboo!
Elise on