Feb 18, 2022

Ten Tips for Building a Fort

Stuck inside the house? This might sound crazy, but you should build a smaller house, like a Russian nesting doll but with houses. In less confusing words, you should build a pillow or blanket fort. It's a classic and excellent way to treat cabin fever. Sounds fun, right? If you take the following tips we’ve collected, we guarantee you’ll have a Pinterest-worthy pillow fort/smaller house!

1. Use sheets I don’t know about you, but I love heavy thick blankets–they’re great. But they do not help when building your masterpiece. It’s puts too much strain on your fastener of choice. While some might not have a lot of light blankets, everyone has one too many sheet sets. These are fantastic for fort building!

2. Padding Remember those heavier blankets? Lay them out inside! If you want to get extra comfy and fancy with it, use sofa cushions or even an air mattress.

3. Clothespins. Have lots and lots of clothespins on hand.

4. Rope/command hooks You know when little kids draw a tent? It’s basically the two top lines of a triangle–that’s the type of fort you can make with some rope and command hooks! Plus, it’s super easy!

5. Fairy lights This is probably the most optional feature of a fort, buuut it is the cutest. It instantly elevates the look and sort of feels like you’re in a fairytale. I got mine from Target; all things cute and (mostly) inexpensive come from Target.

6. Cardboard boxes If you’re anything like me, you have a little bit of a problem with online shopping…and what comes with Amazon packages? Boxes/cat houses! When you run out of pillows and still need some height? Cardboard boxes for the win!

7. Heavy books or a stack of magazines Trying to spread a blanket or sheet usually leads to it slipping. Weighing down the edges with heavy books or the stack of magazines every home seems to come with. Depending on how much it ultimately weighs, the blanket shouldn’t budge anymore.

8. PVC pipe This is a totally different monster than your run-of-the-mill pillow fort and is a little more heavy-duty. This method is probably better suited for older children. I don’t think I could explain this as well as this Mommy Blog.

9. TREATS! Sure, the activity might be fun, but you know what would make it better? Food! Food makes everything better. Honestly, food alone makes for a pretty fun time. So, pop in some popcorn to snack on in your makeshift blanket cave!

10. Entertainment So, you’ve built the fort. Now what? Grab your favorite board game or queue up a cute movie on the ipad (I recommend Paddington 2–it’s 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t know the one critic who thought it was rotten, but their opinion is wrong). Even though StairSlide is heavy on promoting screen-less time, there’s no harm with screen-entertainment in moderation. And if you watch it as a family, even better!

You can use all of these tips, some or even none to build a cozy fort when it comes down to it. Since they are usually improvised by whatever’s lying around the house, no fort is the same. They’re like snowflakes but considerably warmer. No matter how it turns out, it's a success if your kids come away with some fun family memories!

When you’re a writer, it’s too easy to talk the talk but not walk the walk. I, Lucy, am not that sort of writer. I made a fort.

Do I have kids? No. Did I have fun? Definitely.

As the saying goes, pics or it didn’t happen, right? Well, wah-pow!

(Surprisingly, I used my StairSlide to create height and pin a blanket to the table)