Fort building in the Play Zone

By their very nature, home forts are DIY. Children channel their inner decorations, or perhaps their inner hunter-gatherers; Sofa, blankets, comforters and boxes are all fair game. If nothing else, a fort is an escape to another world that reaches into the depths of a child's imagination.

Today I looked up from play with a group of children and saw another group of children rearranging the furniture, they had gathered lots of resources from all corners of the room and were dragging them to our castle corner. I watched as Charlie quietly had taken on the team leader role and was over seeing where everyone was putting everything. Daniel was doing the hard yacker for the team and dragged the coat hanger over. Oscar was a great team playing and was supporting Daniel but he also had worries about how the fort was going to work. He felt confident enough to state his worries to the rest of the team. Lily took a hands on approach and was making sure everything was straight, she also stated that she has prior knowledge of building. Finn was the quick fingers of them team and ran around tidying up getting everything ready. Koby was extremely interested in what was happening but he didnt have a role and you can see him looking to the teacher as to what he can help with. 

This team of children worked together to plan, gather, problem solve and create a fort for TKW.

Benefits of Indoor fort building for children:

• planning: deciding the materials to use and a plan for how to build the fort.
• Problem solving skills are required to build the fort and fix it if it falls apart.
• Teamwork if made with friends
• Facilitates creative and imaginary play
• Small spaces can facilitate a calming/regulating effect for some children
• Improves core and upper extremity strength by creating an obstacle course through the fort or playing a game/reading a story while laying on their stomach inside the fort.