How to Build an Indoor Fort for Your Child

If you're like me, you've never truly grown up. Being a kid at heart is important to me because it helps bestow happiness onto my child. One of my favorite things to do while growing up was building an indoor fort. The best part was, you always had everything you needed at your disposal within your house - couch cushions, chairs, blankets. No matter how simple or complex you made it the end result was always the same - sheer jubilation. So if your little one is starting to explore and become more active, forts are a great way to get their imagination going and to get energy out of them - you're welcome parents :)

So without further ado I give you my tried and true method for building an indoor fort for your kid (and maybe for yourself to!)

Supplies

Standard fort - with chairs

4 chairs
Blanket or bed sheet

Alternative fort - with couch cushions

4 couch cushions
2 more couch cushions (optional)
Blanket or bed sheet
Weights to stabilize the fort
- Ex. Could be books, actual weights, chairs, etc.

Step 1: Build Your Base (Chair Method)

Position two chairs next to each other on one side. They should be facing the same way.
Position the other two chairs next to each other, but on the opposite side of the first two chairs.

Step 2: Blanket/Sheet Cover

Lay the blanket/bed sheet on top of the chairs
Make sure the blanket/sheet is even so it's not leaning too much to one side.
On the ends where your child will be walking/crawling through, lift the blanket/sheet up slightly so that you can see through both ends.
That's it!

Step 3: Build Your Base (Cushion Method)

Position the cushions upright with two next to each other on one side and the other two upright and next to each other on the other side. The sets of cushions should be about two feet apart from one another.
If you would like to add the two other optional cushions, you can place them on top.

Step 4: Blanket/Sheet Cover

Add the blanket over top of the base of the fort.
To ensure that it's sturdy, use heavy books, weights or even chairs on the outside of the fort to test that it doesn't fall over. For example, I placed two heavy books on the outside of the fort (underneath the blanket). I placed one book on each side and leaned the cushions slightly to the outside - against the books.
Pull apart creases on top of the blanket cover.
That's it!