There’s just something universally magical and nostalgic about building forts. Ask any adult if they built forts as a kid, and the answer is a resounding yes. They can probably even tell you where, when and with what they built their favourite forts.
I have vivid memories of turning my sister’s bunk bed into a hidden cave. And memories of hanging blankets down over the staircase in my childhood home and even moving bookcases around to get the perfect blanket roof height.
Fort making is not a fad. Forts are here to stay.
Fort building combines so many lessons for children into one activity whether it be sharing, imaginative play, gross motor skill development, creativity and maybe a lesson about gravity.
As parents, fort building lets us play creatively with our kids while having fun. In fact, what movies like Shrek are to parents is what fort building is to play. While the main audience is children, parents will (usually) have a good time too. And when we are having a good time, our kids can tell and in turn we are effectively creating more meaningful happy memories together.
We remember our favourite forts as kids, wouldn’t it be nice for our kids if their fort building memories included us?
