How to Build an Epic Fort with Kids

When the weather is a bit too cold to handle outside, we love bringing the fun indoors and building forts! There’s just something so magical about piling up pillows or blankets around furniture to create a cozy little nook to snuggle in. Forts can be made from just about anything you have lying around and still provide hours of entertainment for kids of all ages.

Our toddler just loves hiding out in forts during pretend play and movie time so when I had the opportunity to participate in the #PopSecretForts campaign that is inspiring families to get creative with their kids, I couldn’t wait to get started!

–>JOIN THE POP SECRET FAMILY FUN HERE<–

Of course daddy had some suggestions to help take our fort to the next level, so we let him join in the fun!

To build a fort, you’ll need three main items:

• Furniture – Chairs, tables or a couch work well and help create a range of fort sizes!
• Blankets – Blankets create a canopy or entrance and exit for forts. They also add that extra element of excitement for the little ones looking to create a secret cavern.
• Pillows – Pillows help to create the walls and provide extra coziness all around.

These are the basics to creating a fort, but you can obviously customize it however you like.  If you’re looking to get a little more creative see what we did to make our fort epic (according to kid standards ;)!)

How to build an epic fort with your kids

Create height with pillows and furniture.

First, we decided to use our couch as the fort base to provide a bit of lift off the ground. We removed all the cushions and set aside as we laid blankets across the base.

Next, we inflated an air mattress to be used as the fort roof. While that was in process, we gathered up a bunch of pillows — the large pillow cushions we previously removed worked perfectly as the pillars that would hold the roof. The mattress was carefully folded over to sit on the couch back. This was great for providing height and gave us room to drape a blanket over.

Decorate with blankets and light.

To cover our fort and create a cabana-feel we draped a bed sheet over the roof. This is what gives forts that extra special, members-only appearance. We made it extra fun by adding colorful Christmas lights.

Add Toys & Snacks

No epic kid fort is complete without oversized stuffed animals and yummy treats to munch on :). We grabbed a few of our son’s favorite animals including a tiger and rhino which would sit on our pillars to act as body guards for any who would dare approach.

Finally, we popped a bag of our favorite popcorn brand, Pop Secret and made enough to share with the whole family!

I’m a big fan of the Home Theater Butter flavor so we set it up in the microwave for about 3 minutes and let the buttery aroma fill the room.

Of course the little man, just had to hold the big bowl :).

We had a blast building the fort and enjoying some bedtime reading and snacks with furry animal friends! Our epic fort would not have been the same without all that yummy popcorn we enjoyed as a special treat!

Thanks to Pop Secret for sponsoring this post and encouraging my family to build a fort.