These 30 super fun fort building ideas will keep your kids busy building forts and cubby houses all day long. Building a fort is a great screen-free activity for kids of all ages.
Do you remember building forts, dens or cubby houses when you were a kid? I remember spending hours with ropes and sheets building elaborate forts and cubby house structures in my backyard when I was a kid. My kids also spent lots of happy time creating blanket forts with chairs and couch cushions and one summer my youngest bare left his fan fort on a hot day.
There is just something so fun about building a fort and playing in it. It’s somehow extra special to eat a snack in your fort, or better yet, be allowed to sleep in it!
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Apart from being lots of fun, fort building is also a great activity for budding engineers and architects. Planning, construction, and problem solving are all skills kids learn while building a fort. Kids also use lots of maths concepts and build on their spatial awareness when they build a fort, And they also offer lots of opportunity for social interaction and imaginative play.
A fort is also a great place to escape to. It can be the perfect place for an overwhelmed child to calm down and self regulate, or a cozy quiet space for them to concentrate on reading, or the perfect space to snuggle up with someone they love.
Fun Fort Building Ideas
We’ve collected some of our favourite fort building ideas to inspire you and your kids to get busy building!
You can build a fort inside or outside. They are the perfect activity for a rainy day, and a great way to make some shade on a sunny day. You can build your fort as big or as small as you like, as elaborate or as simple. There is a fort building idea for everyone!
If you want to build a more permanent fort these DIY backyard playhouse plans might be right up your alley!
Simple DIY No Sew Tepee Fort from Messy Little Monster
This teepee style fort is easy to build inside or outside. You don’t need to do any sewing and it’s quick and easy to put up and take down.
No Sew Tepee from The Handmade Home.
This is another tepee style fort that doesn’t require sewing skills, but this one is a more permanent structure. There are step by step instructions for how to make this tepee from some wooden poles and scrap material.
Twig Teepee from Little City Farm
The kids will love constructing this amazing fort from planks, branches and sticks.
Build a Bean Teepee from Adventures in a Box.
If you’ve got some space in your garden, you need to give this bean teepee a try. How cool to have growing plant fort to play in!
Build a Sunflower House from Let’s Lasso the Moon.
Here’s another great idea for growing a fort from plants. Plant giant sunflowers in the spring and watch them grow into a beautiful play space!
DIY Play Tent from Cakies
Follow these step by step instructions to make this cute little play tent.
Hoop Tent from Hometalk
This portable fort is made from a hula hoop and shower curtains. Such a great idea for both inside or outside.
Couch Tent Fort from Artbar.
This fort is perfect for the cosy corner where two couches meet. If you can hang some string across the room you can make this simple fort.
Easy Couch Fort from All for the Boys.
This is the best fort for to build if you want a quick escape to a cozy space. Perfect for reading, or snuggling, or whatever you like. All for the Boys has lots and LOTS of other awesome fort ideas to check out too.
Tablecloth Play Tent from Centsational Style.
Turn your dining table into an instant fort with these instructions to make a play ten from a table cloth!
Table Fort with Sheets from How Wee Learn.
For a really quick and easy way to make a table fort, try this awesome idea of using flat and fitter sheets.
Playhouse Tablecloth from Etsy.
If making your own table fort play house is not your thing, you can buy this gorgeous, made to size, tablecloth playhouse on Etsy.
Milk Jug Igloo from Tinker Lab
Start collecting milk jugs so you can make this super cool milk jug igloo! This would be an awesome family project for the summer or a super fun project for a class to work on together.
Giant Painting Fort from Homegrown Friends.
This is such a cool way to combine fort building with art. Homegrown Friends used a fort building kit, but you could do something similar with boxes, or painting on old sheets.
Sensory Fort from You Clever Monkey.
Here’s another great idea for combing art and sensory play with a cool fort building idea.
Pool Noodle Playhouse from From ABCs to ACTs.
Grab some pool noodles and have a go at building this cool fort.
Epic Cardboard Box Fort from M2 Photo.
Start collecting cardboard boxes because this fort is huge and so so cool! Build this box fort outside and leave it up all summer so the kids can keep adding to it.
Cardboard Box Shop from Childhood101
The best thing about forts is that you can build any structure you like. You can even turn a cardboard box into a super cool ice cream shop!
Make a Box Rocket from Katie’s Creative Space.
Instead of a regular fort, make a space ship or rocket! Space loving kids will spend hours in this cool box rocket.
Collapsible Cardboard Playhouse from She Knows.
If you don’t have a lot of space for fort building this cardboard box playhouse is the perfect option. It’s small and snuggly and the perfect size for one or two, and it collapses flat so it is easy to pack away at the end of the day.
Cool Cardboard Dome from Tales of a Monkey a Bit and a Bean.
This is a great STEM project for older kids who enjoy a bit of a challenge. The resulting dome play house is super cool!
Cardboard Castle from Built by Kids.
Cardboard boxes are the perfect castle building materials. This castle uses lots of tape to add some bright funky designs.
Cardboard Gingerbread House from Inner Child Fun.
If you are looking for a Christmas fort idea, how about building this sweet gingerbread house!
Box Cubby House from Be a Fun Mum.
I love that this easy cubby house idea has an upstairs specially for all the soft toys!
Bubble Fan Fort from Adventures in Pink Sugarland.
This is the coolest fort for hot summer days. All you have to do to build this fort is pop a fan into the opening of a doona (duvet) cover, weight it down with a few books and crawl on in!
Air Fort Kit from Air Fort.
For an even cooler fan powered fort, these air fort kits come with a fan and a cool fort stricture to fill with air.
DIY PVC Fort Kit from Or So She Says.
This DIY fort kit would make an awesome gift for kids who love building.
Lighted Box Fort from The OT Toolbox.
Adding fairy lights to a simple cardboard box makes a magical fort in minutes!
DIY Log Fort from Tee Diddly Dee
If you are lucky enough to live on a wooded property you might just have enough logs to build this super cool fort.
Ice Fort from Little Things.
If it gets cold enough where you live, you have to try building this coloured ice fort!
Which of these super cool fort building ideas will you try first?
More Ideas for Bored Kids
If you need to keep a bunch of kids busy you might like these great boredom buster ideas for school aged kids.
Thanks for sharing! we will try them out..