Today, as part of the Get Out and Play Summer Series, Zina Harrington from Let’s Lasso the Moon will be talking forts, forts, forts. Below you’ll find five creative forts for kids. Keep your kiddos entertained and building this summer!

Imagine sitting for a solid 30-minutes outside with the kids and reading, uninterrupted. Give your child a toy to play with in the yard and they’ll likely be back in ten minutes looking for something new. Set them up with supplies to build a fort instead! You’ll be set for a good chunk of time. Then you can sit back and relax. After all, isn’t that what summer is all about?

Before we get started, I want to share one of our family’s favorite fort building tools… the clothespin.

5 Awesome Forts for Kids

A five-dollar bag of wood clothespins will offer hours of future fun and give your kids the opportunity to build more elaborate forts. Of course, clothespins are more fun when decorated. Grab the poster paints and Sharpies!

5 Awesome Forts for Kids

We decorated our clothespins with polka dots, stripes, solids and everything in between. Once dried, store your fort pins in a plastic container or Ziploc bag. When you need a summer break, pull out your decorated fort clips and watch their imaginations run wild.

Now, let’s look at some creative forts for kids…

5 Summer Forts for Kids

1. Outdoor Sheet Fort

Grab a pile of flat sheets and your newly painted fort clips. Let the kids create a fort in the yard using your patio furniture as the underlying framework. Instant entertainment! We’ve also had a lot of fun at our house by putting the patio umbrella in the grass and using that as our base framework. If you’ve got them, combine sheets with card boxes and your child will be in heaven.

5 Awesome Forts for Kids

2. Sunflower House

Create a special garden fort just for kids. I double dog dare you to watch this video and try to refrain from adding this to your summer to-do list. Our girls immediately started using this garden fort space, even before the plants grew in!

See full photo instructions for building a sunflower house.

3. Classic Tree Tent

You’ll love this photo tutorial for Simple Summertime Tents from Curly Birds. Throw some rope around two trees, drape a sheet, and then stake the corners down and you’ve got a classic tree tent. The final instruction? “Relax, watch the day go by.”

4. House in the Hallway

Check out this clever DIY tutorial for instructions on how to create a hallway fort using tension rods. Make the fort as elaborate or as simple as you wish! After your original investment of time, enjoy hours of rainy day fun.

5 Awesome Forts for Kids

5. Cardboard City

On summer days when the heat is too much, I send the kids to the cool cement floor in the garage to work on projects with the door open. This cardboard box cityscape is a wonderful inspiration for kids young and old. It is the perfect summer garage project!

With all five of these creative forts, the point is to get the kids started and then walk away. Enjoy your free time and let them Get Out and Play this summer.

See more creative Get Out and Play ideas here.

Meet Zina Harrington
Zina is the author of Let’s Lasso the Moon, where she inspires parents and children to interact creatively and enjoy the beauty of everyday moments.