7 Screen-Free Playtime Ideas With Kids Fort Building Kits
Posted January 12, 2019 by Fort Magic
One thing many parents are getting increasingly concerned about is the amount of time kids are spending on screens. If you’re looking for ideas to get your kids unplugged, then look no further. Here are 7 great ways you can use one of our Fort Magic building kits to turn playtime into endless hours of screen-free fun.
1. Bring the Outdoors Inside
When the weather isn’t cooperating, you can bring the outdoors inside! Think of some of your kids’ favorite things to do outside and use your fort kit to re-create the activity in the house.
For example, perhaps your children enjoy the thrill of fishing at the lake. They love the excitement of possibly catching something big, baiting the hook and waiting for the eventual tug on the fishing line so they can reel it in! If so, you can use your Fort Magic kit to build a “lake” in your living room and cover it in the fabric of your choosing (make sure your lake is high enough so you can hide underneath the fabric!) Next, get creative with the kiddos and construct your Fort Magic boat and fishing pole with a hook using paper or cardboard, paints or markers. You can design all kinds of fish species and bait for hooking them! Then have the kids go fishing while you hide in the lake and take the bait and attach different surprises for them to catch!
2. Travel Anywhere Your Imagination Takes You
Your kids will love the thrill of spending the day “traveling around the world” or into outer space! Build a pirate ship and sail to undiscovered lands or fly a plane over Machu Picchu. Build a submarine to take you down to the ruins of the Titanic or ride a riverboat down the canals in Venice. You can even design a time machine to take you back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth!
3. Set Up Your Own Restaurant
Have fun designing a restaurant and coming up with a clever name for it. Make sure you outfit your restaurant with ample seating for guests, and outdoor patio seating to enjoy those warm summer evenings. You can make it even more exciting for your kids by finding or making some order pads, like they have in real restaurants.
You can be the first guest in their new restaurant as they practice taking your order and keeping your water glass full. This is a great opportunity for them to practice their math skills. If your kids are older, they can also practice their culinary skills as they cook up the “Chef’s Special” for you.
4. Create a Clubhouse
Bring out a fort building kit and let the kids design and build their own clubhouse. You can help them make a sign for the outside so everyone knows it’s their clubhouse and no parents are allowed. You can watch as they hold their own meetings and come up with rules for their new club.
5. Let the Kids Go Wild with Paint
One thing every kid loves is paint. Parents, not so much. Paint has the ability to quickly create a huge mess that’s hard and time-consuming to clean up. That’s the beauty of our fort magic kits.
You can set up a fort, such as the Playhouse design, and cover it with paper, cellophane, or an old sheet. If the weather is nice, you can do this outside, but if it’s a rainy day, then simply put down an old sheet before you start constructing your fort. Set out the paint supplies then let them paint to their heart’s content! Less mess for you, more fun for them.
6. Set Up a Lemonade Stand
A summer activity that every child loves: running their own lemonade stand. The best part about a lemonade stand made with Fort Magic is that you can set it up summer after summer, without having to store a bulky, wooden stand in the garage.
To get started, search online for photos of lemonade stands so your child can get an idea of what one looks like. Then, see if they can come up with their very own fort design to be their lemonade stand! After the fort is built, you can help set up a table behind or on the inside of the fort (depending on the type of structure) to hold the lemonade and the cups.
7. Put On a Puppet Show
Work with your child to design a puppet theatre on paper. Using this as a guide, start building your fort – you can use sheets or pillowcases for the curtains. Before the show, have your kids make sock puppets or paper bag puppets. Then, pull up a chair and watch as they put on a puppet show for you. If they are unsure, you can always entertain them with your own puppet show first and then let them take the lead!
Photo Credits:
The Artful Parent Blog: One of our absolute favorite creative blogs for children and families. The Artful Parent blog is filled with simple ideas to fill your family’s life with art and creativity. A must see blog for sure!
Learn With Play At Home Blog: An inspiring educational blog created by a primary teacher that strongly believes in making learning FUN & seamless through childhood playtime ideas and activities.
Two-Daloo Blog: The Two-Daloo Blog is passionately dedicated to the idea that every child should have the chance to discover the world at his/her own pace through hands-on exploration and play-based learning.
Uncommon Designs Blog: Uncommon Designs is a blog dedicated to creating a beautiful life. From special touches in your home to making handmade gifts, this fun blog shares projects and ideas that are both “on trend” and classic. If you enjoy creating, then Uncommon Designs is the perfect place for you.
Meri Cherry: The Meri Cherry blog is a tremendously awesome resource on all things creative, artistic and beautiful in the world of kids crafting. Full of gorgeous, fun and inspiring ideas for your family playtime, you’ll simply love the hands-on-learning ideas she posts each week.
Fort Magic Customer Photos via Facebook: Visit our Fort Magic Facebook page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.
Fort Magic Customer Photos via Instagram: Visit our Fort Magic Instagram page to see our customer creativity shine with fun pics and videos of families enjoying their Fort Magic kit during playtime.
