Forts Add Sparkle to the Traditional Magic of Christmas
Posted December 8, 2016 by Fort Magic
Tradition sprinkled with holiday sparkle makes wonderful childhood memories. This Christmas, add forts to your seasonal activities and delight the entire family. The Fort Magic fort building kit promises to light up the eyes of your children and make Mom and Dad feel like kids again. Ideas on how to incorporate forts into the celebration dance like sugar plums through our minds. We’re excited to share a few of them with you to help add to the magic of Christmas and its rich traditions.
Festive Holiday Lights
A drive through the neighborhood at Christmas brings oohs and aahs from the backseat as wide eyes take in the twinkle and colors of entire houses lit up in myriads of colors. Bring the inspiration home and decorate a family fort with lights aplenty. Twinkle lights, retro colored bulbs, spotlights and lighted figures let kids work their magic on pint-sized versions of home exteriors. Consider hosting a friendly great light fight contest. Pair off in teams, or ask neighbors to join in the competition. Each team creatively lights up their designated forts with prizes or a trophy going to the most celebratory design. However, checking out each team’s imaginative spirit is the ultimate reward.
Holiday Shoppe
Create the sweetest boutique fort filled with holiday wares for sale. Kids running a shop learn valuable skills in the name of play as they stock and sell wares. Bake cookies and pastries to host a cookie exchange or bakery shop. Remember to add Christmas decor for added touches!For young children, consider setting up the shop as a place to actually “purchase” gifts for siblings, grandparents, and teachers. Goods exchanged for pennies, dimes or quarters teach kids the joy of investment. Filled with new deals you pick up on the cheap, the holiday shoppe offers kids the chance to capture and own the giving spirit in a less overwhelming atmosphere.
North Pole Workshop
The magic of the North Pole delights the imaginations of children. While envisioning this far-off place drifting with snow and filled with every toy imaginable, kids can create a North Pole scene. Santa’s home, an elf workshop and the reindeer barn become a reality in your living room. Add easy-to-assemble wooden toys, and building blocks, to fill the elf workshop. Don elf hats and get the kids to prepare toys for children around the world. Talk about the names for Santa in Kenya, Germany, Japan and other countries for added learning.
Gingerbread House
For more sugary-sweet memories, become inspired by gingerbread house designs on the internet. Grab the Fort Magic kit and let kids create what they see. Using items from around the house, children’s imaginations transform any basic fort into a frosted, candy-covered gingerbread house. Batting becomes cotton candy tufts of snow. Pool noodles bend into candy canes when striped with brightly colored duct tape. The fort becomes a gingerbread house to be enjoyed without a trip to the dentist!
Bethlehem Stable
A manger tucked into a quaint Fort Magic stable offers safe housing for a newborn Jesus.Read the nativity story and let children act out what happens. Their take on the tale may just inspire you. Shredded brown paper makes easy to clean up hay. Stuffed animals populate the barn to welcome the infant and his parents. Fashion blankets into traditional garb from that part of the world and that era.
Gift Wrapping Station
Involving children in the gift-giving traditions of Christmas teaches them the joy of serving others. Filling a fort with wrapping paper, tape, gift tags, markers and more creates the perfect gift wrapping area. This wrapping station also offers gifting privacy. For instance, a child ducks inside to wrap a secret gift for Mom, Dad or a sibling. Just be sure to include an “elf at work sign” for the fort front to deter unknowing visitors from entering when Santa’s little helper is hard at work.
Holiday Break Sleepovers
Time off from school offers perfect opportunities to gather with friends. Your star parent status shoots to the top of the good list when you arrange holiday fort sleepovers. Allow kids to construct one large or several individual tent-shaped forts. Grab the sleeping bags, a few snacks, and a DVD copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and you have the makings of one spectacular night.
Christmas Stories and Hot Cocoa
Forts prove the perfect spot to read classics like Twas the Night Before Christmas or A Charlie Brown Christmas as kids settle in for the night. Add cups of hot cocoa with all the fixings and a fire made from tissue paper over twinkling lights to set the mood. Your kids may even choose to sing a few favorite carols.
Gathering the whole family for any of these special fort building activities creates unforgettable memories. Specifically adding forts to your Christmas Eve traditions builds more magic and memories into the season. Any fort design becomes a perfect place to leave cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. What are your favorite Christmas activities with your family? Share them with us below!
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