Blanket-fort reading den
A sheet over two chairs turns any book into an event. In 45 minutes you build the den together, stock it, and read by flashlight inside it.
- Time
- 45 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 2 to 8
- Where
- Living room
What you need
- Two or three flat sheets or light blankets
- Two kitchen chairs, plus couch cushions for walls
- Clothespins, chip clips or binder clips
- Pillows and a stuffed animal or two
- A flashlight or battery lantern
- Five books: three they pick, two you pick
Fort safety: read this first
- Nothing heavy on the roof. Only sheets and light blankets on top. Hold edges with clips, not books or boxes that can fall on a head.
- Battery light only. No candles, lamps or heaters in or near the fort. Keep any space heater at least 3 feet from blankets.
- Watch for coin batteries. Small LED lights and flameless candles can hold them. Use lights with a screwed-shut battery door. A swallowed coin battery means the ER, right away.
- Keep a clear way out. Leave one side open, skip cords and ties, and check that chairs can't tip if a toddler yanks a sheet.
Steps
- Pick the spot. Pick a spot away from stairs, heaters and the fireplace. Let them choose where the door goes.
- Build the frame. Drape a sheet from the couch to two chair backs, clip it, and stand cushions up as walls.
- Stock the den. Stock it with pillows, a flashlight, a stuffed animal and five books. Make a door sign.
- Lights off, flashlight on. Turn off the room lights, crawl in, make a shadow shape, and set whisper rules.
- Read in the den. Take turns: you read while they hold the light, then they read or tell one to you.
- Keep it or clean it. Leave it up as a reading spot for a few days, or have a five-minute clean-up race.
If it stalls
- If it keeps collapsing, go simple: one sheet over the kitchen table, done in two minutes.
- If they only want to build, read while they build. One page for every wall that goes up.
Books read in the den
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date