DIY Indoor Play Structures for Home - Pillow Forts
For example, you can try making an indoor sandbox, your child’s own ball pit, or even hopscotch court. Some parents go as far as making a jungle gym for the kids or even a simple indoor swing. If you ever run out of ideas for making your indoor play structures, make sure to check out EZPlay for inspiration or search BuzzFeed for ideas.
Making the Perfect Pillow Fort
The most popular play structure kids love making are pillow forts. Remember how much fun you had as a kid building your own fort? Well, now is the perfect time to teach your child how to do the same. Pillow forts are not the only thing you can build inside your home.
Pillow forts seem to be incredibly easy to make. All you have to do is stack up a few pillows, put some sheets over the top and that’s it. But, the trickiest part of making a pillow fort is actually making it stable. We have managed to find a few tips from Robert Burrows, an architect, for making the perfect (and the most stable) pillow fort.
1. Choose a Solid Foundation
Whenever you want to build something, choosing the right foundation is the key to success. There might be various flooring types inside your house, so which one should you choose? According to Burrows, the best foundation is the one that provides knee comfort and prevents the slipping of pillows. He suggests placing the fort on a carpet with (or without) padding, hardwood, vinyl, or ceramic.
2. Think about the Location
Besides choosing a solid foundation, you should also think about the location of the pillow fort. Different rooms have different advantages. For example, if you choose the bedroom, you can use the mattresses as walls. Or, if you choose the traditional setting – the living room – then make sure to make the most out of your couch.
3. Pay Attention to the Roof
Blankets might seem to be the perfect roof for a pillow fort. However, using sheets is much smarter. They are much easier to tuck in and way lighter than blankets. Besides adding the roof, you can also add windows. Try using open cardboard boxes and stack the pillows around them.
Other Indoor Play Structures
Besides pillow forts, there are some other indoor play structures for home you can try building for your child. You can make an indoor sandbox by placing a small, inflatable pool inside your home and filling it with sand. Just make sure your kids brush off before they come out. You can use a small pool once again, or make a structure out of PVC pipes and netting and fill them with hundreds of small balls.
And, there you have it, your child’s personal ball pit. Use colorful duct tape to make an indoor hopscotch court. If you are crafty, you can make simple yet fun structures out of wood such as an indoor tree house, a slide, or a climbing wall. Making DIY indoor play structures for home might seem like a lot of work to you. However, most of those structures are much easier to make than they actually look like.
If you are not that good at DIY projects, you can always surprise your children by getting them a pre-made wooden playset and surprising them with EZPlay jungle gyms.