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Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder: Idea Three

Build a Fort: Children’s Special Play Places

When I was a kid I loved the idea of building something myself. I’ve already mentioned the unfortunate saga of the travel trailer I planned to build out of plywood. I also spent time gathering tons of ferns to pile up as walls and sometimes my brother and I played at another nearby home where we happily chopped down small trees and used the logs to build our idea of a fort. I’m sure my mother would never have approved use of the little hatchet we used, but I enjoyed every minute of it and still have a scar on my thumb to prove my pioneer spirit.

Both the planning and the execution of these projects is important for kids. They need the opportunity to envision a completed project and then do what they can to make it happen. If you watch people at the beach, they often engage in such practices. They gather driftwood and form it into structures, they put together makeshift benches and chairs, they drag their towels and food items inside—they create a new living space. And it’s good, healthy play for both children and adults.

In the famous Boxcar Children stories the earliest ones, written by Gertrude Chandler Warner always depicted the four Alden children as independent thinkers who were able to take care of themselves. They worked to earn money for food and they cooperated to turn the found boxcar into their temporary home. They made important decisions based on sound reasoning. Kids love the sound of that kind of independence.

Building forts, both indoors and out of doors, is a great activity for children. They invest in the project—they’re engaged and enjoy the ownership of their venture. The best kid-made play spaces are outside and made of found objects. You might provide boards, old blankets, tents, cardboard or other appropriate materials, but don’t get caught up in thinking this creation needs to look remotely like a building. It’s a play space and however it turns out, it’s just fine.

The kids will benefit from the thought processes they go through to design the space, they’ll use their imaginations as they find materials to put together and they’ll definitely use their creative juices once they begin playing inside the space. It will become anything from a castle to a pirate ship to a space shuttle. You’ll notice items disappearing from your home as the play space is furnished. Whenever possible, cooperate with their requests. There is important learning going on in designing their own special place to play.