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How to Play Forts

Play forts are a longstanding childhood tradition. Children often enjoy constructing forts and playing imaginative games, and many adults can still remember their most elaborate fort constructions. A fort game can be an amusing way to spend a weekend afternoon with your children. Fort games require little more than an open area, improvised construction materials and an active imagination. A few simple guidelines can help you and your child construct and play in your forts.

Things You'll Need

Objects for the fort frame, such as furniture, tree branches or clotheslines
Materials for the fort walls, such as sheets, blankets, cushions or pillows

Instructions

- 1
  Choose a location for your forts. If you are playing outdoors, select a location with architecture that you can incorporate into your fort, such as trees or lawn furniture. If playing indoors, select a location with enough room to construct the forts. Remove any fragile objects from the fort area.
- 2
  Build the underlying architecture for your forts. Use furniture, clotheslines, tree branches and other large objects to create your forts' frames. Arrange the objects in the layout of your choosing.
- 3
  Construct the walls of your forts on top of the frames. Use bed sheets, blankets, couch cushions, pillows and other easily malleable objects to create the walls. If you are playing with projectiles, such as plastic dart guns or dodge balls, use cardboard, tarps or chipboard to give your forts added strength.
- 4
  Add details to personalize your forts. Leave flaps closed for hidden doorways or leave small gaps in the walls for spies. Tie pillowcases to cardboard tubes or broom handles to create flags that you can fly above your forts.
- 5
  Decide on the rules of your game. Try hiding small flags in each fort and playing capture the flag, or lay siege to a fort with water guns and toy balls. If you have enough players, each player can have a different role. One could be in charge of keeping watch, another could run spy missions, others could play infantry roles, and so on.

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