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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Frugal Family Fun - Holding Down the Fort

With part of the country snowed in, another fraction enduring long bouts of non-stop rain, and yet another starting Spring Break, this seems like the perfect week to stay home for the next idea in the Frugal Family Fun series.

I'm going to offer an old but favorite stand-by for kid fun, including ideas on how to make it even more memorable.

You will need:

Lots of blankets

clothes pins (to hold blankets together)

flash lights

an out of the way area of main room, i.e. corner of the family room, dining room, etc.

a movie and snacks

When we are cooped up inside, my children love to build a fort. It does not happen often, so when it does, it's a no-holds barred, all-consuming construction zone.

We have dining room that we do not use daily, so one day last winter, I cleared off the top of the table, and let the kids rule the room. They enclosed all four sides of the table with blankets and used blanket-covered chairs to create rooms and tunnels reaching clear to the perimeter of the room. They had a mansion complete with bedrooms and dual entrances.

When lunch time came, they understandably did not want to leave their mansion, so they opened a couple of "windows" and ate in their new abode. As the day wound down, and after a full day of building and tweaking their hide-out, they were excited to hear that they could leave it up for the next day...and the next day. They have also been known to have a sleep-over in their fort, with the obligatory movies, snacks, and flashlights.

While the children will enjoy the memories, I heard a friendship forming as they worked together as a team. Priceless lessons and memories for free.

Here's a Mommy Secret: If your children are old enough to not need constant supervision and enjoy this type of play, chances are they will be so consumed with this activity that you can tackle that unread book or home improvement project that has gone undone because little ones are underfoot.

This post is linked to:
Frugal Friday by Life as Mom

Labels: Frugal Family Fun Series, fun with the kids, Mommy Secrets, Ultimate Blog Party

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Thursday, March 26, 2009

Comments:

I have WONDERFUL memories of the pink forts my sisters and I made with bean bags and blankets!

# posted by

FishMama : March 27, 2009 at 1:31 AM

My kids love making forts too, and I can remember doing it as a child. Today is a rainy, not snowy, day - they may need an activity like this.

# posted by

Noel : March 27, 2009 at 8:37 AM

We LOVE doing this! Every time it rains it is a tradition that we build a fort in the living room. If fact we just built one on Monday and had our lunch in there!

# posted by

Frugal Sara : March 27, 2009 at 8:39 AM

My 5 year old son loves to do this. He calls it his tent, and he likes to get out crayons and a coloring book and color while in his tent.

Unfortunately, it is a little hard to color with only a flashlight, but whatever floats his boat is what we do. He has a lot of fun anyway.

# posted by

Anonymous : March 27, 2009 at 9:41 AM

My kids love doing this! :D Who needs to buy a play tent when you can make your own?! :D

# posted by

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet : March 27, 2009 at 11:39 AM

Just Doing My Best

http://www.justdoingmybest.com

Just Doing My Best

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Frugal Family Fun - Holding Down the Fort

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