How to Make a Perfect Pillow Fort

Kids love pillow forts. They make great hiding places, reading nooks and castles for defending princesses from dragons. A sturdy pillow fort is the perfect tool for sparking your little one's imagination. Fortunately for parents and babysitters, the perfect pillow fort is incredibly easy to build!

Things You'll Need

• Living room furniture
• Dining room chairs (one or two)
• Sofa cushions
• Throw pillows
• Blankets
• Flashlights
• Snacks
• Dress-up clothes
• Clothespins

Instructions

1. Remove the cushions from all available sofas and club chairs in your living and family rooms.

2. Choose one sofa to be the base wall for your fort. This will give your pillow fort some stability.

3. Stand the sofa and chair cushions on end to create two walls: one off of each end of the sofa. You may need to use other small pieces of living room furniture, such as ottomans, footstools and magazine racks to help support the cushions. Simply lean the cushion against the item for some added support.

4. Create the last pillow fort wall using any remaining cushions or a coffee table. Be sure to leave an opening for a door to your fort.

5. Cover the floor of your pillow fort with one or two large blankets. This provides your kids with a soft surface to lie on and makes snack clean-up an easy task.

6. Place a dining room chair (or two, spaced evenly apart, if you have a large fort) in the center of your pillow fort. The chair will act as a support for your blanket roof.

7. Cover the entire fort with blankets. Use clothespins to attach the blankets to one another, creating one large blanket roof.

8. Place throw pillows, books, dress-up clothes, flashlights (for reading) and snacks inside the fort for your kids to enjoy.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to let your kids take the lead on this project—they'll love building their very own pillow fort.

• Parents should always do any heavy lifting, furniture moving and must supervise the building of any pillow fort.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish