How to Pop-Up a Play Tent

Play tents are indoor tents designed for children. Most have four walls and include child-friendly doors and windows set low to the ground. One of their best features is that you can put them up in less than a minute. All you have to do is make the tent pop up, which essentially means unfolding the fabric and the poles and letting physics do the rest.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Play tent with bag and accessories

1. Pull your tent out of its storage bag and put the bag in a safe place. The tent will resemble two circles or squares stacked on top of each another: Pull the two circles in opposite directions. As you do so, the fabric will untwist and open.

2. The tent now resembles the inside of an arched doorway, with a flat bottom and a curved top. Place it in front of you so that only the completely flat side is touching the ground. Then simply open it like you would a door, pulling the right edge of the front panel to the left.

3. Watch as the tent pops up to its completely open form. You may have to adjust the walls slightly to form a perfect triangle or cube shape. (Use the picture on the tent's packaging to determine what it is supposed to look like.) Make sure the tent is completely straight and sturdy before you let your kids play with it.

4. Attach any accessories, such as roll-down curtains or doors, that are not part of the basic tent piece. They usually attach with Velcro, buttons or ties.

Tips & Warnings

• Some pop-up tents have frames that meet in the center in a crisscross fashion. To open these tents, grab the apex of the frame and pull up gently. Your tent will pop up to many times its folded size. It's important to have a flat, open space in which to set it up. Don't wait until it's up to realize you don't have enough room.
• It can be much harder to put the tent away than it is to put it up, especially the first few times. Never try to force the tent down or you could bend the frame. It should fold easily once you get the hang of it by following the above directions in reverse order. Don't let kids, especially very young children, play in the tent without adult supervision. Never let them fold or unfold the tent.

References

• Pop-up instructions