How to Build the Ultimate Kids Fort for Free

My daughter came up to me one rainy day and asked me to help her build a fort in the house with sheets and pillows. We hung some bed linens across the couch and end tables. We stacked a few pillows up and we had a fort. It got me to thinking about other designs for forts. What could I build easily, quickly and most importantly, cheap? So I sat down later that night and wrote a list of free forts you can build for your kids, fast and quick, but definitely cheap.

Indoor linen fort

The most simple of all kids’ forts, the linen fort. Using bed sheets stretched across couches, chairs, over tables, these forts are a must for any rainy day. You can hold any sheet on the furniture with clothespins or chip bag clips. We used a few heavy books at first but we found out those slide off the table and can land on your head. (I found that out the hard way.)We stacked pillows around the openings to make walls and doors. It was pretty fun for her but I think I needed some more headroom. I put a few thumbtacks on the wall to hold up the sheet high enough for me to stand inside it. I put the other end of the sheet up on the couch and I had the perfect lean to for dad and daughter.

Clear plastic bubble fort

This is probably the coolest fort ever to build. It definitely takes time and if you don’t have clear plastic sheeting and duct tape lying around, then it costs a few dollars. I happened to have some vapor barrier plastic sheeting left over from one of my jobs. It was pretty thick mil, I’m not sure how thin mil would work, but you could always try it.

First, I took the plastic sheeting and cut out a large “t” shape or cross shape. I cut the plastic sheeting as wide as I wanted the room to be. Then I folded the “t” shape into a cube and duct taped each seam. I cut a small hole in the side of one wall big enough to place a box fan inside. I taped the plastic seams to the box fan. I tried to make all the seams as air tight as possible. On the wall not opposite of the fan, I cut a slit to enter in the side. Once the fan turns on, voila! Instant clear cube fort! I made a few more cubes and attached them to the original until I ran out of plastic. The fan powered each fort pretty good until I got to the third room, then I think we needed a new fan. You could probably make any shape if you cut it right. It’s all up to your imagination!

Traditional wood fort

I finally had to build the real deal for my daughter, and I was stumped. I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on the fort so I was looking for scrap. I had a few jobs a while later and had a few pieces of plywood left over. I went to a job site up the road from my house and asked the builder if he had any scrap lumber left over. Although, with that I had enough to build a decent fort, you can ask lumber yards if they sell damaged material at a discount.

I have a hill in my yard that was the perfect place for her fort. I could see it well from inside the house, and it had plenty of sand to play in. I put two long 2×4’s at four feet apart and nailed a board halfway up. I rested on end of the plywood on that board and the other end of the plywood I placed on the hill. I added a few studs underneath for support and nailed plywood around the edges for walls. I put two more long 2×4’s in the back for the roof supports. I had a few pieces of metal roofing that I put up on the roof like a lean to. In all it took about 10 studs, two sheets of plywood, two 4′ sections of metal roof, and a few nails.

A wood fort you can use literally any pieces of wood you can find. Tree branches work for railings, walls, or even thatched roofs. Be careful when you use nails or screws to attach pieces together, you don’t want any sticking out. Bend them over until they break off or use a pair of wire cutters. Use a nail punch to recess any nails heads that can snag on clothes or hair. Splinters need to be pulled or cut off, and any rough edges sanded down.