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Indoor activity

Indoor Campout & Fort

Build a cozy living-room fort and craft a glowing 'campfire' using a flashlight and tissue paper for the ultimate indoor camping trip!

Ages 3-12 1-3 hours Education 7/10

Materials

  • Cardboard Tubes
  • Flashlight
  • Tissue Paper
  • White Sheet

Illustrated Steps

1

Pitch the Tent

Drape a large sheet over chairs or the sofa to make a tent.

2

Build the Fire Pit

Arrange cardboard tubes in a star shape to look like logs.

3

Add the Flames

Pile crumpled red and orange tissue paper onto the logs.

4

Light the Fire

Hide a flashlight under the tissue paper to make it glow.

What You’ll Create

Turn a rainy afternoon into a wilderness adventure! You’ll build a magnificent Indoor Campout & Fort using your sofa and a large white sheet. Then, you’ll construct a safe, glowing indoor campfire from cardboard tubes, tissue paper, and a flashlight to tell stories around.

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Pitch the Tent

Drape your large white sheet over the backs of two chairs, or from the sofa down to a coffee table. Weigh the corners down with heavy books or cushions so your ’tent’ doesn’t collapse.

Step 2: Build the Fire Pit

Gather your cardboard tubes and arrange them in a circle or star shape on the floor inside your fort. These are your campfire logs!

Step 3: Add the Flames

Scrunch up sheets of red, orange, and yellow tissue paper and pile them in the middle of your cardboard tube logs.

Step 4: Light the Fire

Turn on a small flashlight and carefully hide it under the tissue paper pointing upwards. Turn off the room lights, and watch your indoor campfire magically glow!

Have fun!

  • 👻 Take turns telling slightly-spooky or funny stories around the glowing fire.
  • 🐻 Use your hands to make shadow puppets on the walls of the sheet tent.
  • 🌭 Bring in some real snacks and pretend to roast hot dogs or marshmallows.
  • 🌌 Lie on your backs inside the tent and stick glow-in-the-dark stars to the inside of the sheet.

Why It’s Amazing

  • Imaginative Play: Transforms a familiar room into an entirely new world. 🏕️
  • Emotional Regulation: Cozy, enclosed spaces help children feel safe and relaxed. 😌
  • Storytelling Skills: Sitting around a ‘fire’ naturally encourages narrative building and sharing. 🗣️

Pro Tips

For ages 3-5: Make sure the fort is tall enough for you to sit inside with them, as they might feel nervous in a totally enclosed dark space alone.

For ages 5-8: Let them engineer the fort structure themselves. Challenge them to incorporate multiple rooms or a ’tunnel’ entrance!