Why Kids Build Forts…
Why kids build forts. Has your kid ever built a fort out of sofa cushions and blankets? Or made a secret den from branches and bushes? A snow fort? Maybe you used to do it too. Remember how great it felt to make up your own rules and have your own secret space?
You were probably having too much fun to know how much good it was doing you.
“fort egwards” by popofatticus is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Creating secret forts, dens, hideouts, and playhouses isn’t just any random kind of play. It’s a universal drive that’s rooted in kids’ healthy development, says educator David Sobel of Antioch University New England—the man who’s studied this behavior more than anyone.
Children all over the world organize these “special places.” He’s found them in woods, canyons, deserts, riverbanks, hedges, snowfields, crawl spaces, and yes, suburban backyards and basements—all private little worlds-within-the-world.
“It used to just happen, and the best thing to do was mostly stay out of the way,” he told me. “Now the impulse is still there in kids, but opportunities to act on that impulse have diminished some.” Kids play outside less, and they’re online more, says Sobel, who’s the author of Children’s Special Places: Exploring the Role of Forts, Dens, and Bush Houses in Middle Childhood. Younger ones are less likely to copy fort-building alongside bigger kids—an important way all kinds of play (hide-and-seek, freeze tag) get passed from generation to generation.
“Build a little tree fort in your yard” by Loozrboy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.o
Why forts are so great…
The itch to create your own special spaces, as Sobel notes, typically begins around ages 5 or 6 (“around when they stop believing in Santa Claus”) and concludes by 12 or 13 (“when they start looking in the mirror”).
Initially, the play is mostly inside—building pillow fortresses or walled-off corners with blocks. However, around age 9, kids start seeking spaces farther from their parents’ view. A clubhouse in the bushes out back becomes just the thing!
Developmentally, two significant factors drive this play during middle childhood:
- They’re figuring out their nearby world. Kids desire to understand how the pieces of their life fit together—the landscapes, roads, neighborhood, home… and their place in it. “They want to piece it all together, like a puzzle,” Sobel explains.
- They’re becoming more independent. Simultaneously, kids are starting to forge a separate identity from the one defined by their family and parents. Concomitantly, they yearn for their own distinct place in the world.
“The special place outside serves to symbolize the special place inside,” Sobel emphasizes. “It’s their own private chrysalis.”
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