3 Great Indoor
Kid Forts
Written By David Sobel
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2. Tunnel Vision
Once they're masters of keeping walls upright and preventing roof sag, your children might enjoy a new challenge. Remember Steve McQueen's tunneling to freedom in The Great Escape? Instead of silverware for digging, you'll just need more of the same kinds of materials mentioned above, plus lots of additional chairs and pillows.
The idea is to get from one place to another bycrawling through a shrouded netherworld — from the living room to the den, from Michael's bedroom to Vanessa's. The longer the tunnel, the better. Try using a line of kitchen and folding chairs with several flat sheets thrown over the top. For a darker tunnel, use blankets (camping headlamps make this a true underworld experience), but for younger kids who want a little light, the sheets work best.
If you've got a high tolerance for dishevelment, consider creating a circuit of pillows, chairs, blankets, and other assorted stuff throughout the house--from the living room, down the hall to the kids' room, and then into the kitchen. (One family of testers sent their tunnel straight to the refrigerator for easy snack access. Mom could see the door opening but couldn't tell who was helping themselves or to what.)
Remember Hot Lava? The tunnel version of this game is to see if you can create an enclosed, continuous tunnel in which you can go all the way from the kitchen to the den to the hallway to grandmother's room and back into the kitchen without ever seeing the light of day or touching the floor. Try not to blame me if you can't find your favorite pillow when it's time for bed.
Next page: The Cardboard Box ... with Attic Add-on
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