Do you need an affordable, creative, and fun idea that will keep the kids busy for hours? Today we are making a DIY fort kit using PVC pipe. My kids love making forts at home! Hi Everyone, it’s Holly from Bits of Everything, I’ve done a few PVC projects and they are always lots of fun, but my favorite part is that PVC is cheap! Plus, not only is this a great outdoor activity, but it’s a perfect indoor activity for rainy days or anytime the kids need a little something to do.
Besides making a kit for yourself, you could even make them (or have the kids make them) to sell! Mariel did some fun booths at their local Fourth of July fair, where her kids sold pvc marshmallow guns, pvc bow and arrows, and pvc foam swords. It was a great way for her kids to learn about making money and running a business.
DIY Fort Kit for Indoor and Outdoor Use
All the supplies you need to make your DIY fort kit is 1/2 inch PVC pipe, pipe connectors, a pipe cutter (the metal sturdy one is best!), duct tape, clamps, blankets (or drop cloths), and a box to store everything in. You can buy pvc pipe at your local hardware store, such as Home Depot. You can even have them cut to size while you’re in the store, for a charge.
Now we are ready to cut some pipe. Cutting pipe with a pipe cutter makes it very easy. The pipe cutter is very much worth its cost! Or, if you have a chop saw, even better, it makes it super fast. We chose 6 different lengths to cut pipe: 4 inches, 6 inches, 9 inches, 12 inches, 24 inches, and 36 inches. If you get the PVC that is 10 feet long, you should be able to get all these fort pieces with 10 pieces of pipe. We also got a variety of connector pieces. Once the pieces are cut, assign a color to each length. Color coding the length with duck tape, like this, makes it so much easier when you need the same size pipe – just get the same color!
DIY Fort Kit Contents:
- 12 – 4 inch pieces
- 12 – 6 inch pieces
- 12 – 9 inch pieces
- 12 – 12 inch pieces
- 12 – 24 inch pieces
- 12 – 36 inch pieces
- connector pieces (lots!)
- clamps
- drop cloths
Now you are ready to construct an awesome DIY kids fort! We have made DIY forts in the family room and in the basement, but today we wanted to do something even more fun, so we made our fort on our deck! This entertained my kids for hours! Building this kind of fort requires some thinking and planning. We’ve made smaller forts before, but this is what we ended up with today.
Now just cover it with your blankets or drop cloths and clamp them on so they don’t keep falling off. Your kids will love making forts at home!
Inside forts is a great place to read a great book (have you seen this list of books for kids?), eat, play, rest, or even sleep! Perfect outdoor or indoor activity that the kids will love.
Here are a few more fun ideas for you: Backyard Campout and PVC Pipe Sand and Water Table.