Transform your lounge into a playground that will provide an afternoon of intertainment

Roll out the blueprints

Planning extends the fun: buy a roll of brown paper and coloured pencils from an art store and have your kids sketch out how the fort should look. Place the objects they’ll be using in front of the drafting table, as if they were construction site materials.

Build a solid base

Use couches, tables, chairs and anything else that can stand on its own. Strengthen weak walls made 
of pillows or cushions by bookending them with 
stable heavier objects, such as large books or boxes.

Break new ground…

The Taj Mahal

Remove the cushions from your couch and place them on the floor, extending from the arms of your couch. Lay a blanket between these two walls to create a small room. Next, stretch a fitted sheet over the couch and the standing cushions, and stand a broom in the middle of the bedsheet, creating a tent. (Prop the broom up against the base of the couch.) Fill the couch with pillows to create a second-tier loft.

The cave of wonders

Pull apart a sectional sofa or push two armchairs against a wall to create a few feet of space between each piece. Drape a blanket from one piece to the other, securing the ends with counterweights (such as cushions) to form your cave. Use a loosely woven blanket that lets in light to mimic stars. Create a 
tunnel leading to the cave by draping more blankets over the seats of equal-height chairs.

The fortress of solitude

Turn your couch into a box by standing the seat cushions on the edge of the seat platform and then adding a roof by laying the back cushions flat from the sofa back to the front “wall”. Leave one front cushion ajar for an entrance. When the kids clamber in, pass in a flashlight and toys. Then tuck yourself in for a nap.