Building forts is a natural impulse for most children, but right now they may be more beneficial than ever. Here are a few ways forts provide hope for kiddos:
- They provide children with a safe space that they are in control of. Children can’t control whether or not they see their friends, what their back to school experience will be like, their parents’ work day, or the cancellation of important events. Children build forts in order to have a space they feel they have some creative control over. If you can, let them leave their fort up. Child experts even recommend not dismantling or entering a child’s fort without their permission.
- Forts foster creative play. With virtual learning necessitating more screen time for many kids, the value of imaginative play is higher than ever.
- Forts can be a space for regulating emotions. When children are in these safe and enclosed spaces, they have a way of escaping from the outside world for a bit. Being in a fortified space can also provide an escape from anxiety.
If you are concerned that your child is spending too much time in their fort:
King advises parents to monitor fort time as a “symptom thermometer” for clues about a how a child is coping with quarantine. For example, if a child withdraws for long periods, they need connection, not more alone time.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/05/18/why-kids-love-building-forts-why-experts-say-they-might-need-them-more-than-ever/
For more information about fort-building, check out the source of today’s post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/05/18/why-kids-love-building-forts-why-experts-say-they-might-need-them-more-than-ever/
