What kid (even a 13-year-old one) doesn’t love building forts? When Fort Magic asked me to review their fort building kit, Ben was ecstatic. We decided it would be a great idea to have a fort-building play date with some good friends to really test out all of the possibilities.
The Fort Magic kit includes more than 380 pieces of sturdy, plastic parts that fit together to create endless designs in forts, cars, boats, and whatever else the imagination of kids can create. Included in the kit are:
- 165 Straight and Curved Sticks in seven different sizes
- 87 Connector pieces in five varieties of shapes and sizes
- 130 easy-t0-use Fabric and Accessory Clips
- A full color Instruction Manual with over 20 designs to build
- A high quality Storage Bag
- A 30-day Money Back Guarantee
- A full Manufacturing Warranty on all parts
The only addition to the kit for you to provide are the sheets and blankets to cover your kids’ creations. Soon, Fort Magic will unveil fabric covers, but for now, those are not available.
The instruction manual comes with pictorial instructions to build several different styles of forts. You can see examples on their website’s design page.
With zero adult instruction or help, our team of kids ages 7-13 got busy.
We ended up with two teams of builders — the boys wanted to build the castle and the girls wanted to build the playhouse. So they compromised by dividing into two teams. The girls were kind enough to let the boys go first. They began by opening the box and sorting all of the parts together.
Very quickly, the boys got busy putting their castle fort together. It was easy to see that several skills would be needed for success in building the fort:
- teamwork
- organization
- following directions
- critical thinking
I was amazed as I watched them (ages 7, 12, and 13) work together to decide who would build which parts and discover simple errors made and how to fix them. Typical of boys, the 7-year old was soon building swords and guns with leftover pieces. So cute.
Once the castle was complete, the boys used the fabric clips to attach sheets, blankets and pillow cases to their fort. While not sturdy enough to climb on, the castle was well-made and not likely to come down without effort. Unlike building forts the old-fashioned way (you know, by tossing sheets and blankets over the living room furniture) the fabric clips held the fabric tightly to the fort. All of the kids enjoyed playing inside and there was plenty of room for all 7 of them to play.
Soon they began the task of taking down the castle so the girls (ages 7, 7, 9, and 10) could try their hands at building the playhouse. Again, just following the directions in the instruction book, and without any adult assistance, the girls were able to build their own fort.
A few things I noticed — all of the kids worked well together without power struggles, frustration, or impatience with each other. (that’s huge with this many kids working together), and they all absolutely enjoyed the building projects and were delighted with the results. Dare I say they were even proud of themselves?
Some other great benefits of building with Fort Magic:
- encourages imagination and creativity
- great for kids of all ages to work/play together
- fosters cooperative play
- it is confidence building to complete the projects
- there are endless projects; kids will never get bored with Fort Magic
- both boys and girls love Fort Magic
Since bringing the kit back to our house, Ben has enjoyed building a forts over his twin bed, in our family room, and outdoors on our deck. He has also enjoyed making swords and guns, and he even has used pieces to make the flags for a rousing game of Capture the Flag with neighborhood friends. The pieces have been sturdy (virtually unbreakable), simple to both build and take apart, and have given Ben many hours of creative play. The choices really are endless.
I’m not sure that it gets much better than that. Need some more reassurance? Read what other families have to say about Fort Magic.
Finally, you have to love Fort Magic’s mission statement:
Building Greatness In Children One Fort At A Time.
Fort Magic is dedicated to creating products that celebrate the greatness and uniqueness of every child as an individual. We believe that every child deserves to become a confident human being, experiencing life in its most loving, abundant and unlimited potential. Achieving happiness through individual and creative self-expression, with positive and meaningful connection to the world and others around them. Fort Magic believes that any child can build the life they dream of!
Well done, Fort Magic.
This award-winning kit can be purchased for $99.99 from the Fort Magic store.