Kid Cardboard Castle Fort

We were delighted when Building Blocks and Acorns released their Fort Building Challenge and was spoilt for choice on which Fort to set about creating!
My parents had not long had lots of deliveries resulting in lots of cardboard that they were started to get rid of slowly, however there was a huge pile so was lots left.

They were over the moon to load my car full of cardboard and so this is the Fort Challenge we accepted.

The Cardboard Fort!

I was also drawn to this as children just love playing with cardboard boxes dont they? The most simplest of things please them the most!

I started thinking of what type of fort to create and I had my mind set on creating a cardboard house. Windows, Doors and a pitched roof - sorted! So I set to work. I looked at the shapes of the boxes and I discovered that I could do something totally different with the boxes - much more interesting and bigger.

We created a castle!

I started by taping up the boxes where needed to create a more stable structure. Once I was happy that they were secure enough I started working on the castle turrets.

I measured the sides of the box and divided by three to mark out the castle roof. I cut them out using scissors and sketched out a window. I cut the window out and repeated this for the second box which was the same size.

Once the roof and the windows were ready I cut out doors on both box. I was tempted to completely cut the doors out but decided last minute to leave the door attached as Little N was already busy going in and out of the turrets taking in her teddies and her favorite books and closing the door! She enjoyed this feature so it made sense to keep it.

I had one large box which I cut in half ( I was certainly excising my hand muscles today! Ouchie) I used this for the front of the castle. Before attaching it I again sketched out a door and cut it out. Little N was also enjoying sketching on the boxes. It was rather amusing listening to her impersonating me talking to myself as I was planning aloud.

I again left the door attached. Using strong tape I stuck it to the front of the castle. The strong tape is really a must as sellotape just will not hold the weight of the cardboard and makes the job much harder and frustrating!
















I then added the other half of the large box to the back of the castle again in the same way. The castle was now constructed! YAY!

















To complete the look I wanted to paint it! I decided the best way was to first cover the cardboard with sheets of easel paper. It was quick and easy to attach and wouldn't require as many coats of paint, unlike the cardboard itself. So once all the windows and roof indents were cut out me and Little N enjoyed a lovely session of sponge painting. Once it was dry I used a black crayon to draw the castle bricks and painted around the windows in pink.




















To finish off the castle we created I added some fairy lights! It made the castle look magical! Little N loved crawling in the castle opening the doors and sitting inside the turrets. She kept going in and out selecting toys and then disappearing inside the castle again!



In one of the turrets I had placed a basket full of different sensory items for her to explore. There were lights with switches, glitter lamps that light up when you shake them, liquid timers, sand timers, sensory bottles, a windmill, glittered liquid filled letters and some brightly colored stacking cups. She enjoyed exploring the basket, especially the lights as they made great reflections on the box.

I would just like to thank Louise over at Building Blocks and Acorns for coming up with The Fort Building Challenge. We have really enjoyed taking part and have loved creating this cardboard fort!

There are lots of other forts you should really go and check out to.

The Fort Building Challenge - Hosted by Building Blocks and Acorns

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