Making and playing in blanket forts outside is another great way to go wild for nature. Another word for one is a GORF, for Good ‘ol reliable fort. Mostly used by kids, adults often wished they had a blanket fort or GORF, too.
According to Stephen Moss, naturalist and parent of five, “Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves.” Here is an excerpt from a previous post on some of the self-learning.
Depending on the weather, GORF’s are great fun outside. They appeal to kids because a fort gives them a place of their own. Inside a GORF the kids make the rules and decide what happens. We don’t think of making decisions as being a skill, but kids need lots of opportunities to make them and experience the outcomes so that they learn how to make good decisions. For instance, it’s a bad choice to push on the walls of the fort because it collapses. Squishing into the space is a better choice. It’s a bad choice to fill the fort too full of stuff because there there’s no room to play inside. But kids need to learn what happens from their decisions.
Forts feel like safe spaces for kids. Because it’s such a small space, kids feel more in control. They also learn that it is okay to fail. Each time a fort collapses, that is a fail. Or is it? It’s easy to deal with by building it back up again. That’s a great lesson for life! Inside, the fort can be quite magical, as kids can imagine it is anywhere and pretend to be and do what they want.
Making a blanket fort is easy, especially with some old sheets or blankets. The one in the photo is a sheet draped over the play structure, but a clothesline or big patio table also works. A blanket can be draped across a rope between two trees or pieces of lawn furniture that won’t tip. Blanket forts outside can even help with resistance to naps. Could this be your child’s nature play-of-the-day?
(*You are invited to share your suggestions for ways to go wild for nature. Here’s contact information.)