Fort Building Fun for Kids of All Ages: A Fort Magic Review

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Fort Magic Reviews

(Psst…stay with me until the end. There may or may not be a giveaway for you!)

When I was first approached about reviewing Fort Magic for you, my initial reaction was, “My kids are too old for that.” Then, I looked at it a bit closer and started thinking that perhaps I was wrong.

I decided that I could see what they thought and, if they felt too grown to build forts, I could take the kit to my sister’s house one week for all the cousins (and dads) to play with. We never quite made it to my sister’s with the Fort Magic kit because, as it turns out, apparently you’re never too old to build an awesome, life-size fort!

They mostly-patiently waited while I snapped a few photos of the unopened box – it’s what we bloggers do, of course – then, they dove in! (“They” being my girls – led by the 18 year old.)

build a fort

There are instructions and structure ideas included, but those, apparently, are for sissies. They didn’t need instructions; Brianna knew exactly what she wanted to build. Except the build didn’t go quite as planned. No worries, though, everything disassembles as easily as it assembles, so they were back to work with a better idea of what they were building in no time.

Fort Magic Review

What is Fort Magic?

Fort Magic is a 382-piece fort-building kit for kids. It’s designed for kids ages 5 1/2 and up – up meaning, as far as we can tell, until you maybe die, because everyone had fun with it. The kids includes:

  • 165 sticks in a combination of straight and curved and in 7 different sizes – the sticks are hollow metal pieces
  • 87 connector pieces in a variety of shapes and sizes – these are sturdy, plastic pieces
  • 130 fabric clips
  • A full-color instruction manual with over 20 designs to build
  • A roomy, sturdy storage bag

刀线

The sticks and connectors allow kids to build an amazing variety of structures. The fabric clips hold whatever covering your kids use for their fort firmly in place. We used just about every sheet and blanket in the house. The kit does not come with fabric covers, but plans are in the works for fabric covers from Fort Magic to be sold separately at a later date. No worries. We’ve got lots of sheets and blankets.

If you want to learn more about your options for Fort Magic fabric covers, there are lots of the suggestions on their World of Fort Magic page.

Fort Building Kits for Kids

Fort Magic is safety-certified. The kit has gone thought rigorous testing, with the highest of standards, to ensure every safety measure has been met. Every test has been performed by a third party independent lab approved by the Consumer Products Safety Commission of the United States. You can find out more about how your kids can enjoy Fort Magic with both their safety and the longevity of the product in mind on the Fort Magic Safety Tips page.

Educational Benefits of Building Forts

As a homeschool mom, I appreciate the fact that fort-building isn’t just for fun. There is a bit of an engineering element to it, as well – not that I know enough about engineering to capitalize on that fact, but it was interesting to see what my kids decided would and wouldn’t work – since they chose to ignore the instruction manual.

Fort Magic 6Forts Frames

Some of the educational benefits include:

  • Increases spatial intelligence
  • Stimulates invention and creativity
  • Increases fine and gross motor skills
  • Promotes multi-sensory learning
  • Builds interpersonal cooperation
  • Provides an opportunity to plan and finish a project
  • Enhances a love of learning, curiosity and exploration
  • Increases critical thinking and problem-solving skill
  • Provides a fun way to promote STEM skill development

Josh didn’t get in on the fort-building, but the girls had a massive structure built in no time. It was in the living room with an opening on the end facing the TV, so they camped out in it for four or five nights.

Fort Magic Structure

Storing Fort Magic Kits

Then, on a  Sunday afternoon, the girls completely surprised me by voluntarily disassembling their fort. We were resuming school after a break the following day and they know that clutter disturbs me. They often convince Brian to put up our tent in the living for “camp outs,” but they haven’t learned to assemble the tent. Brianna can disassemble it, but she can never get it to fit back in its storage bag. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle.

I love that the storage bag that comes with the Fort Magic kit is roomy and sturdy enough for everything to fit inside without the bag-stuffer being required to have the precision of a marksman. Brianna said the directions do state the order that everything needs to go into the bag for everything to fit, but there’s nothing to fold precisely and meticulously.

Fort Magic Storage Bag

That may seem an odd thing to be excited about, but only if you’ve never had a disassembled and wadded-up tent take up residence in your living room for a week or so.

How to Find Out More About Fort Magic

I’m sure you and your kids will come up with dozens of ways to play with Fort Magic without any help from me, but some of the things we have done or want to do include:

  • Create a cozy reading/study space
  • Assemble a weekend TV-watching/camping out spot
  • Build a just-for-fun bed canopy
  • Take our Fort Magic kit to the cousins’ house for team building fun
  • Continue to experiment with building designs to see what we can discover about engineering concepts

Even though my kids are older, they’ve had hours of fun with Fort Magic and it’s sturdy enough that I know it’s something I’ll plan on saving for the grandkids to play with some day. I’ll be the coolest grandma ever!

You can check out the Fort Magic Fort Designs page to get ideas of what all you and your kids could do with a Fort Magic Kit and read the Fort Magic reviews page to see what others have to say. It speaks volumes about the product that, as of the time this review was posted, they have 100% 5-star rating on Amazon. That’s impressive.

You can also find Fort Magic on:

Fort Magic obviously would make a great gift for birthdays or Christmas, but I’m also thinking it’s something that kids would enjoy going into summer break for those days when they’ve got some extra free time, but it’s too hot to go outside to play. You can purchase Fort Magic here. I’ve also got an opportunity for you to win a kit!

Fort Magic Giveaway

Follow the directions on the RaffleCopter widget below to enter.

Rules: This giveaway is open to United States residents, ages 18 years and older only. Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16. The winner will be selected at random using Random.org via RaffleCopter.

The winner will notified via email and given 72 hours to respond. You must enter a valid email address to win. In the event that the winner cannot be contacted by email or does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will be forfeited and and alternate winner selected.

Click to read the complete rules. By entering this giveaway, you indicate that you have read and agreed to abide by these rules.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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125 Comments

  1. 🙂 Wow, talk about thinking outside of the box- so cool…my daughter, Sarah would love the teepee frame…I could see her putting it in the garden and training sunflowers along the sides for “walls”…would LOVE to win- thanks for the great giveaway!

  2. This is so cool! I bet my son would first want to build a castle, but he would probably be tearing it down and building something else very quickly until he exhausted any ideas he could come up with himself. Then he’d ask for me to look for more ways to build with it!

  3. My kids would build a rocket/boat hybrid. They’ve discovered the “Wild Krattz” on PBS and are constantly making the “Tortuga” out of side tables, pillows, and baskets in the playroom.

  4. What a creative product! I think my older kids would build the tunnel and fort first, but our youngest girl would want to build the mansion. I love that the website has so many ideas and that the stick figure safety tip section is written in a kid-friendly way!

  5. Fort Magic looks like so much fun! I am always looking for activities that our 18 year old with special needs can do to participate with his siblings and vice versa. This looks perfect for that! Our 10 and 18 year olds especially loved the pirate ship design on the website. This item is definitely going on the Christmas list for this year!

    1. I think my kids would try a tent of some kind, maybe the teepee, too. Looks like hours of fun!

  6. I love that it has lots of pieces so that all 9 of my blessings could work together to do one of their favorite activities: building forts!

  7. This product is awesome. My 8 yr old daughter would love to make the castle because every princess needs a castle. Thank you for the giveaway.

  8. I don’t think my little girls would like this, but I know a family of builders that would go crazy for it! If I won, I would pass it right along to them.

    1. I’m not sure. You could check out their website to see if that it answered or they have a contact tab on their page. I’m sure you could also ask on their Facebook page and get an answer.

  9. These look like fun! I can’t imagine the kids ever voluntarily taking the forts DOWN, though! I think my girls would build a castle first – or maybe the play house.

  10. Probably the sweetest words in this post are that the storage bag is big enough…so often you are trying to squeeze things into a bag that is way to small and inevitably things get lost because they don’t fit in the bag.

    1. Ah, somebody that gets me! I knew somebody out there would understand why that storage bag made me so happy. 🙂

  11. Oh my goodness this looks like fun. I have seen a few other fort building options.. However, all of the ones I have seen are plastic. I love that this one has metal poles. I think my son would love building the pirate ship and the fort with the tunnel entrance.

  12. My son would probably build the fort with tunnel. he and his buddies are always trying to construct things like this. It would be the best birthday present for him!

  13. Oh my goodness, my boys would be in heaven!! I’m not sure what they would build first, since my husband would be too busy playing with it WITH them!! I can tell for sure that they would do a pirate ship, or a space ship, or just a big fort to watch movies in! I might even let them “camp out” in it overnight (but that’s stretching, because they are only 9, 6 and 3!

  14. This is so cool! I love how you can “fit” the blanket/sheets to it so it is form-fitted and not droopy like blankets over chairs. It’s a hard call, but I think the airplane or the rocket ship would be built first by my two.

  15. Oh my goodness! This is the coolest thing ever! I am usually lugging all chairs from throughout the house into my office, and then draping blankets and securing them with hair elastics! By the time dinner comes around, the kids are at the height of their fun, but we are left without chairs to sit on for the meal! This kit is the perfect solution!

  16. My girls would have entirely too much fun with this, and probably their brother as well! And my youngest does want a teepee now (we’re studying Lewis and Clark)…

  17. Oh, wow, there is a teepee design! And a riverboat! So we could build things that allow them to play out that they are studying! Awesome!

  18. Fort Magic looks awesome! My son has a little tent that we bought from Michaels when he was 4 and he still asks for it to be assembled so he can camp out in it, nevermind that he’s now 8 and barely fits in it!

  19. This would be my son’s batcave (and I might be happy about keeping my comforter on my bed for once 🙂 We would love to win this!

  20. What an awesome creative toy! I bet my kids (all four) would make the large fort and tunnel first. Man, this is going on my wish list if I do not win!

  21. My girls would defintely build a Castle in no time and it would be better for me there current fort building spot blocks me from my kitchen.

  22. Wow–Love it! Thinking of covert team building & cooperation with my teen boy & girl (don’t tell). Plus it just looks like awesome fun.

  23. SO, when my daughter finally gets this toy out of my hands, I know she will have a ball!!!
    Looks like so much fun!

  24. Wow! Fort Magic looks like so much fun! I think the first thing my son would like to build with this kit is the riverboat and paddle since he is studying Lewis and Clark right now and could pretend to explore the Missouri River.

  25. We’ve been studying Antarctic explorers lately, so I think my kids would love to make the mini-ship. This is a way cool idea for hours of fun!

  26. Wow! I was amazed at all the things you can make! My kids love turning the couch into a pirate ship or rocket. I can imagine all the fun they would have with this!

  27. Now this looks like a brilliant plan. My kids use end tables and pillows, but they are getting bigger, so it doesn’t work as well. Cardboard boxes aren’t as flexible. This would be a great tool for my kids’ imaginations!

  28. We used an older version of these at a local fair last year-they were a big hit. There’s no telling what structure mine would build first!

  29. I love how this would be an open-ended toy for my kids- they could build the different designs or create their own forts.

  30. My 9 & 10 year olds would LOVE this! My son is constantly building something. This could lead to hours of creative play and teamwork.

  31. This is so cool. If we had this set, my kids would probably build the alien spaceships at opposite ends of our basement and then use then to hide inside while shooting each other with nerf guns! I know my 18 y/o would totally get into doing this with his younger sister and brother!

  32. My girls (nearly 4 and nearly 2) rip apart my living room all the time to build forts. I started it by teaching them what my great grandma taught me on a rainy day. Looking at the designs, I am sure that we would build an airplane first…they both have a love of all things airplane at the moment.

  33. My 8 & 10 yr old kiddos would do either the rocketship or tepee if I had to guess. But probably just free style it most of the time. lol

  34. I love Fort Magic! It’s such a great open-ended toy that really lets kids use their imagination. I love how the structures are sturdy enough to be left up for a long time, or even moved from room to room. I know my daughter would love building the castle and rocket ship the most. Thank you for the chance to win!

  35. This looks so fun! My daughters would want to try building a house and my son would love the rocket ship! I can see Daddy getting roped into lots of building projects!!

  36. My daughter will probably build the pirate ship first. There are so many ideas on their site. She will want to build so many.

  37. My daughter would definitely make a playhouse first–and probably sleep in it, eat in it, and want me to sleep and eat in it for the next several days (or weeks…) !

  38. I have 3 girls. One of them would have a blast building things with this. I can see her making a riverboat then the other two playing in it. She loves building things with Legos reads the directions is very detailed the other two throw things together… Thanks for the chance to win!

  39. With our history lessons currently focused on frontier life, I can see my boys making a teepee and wagon to play! These look great! Thanks for the review and chance to win a set!

  40. My kids would love this! I think they would start out small first and build their own individual tents, like the space rockets. Once they realized they could put their tools together, they would move on to something much bigger so all 3 could fit into it at once!

  41. I was so excited when I saw this product! My almost 9 yo boy is constantly wanting to build forts out of old cardboard boxes and the clutter sometimes drives my dear hubby nuts 🙂 This would be a perfect solution — cool designs and the ability to easily clean it up when necessary! My son would probably enjoy building the fort and tunnel or the pirate ship. I think I would really love helping him with it!

  42. I have seen kits like this before but without the curved pieces – I bet that make it much more interesting! My kiddos would love it – so would daddy!

  43. What a fantastic looking product! My kids would have a blast with it, especially with how you can change things up. Awesome!!

  44. Wow! My boys would absolutely LOVE this product! I imagine they would build the teepee or canoe first, but the truth is, they probably wouldn’t follow the directions the first time around! This looks like something our whole family would enjoy. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

  45. I think the spaceship will be the first thing we will construct! I love the addition of the curved pieces! Thanks for the great giveaway!!!

  46. My boys would totally love this!!! They would probably start with making a pirate ship, but I would like to build the castle when we study about them in history next year. Such a neat product!

    1. And we would probably build the submarine first since my son we’re big Beatles fans over here and my son’s room is Yellow Submarine themed!

  47. My kids will love everything, but I have a feeling the teepee will be the first thing they build! Hope they can win!!

  48. I saw this recently and though how much my 4 boys would love it. They are always building forts using chairs, blankets, our table, and anything else they can think of. I think they would love to build the teepee shape as this is something they were talking about the other day.

  49. I really liked that the kids could do multiple layouts with the same kit – sometimes you don’t have that options with these sorts of things 🙂

  50. My girls love fort magic! We would love to win one for a dear friend who’s son would probably build a car first.

  51. Looking for a way to get my son who is 14 interacting more with his sister who is eight. And then there is their special needs cousin who is seven. Fun for all. Would love to win this. I already have a bunch of old sheets that I need to dye for play. Thanks for having this give away.

  52. My girls would build the castle! My friend has this product and her girls LOVE it. Would like to add it to our home 🙂

  53. I know all four of my kids would love this, because they’re always rigging up little lean-to’s around the living room furniture. But this kit would especially appeal to my 8-year-old, who wants to be an engineer when he grows up!

  54. A friend has one and her kids love it. I think my son would really gravitate toward the submarine or castle designs.

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