Tag Archives: build

Luxury Loft

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It’s warm breezes and beautiful views in your custom story time tree fort! Shimmy up the ladder, try the rope swing, or just chill out on your plant-covered patio. Imagine it…then create it!

We read Secret Tree Fort by Brianne Farley (Candlewick, 2016). When two sisters are sent outside the house, big sister immediately starts reading, much to the chagrin of little sister, who wants to play. Irritated, little sister begins describing her secret tree fort that the big sister will NEVER get to see. As her descriptions become more and more grand (rope ladder, snack basket, water-balloon launcher, and underwater whale watching room), big sister believes her less and less. Called out, little sister finally admits it’s not real. But sweet big sister offers to help her build it, and they happily sit down together to draw up plans.

We loved the idea of drawing plans and then building, so we started our hands-on project by inviting kids to draw their tree forts…

And then we offered all the supplies to build it. Behold, cat fort!

Our supplies included toilet paper and paper towel tubes, craft sticks, wooden coffee stirrers, wooden beads, construction paper, fabric flowers, green tissue paper, and twine. We use brown craft boxes, paper cups, and some boxes left over from a 2023 gingerbread architecture program!

The results were amazing! From an elevated village:

To a preserve built to feed one young architect’s stuffed giraffe collection:

To this towering skyscraper of a fort in bold yellow with impeccable landscaping!

One quick hint: The forts absolutely depend on having a solid base. We recommend using cake circles, cake pads, or corrugated cardboard rectangles to keep everything firmly grounded. And hot glue. LOTS of hot glue!

The Brick is Afoot

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Leave it to LEGO to bring the iconic Baker Street right to your bookshelf! With all your favorite characters, nods to the books, and even some hidden surprises, it’s the perfect set for fans of history’s most famous consulting detective. In collaboration with the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate and exclusive to Barnes & Noble, it also doubles as a book nook! LOVE.

The set retails for $130, and clocks in at 1359 pieces. While it is slated for 18+ builders, I definitely think kids can put it together with some assistance. Mostly, it’s the amount of pieces and some semi-tricky moving elements that caused me to goof up during the various stages of my LEGO journey. Otherwise, it was a very straightforward build experience (which is always top notch when it comes to LEGO).

The instruction booklet has an absolutely wonderful preface that touches on the history of the Holmes books, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the various characters. There’s even a little mystery right off the bat as you tuck a significant object into Watson’s tiny briefcase! And speaking of Minifigures:

Look at Irene Adler! She’s wearing proper little white gloves! But I really started to nerd out when I got to the section that included Holmes’ study:

Recognize the painting over the mantle? It’s Sidney Paget’s illustration of Reichenbach Falls from The Final Problem! There’s also the Dancing Man code, and “RACHE” from A Study in Scarlet. The folks at LEGO really did their homework, and very thoughtfully scattered interesting facts and book connections into the build instructions.

I was also absolutely delighted at one of the final details of the set. A silhouette of Holmes, which mimics the classic book cover.

There are a couple little surprises in this set, but I’m not going to reveal them here. This would be the perfect gift for a current Holmes fan, or pair it with a set of books to inspire the next generation of readers! Five out of five stars!

Treetop Architects

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Design you own tree house complete with tire swing, water bucket, and stunning views of the verdant foliage. Best of all, it can be crafted with just about anything!

We read The Tree House that Jack Built, written by Bonnie Verburg and illustrated by Mark Teague (Orchard Books, 2014). Jack lives in a tree house with his animals friends who cavort and cause a bit of mischief throughout the day. But when it’s bedtime, everyone settles in for a peaceful night of moonlight and ocean waves. Raucous and then relaxing, this is an especially awesome bedtime story choice!

You’ll need:

  • An assortment of small boxes, toilet paper tubes, and paper towel tubes
  • 1 flat corrugated cardboard base (we used a 9.5″ x 13.5″ cake pad)
  • Green poster board
  • Scissors, glue and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

Building off your corrugated cardboard base, simply hot glue boxes, toilet paper, and paper towel tubes in whatever way works for you! We also offered natural craft sticks, wooden letters (leftover from this project), stickers, fabric flowers, and green paper crinkle for added texture. The results were fabulous!

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Note: the tire swing is a little snippet of foam pipe insulator you can get in the plumbing section of Lowe’s or Home Depot. It was definitely a big hit! And if you’re looking for a slightly more fantastical spin on this project, please see our fairy houses. Or at the very least, check out Katie’s hilarious real estate listings at the end of the post!