Tag Archives: plan

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!

When Wily Woodpeckers Want Waffles

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The story time diner is open, and delicious waffles await! Your mission: to get the woodpecker to the table…by any means possible!

We read Woodpecker Wants a Waffle by Steve Breen (HarperCollins, 2016). Benny the Woodpecker makes every attempt to taste the waffles at Moe’s Diner, but is consistently thwarted by a stern waitress. The other animals laugh at Benny, but he’s determined not to give up. He hatches an incredibly complicated plan to get into Moe’s (juggling, dancing, cannons, fireworks, etc.). The next day, a crowd of animals arrive to see Benny’s crazy plan in action, but he is nowhere in sight. The herd draws the intrigue of the diner customers, who step outside to stare at the animals…leaving the restaurant unguarded. Benny walks right in. Success! The delicious waffles are all his, and they are well worth the effort!

You’ll need:

  • 1 box (ours was 9” x 4 ½” X 4 ½” but a large tissue box works too!)
  • 1 smaller box that fits inside the larger box (ours was 4″ x 4″ x 2″)
  • 2 toilet paper tubes
  • A selection of construction paper
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

This is essentially a toss game, with the goal of getting the two toilet paper tube characters into the diner to enjoy waffles. We folded up the lid of a large craft box to create the sign for our diner, and couldn’t resist adding a large picture window, tissue paper shrubs, star stickers, and patterned wallpaper. The toilet paper tube characters can be decorated with construction paper and markers.

Inside the diner is a small box that serves as a table – just make sure there’s space around the table for the the toilet paper tube characters during the toss game!

Want to try another variation on the game? Have one person close their eyes and “guard” the diner, while another tries to sneak the woodpecker to the table without being heard!