Shelter Building
Do you have fond childhood memories of building a fort or a special hideout? Today’s featured nature-play activity is a guide to shelter building, a fun activity for kids of all ages in all seasons.
How to Build a Shelter:
Choose materials to build your shelter.
What are the materials that are available in the area where you plan to build your shelter?
Also, remember to follow the 3D rule (dead, down, and detached) when gathering materials.
Select a location for your shelter.
Are there natural items that you can use to make building your shelter easier, like a downed log or a big rock?
Pay attention to hazards, like cacti, poison ivy, or snakes and insects.
Plan a design for your shelter based on what is available.
For beginning shelter builders, we recommend building a basic lean-to shelter. To build a lean-to, start by leaning a long branch against a tree or a rock. From there, simply lean more branches along that one, creating a shelter. Once the basic structure is in place, you can add improvements like leaves or smaller sticks to keep out the elements.
More advanced shelter builders can try creating free-standing structures like log cabins or tents.
For detailed instructions on building a survival shelter, check out this article from our friends at the Wilderness Awareness School in Washington State.
Build your shelter and enjoy!
For safety, we ask children not to move sticks that are longer than their arm span without help.
Test your shelter: Once your shelter is complete, you can use a spray bottle or water bottle to create a test rainstorm to see if your shelter is watertight.
Remember to leave no trace and follow the rules of the natural area that you are visiting.
Modifications for Younger Children:
Build a mini shelter for a stuffy or a tissue creature (ball up a tissue and draw a face on it.) Use the same shelter-building techniques above but in miniature form. Younger kids get really excited about testing their shelter to see if it is watertight by checking if their stuffy or tissue creature remains dry when the shelter is sprinkled with a spray bottle or water bottle.
Thorne Instructional Video About Shelter Building:
Shelter Building at Golden Ponds
Does your child love to learn through hands-on activities like this? Thorne Nature Preschool in Boulder and Lafayette has a play-based learning philosophy that incorporates wild nature play activities like this often. We have just one space left for the coming school year and accept enrollment applications year-round for future school years.
Thorne Nature Preschool is for children ages 3-6 with locations in Boulder and Lafayette. Half and full-day options available. Thorne is a Colorado Universal Preschool provider.