Keeping Boys Busy - Fort Magic {Review}

Keeping Boys Busy – Fort Magic {Review}

My boys have hit an age (5 and nearly 8 ) where they would rather spend a few hours punching each other and rolling around wrestling on the floor. It seems that the days of coloring books and building blocks are just distant memories. Even more frustrating the toys that once kept them entertained for hours have been cast aside for video games and expectations of hours of TV watching. A few months ago I gained a new Twitter follower – @FortMagic and was intrigued. I checked out their website and thought they had a really cool product that would keep my kids interested and busy.

It’s a fort kit! I spent so many hours when I was a kid building forts out of blankets, chairs and tables and knew that my boys would just eat up something like this. When we got the package in the mail they immediately hauled it to the basement and started to rifle through the box. Soon there were cries for mom and dad. Right out of the box I think they were a little overwhelmed. From the Fort Magic website;

Fort Magic Contains A Whopping 349 Pieces!

A single Fort Magic kit includes 142 straight and curved sticks – in seven different sizes that can build anything kids can think of! Each kit has 77 Connector Pieces in 5 varieties of shapes and sizes for unlimited kid-building fun!
Fort Magic also contains 130 Fabric and Accessory Clips! Securely fasten accessories or fabric covers to any fort design with NO SEWING!

349 pieces left them not sure where to start. So we picked one of the designs out of the instruction book that came with and started putting pieces together. MarocBaba has limited patience with projects like this and lacks the fort-wonder effect that I have so there was some grumbling.

With the help of mom and dad we were able to assemble a fun fort (though not the most creative if you ask me!) I think that my older son and some friends would be able to put this together quite easily and on their own. However for my younger son – he was more interested in tossing around the pieces and actually playing in it after it was built. Overall I have a mixed review.

Pros:

There are a lot of pieces so that means this can be reconfigured a LOT of different ways.

The kit comes with many fabric clips so that you can cover the tent. We used blankets – from thin blankets to heavy afghan blankets and all were able to attach and stay put.

It’s a really creative play toy. My boys haven’t taken it apart and rebuilt it but it’s been a spaceship, an actual camping tent, and a hideout for movie watching.

A good group activity. When the weather is nicer I could see packing this up and taking it to the park or even in our backyard. This would keep older kids busy for a long time.

Cons:

There are a lot of pieces! This is a pro and con – just make sure to keep everything together!

This product is better for older kids. Younger kids can benefit but older children will be able to build and take apart.

Space. You do need a decent size area to build in. We have a large basement that’s a play area – we use this area.

I see this as a great gift for a major holiday or for grandparents and/or caregivers. As mentioned, I think kids 7 and up would enjoy and be able to play constructively with this kit. Fort Magic has a really cool website with videos that show different designs for building. The kit normally sells for $279 but right now you can get it for $199.

Check them out on Facebook and Twitter too!