Wonder Mission: Build a DIY Beach Fort
ADD SOME WONDER TO YOUR FAMILY BEACH EXPERIENCE
Try out a mission on the beach! Set up one of these forts and see how it changes the experience with your family on the sand. Level up and play around in new ways and see what adventures you might go on.
This illustration was made by Hana Hwang for The Castaway’s Life, a Wonder Book, published during the pandemic where children could play an immersive adventure at home.
Why building a beach fort is a great idea:
It creates shade and protects your family from the sun.
It gives you a sense of privacy.
It helps you feel homey on the beach.
You get to build something together.
It is always nice to create a little temple wherever you go!
What you need:
2 blankets (one for the roof and one for the floor)
Long sticks or logs that you can find on the beach.
Some string/ twine (and some scissors, knife or lighter to cut it).
Some clothes pins or hair ties (to tie things together).
Rocks
OPTIONS:
There are as many options as you can imagine… provided that you can build something that stands! We love creative challenges that require some mechanical skills as reality checks… That’s what makes the wonder real! Don’t get overwhelmed: it’s just about being patient, testing things out, and finding the balance! Here are some basic shapes for your cabana:
The Table Style Fortress:
Put four logs in the sand and tie the blanket to their corners. To make sure the logs don’t fall, make a big hole in the sand, and add wet sand as you place the log inside it to secure it.
The Half-Triangle Style Cabana:
Perhaps this one is the easiest and the one that provides the most shade. It is very convenient when you are building a cabana next to some bushes, a wall, or some rocks. You need two main logs or sticks. If you are using sticks, do the tripod trick (see below). Once your blanket is tied to these two logs, you need to create space.
To bring depth to your Half-Triangle Style Cabana, you can:
- Add another log or tripod to the back of the blanket
- Tie the two other corners of the blanket to two smaller sticks buried in the sand, or tie them to a string (and then tie the string to two small sticks buried in the sand, to some bushes, or whatever structure you can find)
- Secure the back part of the cabana with rocks. But on windy days, this doesn’t work very well.
The Triangular Tent:
This one is more difficult than it seems because it requires securing the four corners of your blanket to the sandy floor. It also requires a very large blanket. First build two tripods and place the blanket on top. Then, follow the instructions from The Half-Triangle Style Cabana to secure the corners to the surface.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
WIND: check the wind first! Don’t try to go against it.
SHADE: Check the shade first!
TRIPOD TRICK : Put three sticks together as a tripod and tie them with a hair tie.
WET SAND: This is the “wonder” cement.
HOW TO TIE A STRING TO A FABRIC: Take a corner of the fabric, wrap a small rock inside it, and then pass the string around it. Now the string wont slip!
EXTRA: THE CASTAWAY’S LIFE
Since we are in the mood, why not becoming castaways on a lost island?
Some beach sarongs can transform your kids in seconds, and bring the wonder all of a sudden!
