When I was a child I loved nothing more than building dens, sometimes they were in the house and as I got older my brother and I used to go up the fields and build dens. In this day and age though where technology rules our lives it seems that children prefer to spend their times on games consoles, watching tv or going on the internet.
We were asked if we would like a Den Kit provided by Sky Kids so we could build an indoor den and hopefully get my daughter away from technology even if it is for just a little while.
When the kit arrived I was in complete shock, we received a white wooden toy box and inside there was everything we would need to build a den including 2 Mr Bump Teddies/pillows, Mr Strong and Mr Happy teddy/travel pillows, a double sheet, a bag with ropes and pegs, a Mr Men large fleece blanket, Mr Tickle grow your own runner beans, Mr Men and Little Miss Colouring Set, Mr Men and Little Miss coloured pencils, Mr Happy and Little Miss Sunshine Lunchbox and cup, and an iPad cover.
My daughter is 8 and I thought maybe this would be a bit to ‘kid’ for her as I was planning on building the den with my step grandchildren who are a bit younger however she does like the Mr Men and Little Miss so that didn’t pose a problem.
We took everything out of the toy box and I asked her where and how she was going to build her den.
She decided to build it in the dining room to start with using the four dining chairs as supports for the sheet.
So first thing she did was drape the sheet over the chairs, making sure that the back of the den was covered to the floor but that she had an opening on the front of it. To stop the sheet slipping she used the pegs and pegged the sheet to the top of the chairs.
When she was happy with her structure she laid the flooring using the Mr Men fleece blanket. She then placed all of the pillows into the den and others too and took her fleece in there too so she could make a bed.
When she was completely happy with it she settled down and done some colouring, reading and chilling for a while. That was until she decided that she could make her den bigger if she made it in the living room. So off she went destroying her first den and moving everything into the living room and rebuilt it.
As we have the toy box we can put everything away in there and it doesn’t take up much space at all. She can now build a den whenever she wants and I think my step grandchildren are going to love building dens the next time they come to visit too.
Disclaimer: We received the Den Kit in exchange for this post.
We love building dens too!! My boys have suddenly developed an obsession with tents as well, camping has been requested for our next family mini break! H x
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