How to Make a Fabric Tent for a Toddler

Toddlers love to crawl in and out of spaces, or hide and play make believe. A homemade fabric tent is a perfect addition to your toddlers creative playtime, and it will often last longer than store-bought tents. This teepee-inspired fabric tent can be set up either indoors on cold, rainy days or outdoors to encourage imaginative play.

Instructions

1

Spread out the canvas and trim two of the corners with fabric scissors so that the fabric is in the shape of a large semicircle.

2

Decorate the canvas with fabric paint. Brush on colorful shapes and geometric designs. Dip your child's palm in different colors of paint, and press his hand onto the canvas to make a handprint pattern.

3

Lay a piece of cording along the base of the tent canvas. Cross the cording over itself to form six, equally spaced loops along the tent base. These loops will eventually hold the tent poles in place. Trim any excess rope.

4

Stitch the cording along with the loops to the canvas fabric with a sewing needle and thread. Start at one end of the cord. Push the needle and thread through the back of the fabric; pass the thread over the cord and back through the fabric to secure the cord in place.

5

Lay the poles together and join them with cord or heavy-duty rubber bands, approximately 4 inches from the end of the poles. Set up three of the poles like a tripod. Arrange the remaining poles in a conical, or tepee shape, on the ground.

6

Place the tent fabric over the conical tent frame; keep the sewn-on cording on the inside of the tent. Lift up each tent pole and slide it through the corresponding cord loop at the base of the tent.

7

Pull out the bottom of the poles to stretch the fabric and maximize the floor space inside the tent. Push the ends of the poles into the ground to hold the tent in place.

8

Wrap cord or heavy duty rubber bands around the canvas at the top of the tent frame to hold it in place.

9

Place blankets, pillows and your child's favorite toys inside the play tent.