Construct a Quick Mini Tent for Play

This is not Pinterest beautiful, but it’s super easy to make as an addition for children’s play, especially for small toys like Lego and plastic figurines. This took me about 3 minutes to make.

Materials

• Twigs
• Rubber Band
• Scrap material (or paper)
• Glue

1. Grab 4 sticks and break to similar sizes.
2. Hold the twigs together and tie a rubber band around the tops.
3. Position twigs out in a tee pee shape (two twigs at the front and two at the back)
4. Cut a section of scrap material (or paper) approximately to size (doesn’t have to be perfect because you will trim in the next step).
5. Wrap the material around the back sticks and fold over inside the front two sticks and glue. This will leave an opening in the front.
6. That’s it. Play on.

 

About teepees

tepee or tipi: Tall tent dwelling used by the Plans Indians. It was suited to their nomadic life of buffalo hunting, because it could be easily folded and dragged by a horse. It was made by stretching dressed and fitted buffalo skins over a skeleton of 20– 30 wooden poles, all slanted in toward a central point and tied together near the top. A flap at the top allowed smoke to escape, and a flap at the bottom served as a doorway¹. 

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I like the idea of nomad living. Interestingly, when I was doing some research about teepees, I discovered the teepee was owned by the woman. She was in charge of where to put and also in charge of behaviour inside the teepee. So if the people inside the teepee didn’t do what she said, they had to leave the teepee². Traditional teachings say the teepee itself is like a woman and the home is a reflection of  how women are treated. A woman’s home can be warm, nurturing, caring like a warm fire or on the other hand, it can be destructive like fire. This signifies the power, responsibilities, and rights to determine the environment in a woman’s own domain and what is allowed inside the tepee³.

References

1. Carlson, Paul H.. Plains Indians. College Station, TX, USA: Texas A & M University Press, 1998. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 28 June 2016.

2. Encyclopaedia Britannnica, Inc.. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (1). Chicago, US: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2006. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 28 June 2016.

3. “Traditional teachings say that the teepee is like a woman. How a home is kept reflects how women are treated.” Canadian Woman Studies 26.3-4 (2008): 5. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 29 June 2016.

More

Play scene ideas

More Stick Play Ideas

Twig Ladder

Stick Raft Boat

Stick Bow and Arrow

Paint Sticks

Backyard “Campfire” for play

Snake on a stick craft

Stick Wind Chime