Kids get creative with 'Forts' exhibit

Every hour the “Forts” exhibit at Chicago Children's Museum looks different. Young visitors like to make the space their own, hanging multicolored fabrics across chairs, a balcony, doors and a backless cabinet as they stake out areas to play pretend.

“What we're really trying to do is give kids the opportunity to create their own little worlds and live inside them,” said exhibit developer Katie Slivovsky. “There's a lot of things that being in your own fort does for you. It's your own space, in your own world, where you set the environment.”

This is the second version of “Forts,” which originally ran in January 2009. The current exhibit runs through Sept. 5, giving summer audiences the chance to experience it for the first time. Outside the exhibit is a display of blueprint-style designs of ideal forts that visitors to the original “Forts” exhibit created.

The exhibit was developed by the Chicago Children's Museum and other museums have since expressed interest in setting up their own versions. One reason Slivovsky said the exhibit has been so successful is that parents seem to enjoy the exhibit as much as the kids. She said some parents have said the exhibit gave them ideas for building forts with their children at home.

“It so connects with the adults' memories of building forts,” she said. “Some parents sit on the comfortable couches, sometimes they're right in there building the fort. We thought if the parents are comfortable, the kids can stay longer.”

Most visitors stop at “Forts” for about 15 minutes and then move on to the museum's other attractions, but Slivovsky said she's seem some families stay for up to 90 minutes.

“This kind of experience really speaks to some kids,” she said. “It's such an unexpected surprise when people come and think, ‘Wow, I can shape this place.'”

Much of the furniture is covered in pegs that perfectly fit with the small loops attached to the fabric, allowing visitors to build quickly. The space is also equipped with plenty of items kids can integrate into their buildings and play, like hanging chalkboards, a basket filled with strips of fabric, giant bug toys, maps, a ring of keys, spoons and abstract plush toys.

Slivovsky said the exhibit sticks to items that don't have an obvious role the way a baby doll would, and she has been impressed with the creative ways kids have integrated them into their play. A trivet has been used as a place for pots, but also as a wall hanging and a mask. Two-foot rubber hoses have been hung from knobs as decorations or used as a whisper tube between forts.

“It's all in the mind of the child,” Slivovsky said.

Much of the space is handicapped accessible and there are also pull-up bars to allow very young visitors to get involved. Slivovsky said that young children like to play in forts that have already been mostly built, while older kids enjoy crafting their own. Staff members regularly go through the space to reset items, including putting back couch cushions that often get pulled into forts.

Along with encouraging creativity, Slivovsky said “Forts” teaches kids about working cooperatively.

“There's some sharing that has to happen,” she said. “There's problem-solving. Siblings have to get along, and you have to get along with strangers. This is life.”

“Forts”

Where: Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, (312) 527-1000, chicagochildrens museum.org

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays through Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays; through Sept. 5

Admission: $12; $11 seniors; free from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursdays