Play Tent

Being a kid I loved play tents. I never had one officially but we did make temporary ones to play. When my daughter started growing up and playing by self I wanted to create one for her. I really wanted to satisfy my craving for a cute tent. 

So the first one was built even before she was a year old. Though she did not understand the concept, she kind of used it to play peek-a-boo or at times just hide from us. I never posted it here. It was build by a window and was very tall with small shiny things hung in it to keep her entertained. This was built in the house where we stayed before moving into our own. 

After moving into our house, I started browsing for tent options. I did not want a permanent one. Not too big. I should be able to keep an eye on her from the kitchen. And so on were my conditions. I was pretty impressed with the PVC pipe tent ideas on Pinterest. I really wanted to do one. We even went and checked the pipes. But we had after thoughts and dropped the idea.

Finally, two weeks back I figured out an easy and temporary solution for the Play Tent. We have put the sofa in the living room as an L-shape and the back of the two seater faces the kitchen. I decided that the tent should be built at the back of the sofa so that I can keep a watch on her when I am in the kitchen and it would not be visible from the entry to the house as well.

And it was done!

Can you make out what it is? No? Okay, let's see the details. It is semi-circular and big enough for my lil one to sleep with her doll in it (which she often does) :-)

This is the framework. Very simple!

I removed the flexible bars of her play gym and secured it to the back of the sofa in a semi-circle. Before securing it, I slid two PVC T-connectors into it. The connector was hubby's idea.

Into the T-connector I fixed two PVC pipes (painted it white too). 

Then I cut out the shape similar to the top portion of the tent, from an old foam bed. Sewed up a cheerful cover for it.

Sewed in two cords to the foam and secured the pipes in position.

See, it stays in place and does not slide of.

Draped a lovely, see-through cloth over the frame. 

And my (her) tent was ready!

The best part about it is that it is very easy to be taken apart and rebuilt everyday. Just take out the pipes from the connector along with the foam. The top portion falls flat to the back of the sofa. So simple. To build it back, I just need to put the pipe ends in the connectors.