Fold-down fort -- Tiny Yellow House

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By Becky Stern
Posted 2010/11/23 @ 8:04 am
Category General, Kids & Family

Derek “Deek” Diedricksen is at it again with a special MAKE episode of Tiny Yellow House. This time, he shows you how he made a fold-down fort for the kids using mostly recycled materials. It’s great for a small kids’ play area as it folds up against the wall and transforms into a fun art piece while stowed.

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4 Responses to Fold-down fort — Tiny Yellow House

Math Campbell on November 23rd, 2010 at 4:26 pm said:

I won’t be building this myself, since I lack walls that take any weight, and children to play in it, but I have to say this is a neat little project, but more than that it’s awesome to see Deek on Makeâ€¦.

I hope to see many many more videos from Deek being done for Make. He’s like a Make God.

And he’s funny.

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migpics on November 23rd, 2010 at 11:27 pm said:

I really like this but having two little one’s who would go crazy for this I would add a few of improvements.
1. The horizontal board is probably at eye level for some kids so I’d go for adding some padding on the corners (yes I know Make advocates poking an eye out but I’ll wait till my kids are a bit older.)
2. My kids tend to hang on things, so I don’t know if that eye screw on top would hold a screaming 20lb 2 year old when they’re hanging on the end of it. Maybe beef up the eye screw or add two ropes to the corners like the original little yellow house drawing.
3. The little yellow house uses this fort like a table which gives access to the shelf on the wall. With kids, it may be a little difficult to reach up to the wall to get those. Keep a stool handy so they can reach the stuff and again reinforce the table somehow because with a stool, you know they’re going to be standing on it.

Great concept and looking forward to giving it a shot!

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migpics on November 23rd, 2010 at 11:29 pm said:

I really like this but having two little one’s who would go crazy for this I would add a few of improvements.
1. The horizontal board is probably at eye level for some kids so I’d go for adding some padding on the corners (yes I know Make advocates poking an eye out but I’ll wait till my kids are a bit older.)
2. My kids tend to hang on things, so I don’t know if that eye screw on top would hold a screaming 20lb 2 year old when they’re hanging on the end of it. Maybe beef up the eye screw or add two ropes to the corners like the original little yellow house drawing.
3. The little yellow house uses this fort like a table which gives access to the shelf on the wall. With kids, it may be a little difficult to reach up to the wall to get those. Keep a stool handy so they can reach the stuff and again reinforce the table somehow because with a stool, you know they’re going to be standing on it.

Great concept and looking forward to giving it a shot!

PS I agree with Campbell, looking forward to seeing Deek on more make videos.

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- Phlamingo on November 29th, 2010 at 10:27 am said:
  
  Good point about kids hanging on it. You need some fold-down legs to really give it the safety factor you are looking for.
  
  Reply ↓