NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Kids Fort Building Kit - 135-Piece Indoor Fort Builder, Creative Play, STEM Building Toys for Kids Ages 6 7 8 9 10 11 12, Blanket Fort (Amazon Exclusive)

My buddies 7 year old loves this thing. Holy crap he loves this thing. He has forts everywhere he goes. Little dude is gonna be an engineer or an architect easily if that is the route he takes later in life. Until then, he is gonna keep having fun, and this is a part of it. -Parts plus extras were all there, and there are a ton. The blanket clips are flimsy, don't bother and just get some decent heavy general duty kind of spring loaded clamps from your hardware store or aisle. -This thing is fun to just take off on and let him work out how to make things stay standing up, and then stay up after he applies the blanket as a static load. -Overall quality is high. Nat Geo can get a little overboard with being chintzy sometimes, but this is not one of those times. -BYOB. Blanket y'all, blanket. Wouldnt be bad as a chill brew and book nook though. Might have to get little dude let me borrow it. But bring your own blanket, or tarp, or sheet, or even a branch roof if you feel squirrelly and creative. 10/10 rating from a 7 year old blur of finding out how things work.

As a special education teacher, I am always looking for toys that naturally build problem-solving, collaboration, and perseverance without feeling academic. I introduced the National Geographic Indoor Fort Building Kit (225 Pieces) to my 8-year-old nephew, and it has been one of the most engaging and developmentally supportive play sets we have used indoors. The open-ended design is the biggest strength. With rods and connectors that can be configured in countless ways, my nephew was able to plan, test, adjust, and rebuild his structures independently. From a special education perspective, this supports executive functioning skills such as planning, flexibility, and task persistence. When a structure didn’t work the first time, the kit encouraged trial-and-error rather than frustration. The STEM value is authentic and age-appropriate. Concepts like balance, stability, geometry, and spatial reasoning are explored naturally through play. My nephew began talking about which shapes were “stronger” and how to make walls taller without falling—clear evidence of applied learning. The pieces are lightweight but sturdy, making them easy for children to manipulate without adult assistance. Another major benefit is cooperative play. This kit works well for siblings, friends, or family members building together. It promotes communication, turn-taking, and shared problem-solving, which are essential social skills. Even when playing solo, my nephew remained engaged for long periods, often using blankets to turn his builds into forts or reading spaces. Cleanup and storage were also manageable. While there are many pieces, they are easy to stack and organize, and my nephew could help with cleanup—an important routine-building skill. The durability of the materials gives confidence that the set will hold up to repeated use. Overall, the National Geographic Indoor Fort Building Kit is an excellent investment in creative, hands-on learning. I would strongly recommend it to families, educators, and therapists looking for a screen-free STEM toy that supports creativity, problem-solving, and cooperative play—especially for children who benefit from tactile, construction-based learning experiences.

Comes with easy to follow directions. The tubes have some flexibility and are light weight so it doesn’t build super sturdy. We built the fort pictured on the box and some of the tubes kept popping out. Overall a fun project activity, I would recommend it.

All the kids loved it and immediately started building forts. Pretty durable and holds the blankets up very well. They did not need any help it was very easy to use. They have already used their imagination to build lots of different types of forts since Christmas.

It’s alright, the flex connectors are really flexible and that makes it honestly hard to build anything. Product needs to come with more stiffer connectors in order to build anything more than a square

Great product for my kids! My 11 year old was able to use very easily.

I got the 135-piece set as a Santa gift for our 7-year-old daughter, and I’ve regretted it ever since. My daughter has cut her finger twice while using it, and the structure is very unstable. She managed to build the only fort that fits her size, but it’s poorly designed. If you follow the ideas in the instructions, the structures are so small that they’re only suitable for a 2-year-old. I wish I could return it, but my daughter accidentally tore a piece of the box when opening it. Save your money and avoid this product!

For what seems like a lot of pieces, you can’t build a very big fort. Many joints need 2 pieces. We had a NG fort kit many years ago and that was a much better product. I understand the idea behind some of the pieces, but in practice, they are extremely difficult to put together. They pop out constantly and you spend most of your time rebuilding what you’d already done. Definitely not worth the price tag.