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Get the Scoop on Secret Hideouts

Take a look at these books

Children's Special Places: Exploring the Role of Forts, Dens, and Bush Houses in Middle Childhood, by David Sobel. Wayne State University Press, 2003.
In this carefully researched and thought-provoking book, Sobel shows that kids in middle childhood have a deep need to carve out for themselves private places surrounded by other living things. Sobel worked with large groups of children in Devon, England and Carriacou, West Indies, and found strong parallels between them on this topic. He relates his findings to the work of Joseph Chilton Pearce and other psychologists. According to Pearce's model of human development, exploring and bonding with the earth between ages 7 and 11 is a necessary step between bonding with family and bonding with oneself.

Children's Special Places also includes examples of how this need can be addressed in school curricula. Although written primarily for an academic audience, the book is very readable and laced with evocative stories. A must-read for every caring parent.

A Kids' Guide to Building Forts, by Tom Birdseye; illustrated by Bill Klein. Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1993.

This short, easy-to-read book for ages 8-14 presents ideas and simple instructions for a variety of forts kids can safely build themselves. All they need is materials found around the house and yard, a few tools, and imagination. Helpful drawings inspire creative possibilities. A sure cure for boredom during summer vacation.