A Real-Life Epic Minecraft Fort

August turned seven this year, and he wanted a Minecraft-themed birthday party. We invited his friends for an afternoon at our house with pizza and cake, and an epic real-life Minecraft fort!

Full credit for this idea goes to Brandon, who ordered two dozen large, plain moving boxes and plastic tablecloths with a grass print to make Minecraft blocks. The best technique we found was to staple the tablecloth along the top four corners, then cut out a wavy hem to wrap around the top sides and secure with packing tape. Brandon also covered giant sheets of foamcore that we had on hand with the same pattern, and used one additional tablecloth with a wooden board design for ‘oak planks’. (Foamcore that large can be hard to find and/or expensive, FYI. Blankets would work just fine too.)

Stacking the boxes three high made the fort just the right size, and I have to admit it looked pretty magical if you were kid-sized to run through the twists and turns! I’m big on letting kids guide their own play, but we did want to make sure there was an engaging activity at the party so that guests weren’t feeling bored. We all worked together to set up the fort, they played, took a break in the middle for lunch and cake, and then we rearranged the fort for them to play some more until the party was done.

The kids loved the freestanding pet gate we brought out to serve as an entrance!

“Pixel” tools and weapons (these and these) were the props that extended the fun of the fort. We also added a big plush cube TNT pillow (a present that doubled as party decor), and I whipped up a quick wrapper to make a few smaller TNT boxes from red jumbo kids’ building blocks.

The worst part of hosting a party at home is typically the clean-up, but this wasn’t too bad! Stack the boxes up again, and the majority of the mess was taken care of. I’m on a big cleaning and clearing out kick, so we’ll reuse the boxes to gather up donations. They’d be handy for storage too, and there are always families looking for moving boxes that could use them.

If you have a Minecraft-loving kid and need a birthday party activity, this is a great one!