All kids love a magical place where they can play and let their imaginations run wild. And with Summer around the corner it’s the perfect time to make a simple A-frame play tent using electrical conduit and brightly colored bandanas. The kids will love it and you can put one together in an afternoon.

DIY Bandana play tent. A perfect little hide-away for the kids this summer. #kids #bandana #playtent

What You Need to Make a Play Tent

  • Spray paint
  • Some ribbon or string
  • 16 bandanas (if you can’t find any bandanas you can use a sheet or tarpaulin at least 2 m long and 1.06 m wide or  2 1/4 yards long and 41 3/4″ wide
  • electrical conduit fittings
    • 25 mm or 1″ electrical PVC conduit pipe. You need enough to cut four pieces measuring 104 cm or 41″ and one piece measuring 106 cm or 41 3/4″
    • 2 3-Way Elbow PVC Fittings

Since I really struggled to find some 3-way Elbow fitting so I used the following instead. You’ll need to of each

  • PVC male ends with lock rings (25 mm or 1″)
  • PVC circular lids and
  • 2-way PVC circular boxes (25 mm or 1″)

Making the Frame

Use a hack saw to cut the conduit pipe into four pieces measuring 104 cm and one piece measuring 106 cm. Make a hole in the top of the 2-way circular boxes and insert the male ends into the holes from the outside. Push the longer electrical pipe into the male end and secure the male ends inside the circular boxes with the lock ring. Spray all the electrical bits (pipes, male ends, circular lids and 2-way boxes) in any bright happy colour.

Cut the pipe and spray

Cut the pipe and spray

Here’s a close up of the lock ring inside the 2-way circular boxes. The lock ring screws onto the male end, which is inserted into the circular box and the longer PVC pipe fits into the male end which is outside the box. If you use the 3-way elbow fittings you can just ignore this piccy.

lock ring inside the circular 2 way box

Close up of the lock ring inside the circular 2-way box

To finish off the frame push the shorter pieces into the 3-way elbow or 2-way circular box and screw on the circular lids. I have no idea how a box can be circular but that’s what it’s called 😎

Putting it all together

Putting it all together

Making the Tent Cover

Sew all the bandanas together to form a large square, four bandanas by four bandanas. I didn’t want the seams to show where I joined the bandanas, so I folded the large square of bandanas in half and sewed the long end closed. If you’re using a piece of material then you don’t need to worry about this step.

Zia keeping watch over the bandana tent cover

Zia keeping watch over the bandana tent cover

Cut the ribbon or string into ten pieces that are 18 cm or 7″ long and sew them to the tent cover as shown below.

Attaching the ribbon to the tent cover

Attaching the ribbon to the tent cover

Putting It All Together

All that’s left to do is tie the tent cover to the PVC pipe A-frame and the kids can start playing.

Tie the canvas to the tent poles

Tie the canvas to the tent poles

Our fur kids love the tent!!

 DIY Bandana play tent. A perfect little hide-away for the kids this summer. #kids #bandana #playtent

DIY Bandana play tent. A perfect little hide-away for the kids this summer. #kids #bandana #playtent

And the human kids have a little place they can call their own where their imaginations can go wild!!!

 DIY Bandana play tent. A perfect little hide-away for the kids this summer. #kids #bandana #playtent

Taking It All Down Again

This A-frame tent is really easy to assemble and when the kids aren’t playing just take the frame apart and roll it up or you can use the tent cover as a play mat 🙂

Easy to take down and store

Easy to take down and store

I’m so happy with how it turned out and I can’t wait for all the little ones to come play. If you like the idea don’t forget to share.

 DIY Bandana play tent. A perfect little hide-away for the kids this summer. #kids #bandana #playtent

Pinny Please

Oh before I forget, see that no-sew, little heart shaped bandana pillow in the piccy above? This one here?

No Sew Bandana Heart Pillow

Those are super easy to make too, you can get the tutorial here. It’s a fun additional to the bandana play tent. If you’d like to make one and don’t want to go to all that trouble of finding the materials, I’ve got you covered Disclosure: If you click on the links below, we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us fund our crafting habit 😉 

 

FORMUFIT P001FGP-WH-5 Schedule 40 PVC Pipe, Furniture Grade, 5', 1' Size, White
Alotpower 12 Pack Riding Bandanas Headbands Handkerchiefs for Outdoor Activities,Mint Green
FORMUFIT 1' 3-Way Elbow Furniture Grade PVC Fitting in White, Made In USA, UV-Resistant, Impact-Proof, 1.315' Actual Socket Diameter (Pack of 4) - F0013WE-WH-4

And as always wishing you a beautiful crafting week.

Made with love by a Crafty Mix

 

 

 

P.S I tried to give the measurements in both mm and inches to make it easier for all the beautiful people from the States who come and visit the blog. Please double check my inches and yards if you want to make the tent. It took me longer to figure what the correct measurements should be, but you guys are worth it!! In fact it was quicker making the tent, putting it up, taking the photos and taking it down again. Go figure………