Play tents - any good?

[StargazyDrifter]

It seems that a play tent is something a lot of toddlers have in their rooms. I’m slightly struggling to think how they might use one though, and would welcome all thoughts on whether it’s a good purchase. Thank you in advance! 😊

My 3 year old doesnt have one in her room but we have one that occasionally gets put up in the living room. She pretends to go camping or pretend it's a rocket and just generally messes around in it. She always wants me to get in too so I would say get one big enough that an adult can get in without being too uncomfortable

My son has an aldi teepee that I bought when he was 2. He's now 5 and still uses it. We put fairy lights blankets cushions in it for a cosy reading den, sometimes he piles all his stuffed toys in it, sometimes it's a ship, a tree house, a cave. It's an open ended resource really. Most nurseries have a den of some sort.

This year we bought a small pop up UV tent for the garden which has kept them amused to use as den or to eat lunch in.

I got mine in Aldi and it's 2 tents with a tunnel in middle. They love crawling through it and going wild, sitting in there with their toys and eating their lunch in there.

My DS loves his ikea one (like a circus tent) which he got for his first birthday - it’s got cushions and blankets in so is comfy to sit/crawl in and has been used constantly.
It was cheap and definitely worth it. He’s approaching 2 and he likes reading in it, throwing his balls inside, using it as a garage/pool/zoo etc in imaginative play, and we tidy toys away inside before bedtime. He does make me lie/sit inside sometimes which is a bit cramped.

We had a set of pop up tents, they lived behind a sofa and were regularly played with for many years. The cross shaped tube tent was the most fun (used to put the others coming off the ends) even our Labrador would get in and snuggle on cushions!!

Ooh this does sound like a lot of fun! Some excellent tips on here - from making sure it’s roomy enough to connecting tunnels to UV protection so we can also use it outside. Thank you all! 😊 I think I know what sort of thing we need now, and why!