Philips and Disney Imaginative Lighting would love to see your photos of and tips for den building - £100 Amazon voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

The folks at Philips and Disney Imaginative Lighting would love to see photos of the dens that Mumsnetters' DCs have built.

Here's what Philips and Disney Imaginative Lighting say "Building dens can be lots of fun for children, and we'd love to hear about your children’s imaginary den worlds. Do they use everyday objects to enhance their imaginary world? Do they ever use light to enhance their playtime? We'd love to see and hear about your DC's dens”

Please post a photo of one of your DC's dens here, if you have one.

If you don't have any photos to share, do you have any top tips for den-building?

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw, where one Mumsnetter will receive a £100 Amazon voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Philips and Disney Imaginative Lighting's social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

PS: For some more inspiration, just check out the Philips and Disney Imaginative Lighting dens "how to" page here

My two love building dens and it is a rare day that I don't come back into the living room to find the sofa cushions off and a blanket thrown across them in a makeshift den but they enjoy it most when we have time to shift the furniture around and make a proper one.

The picture of the inside den was made one very rainy day and they spent most of the day in it, reading, drawing, playing and picnic-ing and had a great time, the one from outside was one my son (6) built for his sister (3) during our holidays and she had fun dragging him in and making him join in for her 'tea parties'

They do enjoy using light when they make dens early in the morning from duvets etc and will use torches or borrow one of our camping lights to make their home but mostly it is whatever materials are to hand- as long as there is a blanket, towel or duvet and something to stretch it over they are away!

Wow I've just been to a large toy shop, and they had a 'den making kit' consisting of a sheet and some little pole things - £40! I couldn't believe it.

The elastic tip is genius.

We make dens at forest school no pics sorry. The main thing is to just encourage. Even a blanket over the head is a den

We layer branches in a circle to make a tepee! All natural and lots of fun

we run a glamping site in our woods and although my kids often make dens we are always excited to see what creations the children of the guests have made. Sometimes they have dismantled and re-made, but often over the season a small den will grow and grow until it is quite magnificent by October (I suspect some of the dads have been joining in too)

at home, they make a den with blankets over the slide in the living room. they also like playing in the travel play pen which I kept as ds uses it as his womb space. it has a roof section that can be clipped in.

when they were younger I made a den out of two clothes horses and a sheet. they loved that.

at my mothers, I have clipped the hedge so that there is a space underneath for sitting in. I am gradually growing it out longer. I also clipped another hidey hole between/under two bushes and paved with broken slabs left over from one of dads projects. the children have made stepping stones with some of the smaller bits so they can get across the mud.

We love going to the woods for den building. If you have odds and ends in your garden shed, these can be very useful, e.g. small pieces of corrugated iron or wood.

It is lovely to see the kids being creative and gathering sticks etc in the woods and discussing good designs etc.

My DS likes to sit under a couple of chairs covered with a large sheet. He puts a cushion in there and likes to eat porridge in there, pretending to be Abney from Abney and Teal!!

Our dens go something like this....fairy lights sellotaped to the underside of the dining table, single quilt on the carpet underneath, two king sized sheets sellotaped to the top of the table to make the cover.
Make rainy days fun.
They usually get to eat their dinner in there.

It's almost worth having a dining table just to use as a den frame. I have an enormous bed spread that we don't use anymore but is kept specifically for covering the table with when they want to build a den. Add several pillows, some snacks, books and a torch and they're hAppy in There for hours. A couple of times, I've given them a pic nic lunch to take in there and they've had such a good time that it's been worth sweeping up the crumbs afterwards

Everything goes is my tip. We tend to make use of anything around the house that is suitable, including chairs, tables, tents, the bed. It's actually pretty fun

we turned out garage into a haunted house for DS' birthday (he's a halloween baby) - since then the DC have taken over and built upon the millions of balloons and drooping spiderwebs - they've hung fairy lights among the battery powered LED candles and made a weird Nightmare Before Christmas Creation!

In our house, it's only a good den, if every available cushion, blanket, pillow, etc. has been removed from its original position. I've tried to find a photo but I generally try to get them to tidy it up quickly, rather than keep photographic evidence...

well a couple of chairs, lots of cushions, long bits of fabric and a torch is al that is required for hours of fun. Over the summer, the children built an outside den with sticks and grass and all sorts. That was even better, apparently.

Encourage them to use whatever they like BUT they must check it's ok with you first - don't leave lights giving off heat under dens for too long (speaking from experience of a desk light plugged under a bed leading to a singed mattress!)

My dc love the old fashioned sheets over a close horse type den just like I did as a child.

I have to look for the photo, but we had a spontaneous Pirate Party one, rainy afternoon not long ago, so I attached a big, white sheet to the light fixture to make a sail, and put pillows underneath for the "ship" part. We also took the cardboard from loo rolls and taped two or three together to make telescopes. The kids loved it. I'll dig through my photos to see if I can find the one I took!

Nothing better on a rainy/cold day than den building in the lounge. We pull all the cushions off the couch to build the walls and then throw a blanket over the top for a roof.

For our DC, no den is complete without a torch. Then we play "What's coming?" Where one of us sneaks up from outside then den being different animals (crocodile, butterfly...) whilst the other waits inside to be sneaked up on and tickled.

The cushions inevitably end up strewn all across the floor and then make great stepping stones!

Dens in this house are made big as 2 toddlers need room to both fit in and chase each other around!
I use the whole back of the living room, draping sheets and duvet covers over shelving units and using chairs as props!

Blanket den

Thank you for all your posts and photos :)

The winner of the prize draw is Fatcakes - congratulations! I will PM you shortly for your details.