Aquila Children's Magazine magnificentMegaMag-92pages | Page 11

THE KNEES-AND-ELBOWS* FORCE (*not an official name) Your pillow fort is going to get a few knocks and bumps – a knee here, an elbow there – and you don’t want it to collapse with general wear-and-tear! To fix this, you could: • Ensure objects are secured well, by using rubber bands, hair ties and pegs to hold them in place • Use books, or other heavy items, to prop up anything wobbly like cardboard walls • If something feels unsteady, don’t use it as a major support for anything else, instead use another support object nearby. Engineers and architects need to make sure a building is done right the first time, so they make lots of calculations to figure out the exact strength and direction of all the forces in their buildings. When building pillow forts, most of the statics can be done intuitively, and through trial and error. Putting it into practice: Get Building! Mind map Take some time to think about what sort of pillow fort you want to build. Do you want it to be light and airy, so you can read inside without torches? Dark and cosy so you can tell ghost stories till you fall asleep? As big as possible, regardless of everything else? As you go through the rest of the steps, you’ll need to make decisions (and maybe a few compromises). If you know what you want out of your pillow fort, and judge decisions against those criteria, you’re much more likely to end up with a fort that you love! Make a plan and gather materials Decide where you want to build your fort, and which major elements of your home you want to incorporate, such as sofas and tables. Gather your pillows, blankets, sofa cushions, smaller furniture and miscellaneous objects. Gather your pegs, rubber bands, mops and brooms. Assess your materials by their pros and cons: are they strong, weak, rigid, flimsy? Different materials will be useful in different ways. With all the fun of pillow fort building, it’s easy to get carried away. These tips will help keep you safe: • Don’t climb on anything that’s not sturdy enough to climb on normally • Keep hard, heavy objects near the ground, so they can’t fall on anyone’s head • One of the cool things about making pillow forts is that you’re using objects in ways they weren’t designed to be used. The downside is that perfectly safe objects can become dangerous if used differently. You can put a lot of weight on the seat of a chair, and yet only a little force pulling on the back of the chair can tip it over. If in doubt, rotate the chair so the forces are pulling forwards ★ Be very careful when using electrical equipment inside your fort. Lamps and stereos, which are normally perfectly safe, can become dangerous when surrounded by blankets and sheets. Never leave these items switched on inside your fort. • Now start planning! Where will your entrance be? What different rooms will you have? Check back with your mind map and balance what you want against what’s available! Get building! Start from the foundations up. Move in the biggest pieces of furniture, then start building the skeleton walls. Place any cushions or beanbags into the walls. Add extra support beams such as mops and brooms or light washing baskets. Finally, add cardboard, blankets and sheets for remaining walls, doors and ceilings. Things will almost certainly collapse at some point! Consider the situation and decide which force you think caused the collapse? Weight, tension… or a human bump? Then use the relevant engineering tips from the previous page to strengthen your fort. Finishing up: We would love to see your fantastic fort photos. Head to the readers’ page at aquila.co.uk/readers-page and follow the link to send in your letters, or send them in the post to our usual address! Add your final details – perhaps toilet roll periscopes or homemade flags – and bring in some entertainment, like books, art supplies or music.* Settle in and have fun! Words: Sylvia SAFETY: