Currently Ngā Wawata students are competing in a Fort building challenge.

There are 3 categories of challenge: Inside, Outside and Digital. The judges are looking for several key design features. These include the innovative use of materials and how everyday household items may have been repurposed. The forts must also be able to withstand the might of a younger sibling or those trying to take it down. There are also prizes for the funniest entry, the biggest fail and the most people you can fit in the fort.

Here are some of the entries so far…

“My brother and I made a fort out of cushions, blankets, chairs and a cardboard tube. It can definitely stand the might of a younger sibling because my brother helped make it and the cardboard tube keeping the duvet cover and sheet on the top of the fort is tied with ribbon onto the chair so it is very sturdy. The design is used with pegs keeping the blankets in place and the whole thing is covered around the sides and on top. We also used torches to illuminate the fort when it’s dark.” Aoife - Room 1

Luc from Room 3 has submitted an entry to the Digital category using Minecraft. One of the design features that Luc put in his Minecraft Fort was a Snakes Skull. You can experience a walkthrough of his fort here.

Andrew has named his base the “Heart of the Sea” as it is built underwater. Some of the problems that Andrew identified while making an underwater base were that using "Redstone is really hard because water breaks Redstone and that draining the water is really annoying because you have to drain one layer at a time because it will make more water otherwise".

Sebastian has Fortress Island.

An outdoor entry from Zoe can survive wind and possible rain. It can fit herself and her two brothers inside.

“This is my Outdoor fort. It was on my trampoline. My brothers and I could fit in it and there was a lot of room we could have slept in it. There is a tarpaulin for the roof and blankets around the edge.”

The competition runs for 2 weeks.