When I’m putting together my annual gift guide for you, I look for gifts that inspire children’s creativity, imagination, and pretend play. Antsy Pants Build and Play Kits and Covers check all those boxes and offers hours of fun for the kids!
Sure, there are a couple of other pole and connector kits out there, but what makes Antsy Pants stand out from the pack is the covers (sold separately) that transform a bare bones frame into a complete play structure. Since the pole kit builds a whole range of structures, you can put together a small collection of covers over time without having to buy the poles over again. Of course, just because there are covers doesn’t mean that the kids can’t build their own designs straight from their imaginations!
The Antsy Pants Poles and Connector Starter Kit comes with 46 colour-coded poles and 29 connectors, enough to make a tent, food stand, playhouse, jail, theater, cafe, or anything else your child can come up with.
All you need: poles, connectors, and tent cover.
The kids decided to start with the basic tent they could set up on the living room floor to watch Christmas movies in style. They only needed help with a few of the connectors (specifically where the poles are pushed in through the central hole), and the Build and Play Tent Cover just slid right on over the frame. The poles and connectors hold together quite well, and are reasonably easy to take apart again without special tools.
You know what that means, right? The kids won’t need you to do all the grunt work. Kids playing independently make for both happy kids and a happy mom!
The same Poles and Connector Set plus the Build and Play Farmer’s Market Cover make this adorable roadside stand too. The set includes the cover with write and erase signs, striped fabric awning, a foldout laminated cardboard counter top, and striped pole sleeves. Those fruit and veggies are not included, but we had tons of play food kicking around that Kay was quite happy to sell to Tee for a hefty markup!
Antsy Pants also makes complete Build and Play Kits that include both the poles and the fabric cover all in one for bigger projects like an ice cream truck, school bus, clubhouse, pirate ship, and a big, red fire truck. Imagine the looks on their faces when they open this up on Christmas morning!
We put together our Fire Truck Build and Play Kit on the driveway because of the sheer size of this thing (67″ long).
The bundled fire truck cover simply slides over the frame, anchored at the top by threading the poles through the provided pockets. The roof of the cab and the back panel both roll up and close with Velcro, and the little window cut-outs let Kay and her Dalmatian puppy peek out.
Like all Antsy Pants kits, this one is recommended for ages three and up. At age eight, I’d say Tee would be at the upper edge of the age range, simply for her height, but you could definitely fit two or even three preschoolers in here comfortably.
The kids are big fans of all our Antsy Pants Build and Play kits! They love both the building and the playing, and I love that they’re easy to set up and easy to put away when play time is over.
Gift It
The Antsy Pants Build and Play Poles and Connectors Set is $59.95 CAD ($49.99 USD). Covers start from $24.95 CAD ($19.99 USD), and Build and Play Kits start from $69.95 CAD ($49.99 USD).
Indigo stores across Canada carry a variety of Antsy Pants Build and Play Covers and Build and Play Kits. Check the Antsy Pants website or Target in the US.
Win an Antsy Pants Starter Kit Plus Cover
One of my readers will win an Antsy Pants Build and Play Poles and Connector Starter Kit plus one in-stock cover of choice (tent, farmer’s market, lemonade stand, or doughnut shop) to bring their imagination to life. Enter in the giveaway widget below. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18+. All the winner’s entries will be verified. Prize delivery is not guaranteed by Christmas, so please plan accordingly.
Click here to check out my other open giveaways and be sure to follow me on Facebook!
I received sample items to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ.
Dallas would like a tent
I really love the fire truck and the kids would too
My granddaughter thinks she is a princess, so she would love to try and build a castle, but anything she makes will be a castle in her eyes!
My grandson would build a tent with Antsy Pants .
My grandson would love to build that Tent with me!
My niece would build a tent!
my grandson’s would build a tent and pretend to be camping!
My niece and I would build a tent!
the fire truck would be first
We would build the fire engine! With Grampy the fire chief.
She is into transformers so if possible we would build a truck and try to move it around.
My niece would probably want to make a castle.
Definitely we would build a tent right away.
Definitely the tent, so we could camp out indoors.
The fire truck is super cute! Love the idea of the lemonade stand too!
I think the first think that they would build is that tent.
My son has asked for the Fire Truck for Christmas so he would build that first. My girls would love the little tents and market stand.
My children and I would build a tent first.
We would build a donut shop first!
Since Miss R has been asking for a Lemonade stand for a while now I am certain that is the first thing she would make.
I think we would love the firetruck
We would build the firetruck for sure, I’m a volunteer firefighter!
We’d build the fire truck together first thing
The Fire truck would be the first choice.
I think we would build the tent first. It would be fun to go camping inside where it is warm.
I accidentally put the daily word into the tweet, so here is my tweet
https://twitter.com/Pamalot28/status/1070245073135251456
I think my girls and I would love to build the tent first – we can pretend it’s summertime again!! I think I would choose the tent or the lemonade stand if I won – my girls and all the kids in the neighbourhood like to set up lemonade stands in the summer to raise money for the BC Cancer Foundation, so this would be a perfect addition to the activity!
We would build a fort first! Then probably the tent 🙂
My girls love camping so I bet they would love to build a tent!
The tent for sure!
I think the boys would want to build a firetruck first and the girls would want to make the farmer’s market.
We’ll build a tent!! looks like a lot of fun with this item
A castle!! My son and daughter could have a ton of fun with this!
The fire truck would be a ton of fun! Thanks.
I need polls for tent cover that I have, how much for just that?