They say that the best things come in small packages and that is certainly true of the smallest tipi in our range – the Baby Tipi. Measuring 6.5m in diameter, it can be used for glamping accommodation, hired out for children’s parties, installed as an outdoor classroom or interlinked to the other tipis in our range and used as a chillout area.
If you have already purchased one of our Baby Tipis, or maybe considering it but need some ideas, we’ve put together a short introduction into the uses of the Baby Tipi – glamping, outdoor classroom, children’s party and chillout area – to inform clients on how best to use a Baby Tipi.
If you are a glamping site, a stately home or venue looking to add accommodation to your events offering or you are simply wanting a quirky and unique spare bedroom at the bottom of your bedroom, then look no further! Since launching in 2014, we have noticed an increasing demand for our Baby Tipis within the glamping market. The main reason being, it’s completely different to the standard pod or bell tent that you usually find across glamping sites.
We attended The Glamping Show in September, and the feedback we received from visitors was simply fantastic, with many visitors purchasing at least one or two of our Baby Tipis for their glamping site, as a more luxurious offering for their guests. It became apparent that many visitors liked the idea of having two linked via a tunnel, with one as the sleeping area and the other as a bathroom or chillout area. Our Big Hat-Baby Tipi Link Tunnel can be used to link the two together and creates a 2.5m between the two that can have a hessian curtain draped at one end for privacy.
In our experience and due to the tipis being conical in shape, an absolute must for all of our Glamping purchases would be our Baby Tipi Entrance Porch. Fitted into the front zip of the tipi, it creates a stunning yet practical entrance that stops the rain from dripping directly into the tipi when your guests enter / exit the space (see picture below).
All of our Glamping tipis have two clearview panels sewn either side of the main entry / exit zip to act as windows to allow light into the space. If you would prefer for us to make the tipi with no windows then please do let us know and we can do this for you at no extra charge.
If you are a tipi hire business and are looking to expand your portfolio of tipi sizes, then the Baby Tipi is the perfect addition. It fits easily into a transit van if you wanted to hire it out singular for a children’s party for example. Or it can be added onto your main trailer to accompany a larger build. Due to its size, it can fit in most gardens and feedback from our tipi hire customers is that its a great up-sell for their bookings.
If you were to offer it to your current tipi bookings for next year, then you can either suggest it as a drinks reception area at the front of the main tipi configuration, or it can act as the children’s play area or chillout space linked via our Big Hat-Baby Tipi Link Tunnel behind the tipis. Both work extremely well, will create extra revenue for that booking and is an easy erect & quick option to add onto your fleet.
If you are hosting a children’s party in the Baby Tipi and want to offer the furnishings to compliment, then we’d suggest putting together a Chillout Package with beanbags, bunting, children’s games and coloured rugs to upsell to your clients too – it will definitely create that wow-factor your clients are looking for!
Learning Outside The Classroom (LOTC) has become an integral part of the educational syllabus and it is now the responsibility of the school to build this into their weekly timetables. If you are a school or college with an outdoor area, whether it be a garden, playing field, carpark or terrace, then a tipi can be built on top to create the perfect outdoor classroom.
One Baby Tipi can accommodate up to 25-30 young children sat on benches in rows, alternatively you can use it more informally with children sat round in a circle. You can host arts and crafts lessons, nature and wildlife sessions, science lessons and even story time within the tipi – it will create an element of excitement throughout all ages, and allow them to experience learning on a whole new level!
It can be installed at the beginning of the school year and can be left up all year round – so it instantly becomes an external classroom you can use whatever the weather outside.
If you are a tipi hire business, then this is simple a baby version of what you have currently been building for the last few seasons – it is near identical to the Midi Tipi in formation (with the number and placement of zips) so it shouldn’t be an issue at all for you to build and dismantle wherever you want. As a result, you would normally collect from our HQ and take it away to start using straightaway. There is an accompanying manual for the structure and a digital How-to guide on the Online Training Portal so if you need to refresh your memory at any time, the information is all there for you.
If you are a glamping site, school or venue and you don’t have the resources and experience to install the tipis yourselves, then we can come and install the tipis for you (this is at an extra cost based on your location and the formation you are wanting).
For tipi hire businesses who are putting the tipi up and down all season, we’d recommend the same as what you use in the Big Hats which is Dandy Dura matting laid over plastic visqueen. We can manufacture a One-Piece Baby Tipi Carpet which eyeletted around the outer rim and can simply be bundled up and then rolled out flat once you have completed the build – reducing on time and trip hazards.
For semi-permanent or permanent installations, the tipis would need to be built onto a raised nonagon-shaped decking, to ensure that the inside contents of the tipi are raised from the ground and as a result are not affected by the weather outside. We can quote you for this decking, or you can source this yourselves and we can supply the plan drawing.
Inside the tipi, you can then choose whether you want to have a carpet flooring or wooden flooring laid on top of this decking. We’d always recommend the wooden flooring so that it is easier to upkeep – and you can always lay down a selection of rugs on top to create a cosier feel for your guests. Here at The Tipi Company, we can provide you with either of these options and there is an image below of our Sectional Wooden Flooring which we think looks stunning and very rustic – perfect for a tipi.
Not to worry! We have designed a unique Anchorage Kit that allows us to build our tipis onto any hard-standing surface. If this is the case, then we would need to install the full build for you, complete with Anchorage Kit (the decking would need to be built by The Tipi Company as our design links directly onto our Anchorage Kit).
The answer is yes! We use a durable outdoor fabric for all of our tipis, that is highly water and weather resistant, moisture regulating and breathable – making them perfect for the heat of the Summer and cold of the Winter!
Suffice to say, the Baby Tipi is a perfect addition to existing fleets and also as a new offering if you are a school or glamping site. If you have any questions regarding our Baby Tipi, please contact a member of the team on 01204 860 738.