Fun with Cardboard Boxes

Parents have been joking for decades how a child often has more fun with the cardboard box than the gift inside. There's something children find so appealing about those empty cardboard boxes; I imagine it's the sheer delight of turning the ordinary into something magical. With the right materials and a little bit of imagination, a child can spend an entire day playing make-believe with an over sized cardboard box.

Our two boys used to spend at least half an hour discussing how a empty box could be best used, and then another hour or two fabricating whatever project came to mind. They'd carve opening and doors using a steak knife (and under Mom's supervision) and then used scavenged materials to decorate their cars or forts. Once completed, they'd spend the rest of the afternoon playing inside their box ~ even cajoling good old Mom into letting them eat dinner inside their make believe fortress.

Basic supplies

The big question is where to find those cardboard boxes. In addition to saving the ones that come in the mail, also check behind retail stores and furniture stores. A locally owned appliance store is also a great place to find sturdy appliance boxes; most of the clerks are happy to set one aside for you.

Many children are happy just to play with the empty box itself, decorated or not! My boys used markers and crayons, and cans of spray paint when we had it. Plastic lids of all sizes were also pretty popular along with sheets of aluminum foil, cans and plastics from the recycling bin. Girls however, seem to prefer stickers and giftwrap, acrylic paints, yarn, fabric scraps, crayons, and markers. For cutting the cardboard box, I'd let the kids use one of my dull steak knives ~ though for parents, a utility knife is much more effective, especially if carving up a refrigerator box.

And what kind of things can be made from a cardboard box? If your child is stuck for ideas, why not suggest one of the following structures?

Make a train or race car

Making a vehicle seem to be the number one cardboard box activity of choice for small boys. Use plastic coffee can lids for wheels and make radiator "grates" using aluminum foil. Engines and mufflers can be made out of recycleables that have been sprayed with paint. For something really snazzy, paint the entire cardboard box with metallic or black spray paint before adding embellishments such as stickers and race car numbers.

To create a train, simply hook up 4 or 5 boxes with short lengths of rope, fed through a small opening in the front and the back of each box. Cut a flat cardboard smokestack to tack to the front of the "engine." . Want a coal car? Fill the second car with crumbled newspaper that has been sprayed with black paint.

Build an airplane or rocket ship

Rockets and planes are surpringly simple to make. We'd shaped a cone out of poster and tape it to the front of a box. The wings were then cut from the box flaps, and inserted into precut slits in the side of the box. Spray the rocket with shiny red spray paint and pretend you're headed to the moon!

How to make a doll house

To make a doll house, spray the exterior of a box with a pastel colored spray paint. Cut out openings for windows and doors using a utility knife. For curtains, tack some fabric scraps to the window. Have your daughter decorate the outside of the doll house with flowers and birds, and anything else that catches her fancy. Furniture can be made from thread spools, match boxes, and scraps of cardboard which have been glued together, painted and decorated as tables, chairs, and beds.

Make a fort

if you are fortunate enough to have a large refrigerator or appliance box, you've got a project that will keep the kids engaged for at least a week. A parent should cut a door and a couple of windows ~ and leave the rest up to the kids. My boys would brush on brown paint to create "wood" siding; my daughter preferred to paint her cardboard structure white and hang curtains in the windows, using thumbtacks and dishtowels.

As tempting as it is to help your children create their "perfect" structure, the real joy in creative play is letting kids do it all by themselves. Children really do have an incredible capacity for imagination, and the empty palette of a cardboard box is the perfect medium for letting that imagination go wild.