Boxes of Fun
Animals and kids alike love a good cardboard box. A big sturdy box is hard to come by, so when one arrives at your doorstep save it for a fun family activity.
We have only had a few big boxes delivered over the past several years – two for our outdoor Adirondack style chairs I had to put together, one for a manual treadmill, and one for a big cargo area floor mat for the back of our vehicle. All of these boxes have become playhouses, forts, jungle shacks, etc.
Cut doorways, windows, peepholes. Use other bits and bobs from your recycling to add to the fun like a duct tape center roll is perfect for a circle window on a door, paper can be a fun curtain, toilet paper rolls can be binoculars, and other smaller boxes can become seating. The possibilities are limitless once it’s been decided what your box will be. We have yet to make a bus, car, big rig or boat, but our next box (safely stored in our basement) has a lot of potential). Especially if we use a little paint or markers and a lot of imagination.
The monstrosity of a box will live in infamously in your child’s memory, but more realistically it’ll live smack dab in the middle of your dining room, kitchen or bedroom. Set an expiration date of the box and start preparing your child as the expiration date gets closer that it’s going to be taken down and recycled. Even better, let them help demolish it with pretend tools and sheer strength.
For the not-so-big boxes in your life – they can also be just as fun! Just not in such a monumental way. For instance, Pickles and Bacon love using their diaper boxes as race cars. They sit in them (sometimes together!) and then we propel them across the carpet or hard floor to see how far and how fast they can go. They giggle, tip the box over, and run it back to us across the room looking for another ride.
Another thing we’ve done is make garages out of the boxes. Pickles loves Blaze and the Monster Machines so we made a garage for Blaze and all his friends, as well as an opening for Gabby’s Garage (with working door) and a finish line for their race.
The possibilities are endless! Enjoy the creative time with your kiddos and put them to work to help construct their next adventure!
pickles and bacon 