Cardboard Boxes as Kid Activities -- Keeping Them Busy!
Ranked #1,003 in Hobbies, Games & Toys, #10,948 overall
Boxes--They might have contained furniture or large appliances before, but now they contain imagination!
Let's say it's a miserable rainy or bad-weather day or your kids are stuck at home with the sniffles. How does one keep the boredom from getting to them (and to keep them from causing you to loose your mind)?
Chances are good that you could go out into your garage and find a cardboard box or two (or three). But if that's not an option, you can always run over to the UPS Store or a Public Storage place and pick up some nice large boxes and moving boxes.
Maybe pick up a few markers (the wash-off water-color versions are great for the younger kiddos), some packing tape (masking tape or duct tape also works), and bring those boxes home and you can get started.
Use a little imagination (even better, let the kids use their own imagination--to get it started, read them a story --or let them read their own--about spaceships, submarines, trains, airplanes, ships, trucks, forts, and castles), and supervise with the assembly and cutting (for the younger kids, you'll have to cut the "portholes", "doors", "windows", "peepholes" and other openings and constructions yourself).
The sky is the limit with how far you can go with the project.
Flat, Pristine, Cardboard....Full of Possibilities for Wild Imaginations!
Empty box on a drive-way, ready for new adventures!
What a cardboard box can become...
Sheets of flat cardboard can be used as "building sheets" and cardboard tubes can be used for supports. Sides of large cardboard boxes can be cut off to be used for the large "building sheets". But the cardboard boxes themselves can be used for play structures. For little kids, an unaltered box is sufficient to keep them busy for hours.
When I see an empty box -- especially the big ones -- I think of all the possibilities. A spaceship? A submarine? A party house? A limousine? A bus? An airplane? -- So many possibilities. And what's cool is that lately I've been seeing empty boxes everywhere! (And it's particularly cool that I have a small pickup truck--perfect way to haul excess cardboard!).
When I was in Colorado visiting my sister and her family, she and I were heading back from the store when we spied an empty air-conditioner box on a driveway. We asked if we could have the box--and the folks at the home said, "Of course." It was lucky that my sister was driving a station wagon--we folded the seats down and managed to get the box into the car--the box could be a fun playhouse for our 5-year old granddaughter and the neighbor kids!
All About Boxes!
Creating Books & Boxes: Fun and Unique Approaches to Handmade Structures (Paper Art Workbooks) by Benjamin D Rinehart
Complete step-by-step instruction, full-color project more...2 points
30" x 30" x 30" Brown Corrugated Boxes (303030)
Item #: 303030. These cartons are the industry standard. more...2 points
Straws & Connectors By Roylco Large Box 705 Pcs
Product Description Simple to use for endless hours more...1 point
Maisy's Pop-up Playhouse (Maisy)
It's a book, it's a toy, it's Maisy's very own hou more...1 point
Some boxes ready for new purposes! Just give the kids a chance .... and get out of the way!
The Flat Panels of Cardboard Boxes Provide Plenty of Room for Artwork!
Sometimes the Flat Boxes Don't Want to Stay Upright - This One Is Supported by a PVC Pipe Frame!
Show Your Boxes! Decorate with Boxes! Keep the Kids Occupied with Boxes!
Small Cardboard "White House", with Painted Garden and Landscaping
Small Cardboard "White House", Another View
Box Links, Cardboard Links, Idea Links
- How to Build a Cardboard Castle
- This Squidoo lens by a fellow called "Mr. McGroovey" when he was a 5th grade teacher has some cool instructions and pictures (and sources of materials) for those wanting to have their own castle.
- Airplane Cockpit Photos--Ideas for Box Interior Drawings
- If your kids are around, you might want to be careful about the banner at the top of this website--(I consider it PG rated or worse and I wish they'd remove the banner)--however, the variety of aircraft cockpits ("flight-decks") illustrated here is worth visiting to get inspiration on how to decorate the inside of a box destined to be a "living-room or backyard aircraft".
Cardboard Sailboat... Complete with Anchor (Cardboard, of Course) and Sail!
Cardboard Castle Tower in Process of Being Set Up
Cardboard Castle, with Visitors Checking Out the Drawbridge Entrance
Boxes by the Bay..... eBay, that is...
Cardboard Log Cabin, View One
Interior Shot of Cardboard Log Cabin
Close-up of Cardboard Log Cabin's Walls
Cardboard Camouflaged Limo or Hummer or Some Other Form of Transportation
Cardboard Army Tank, Complete with Cardboard Turret
Cardboard House with Roof Tiles Made of Painted Cardboard Egg Flats
And Yes, You Can Make *Costumes* (Halloween or Otherwise) With Cardboard Boxes!
Cardboard panels and boxes provide handy rigid material for costumes of all sorts!
Cardboard Shark Costume Resting While Costume Wearer is Getting a Plate of Food --->It takes a bit of planning and "design" (working with small boxes to figure out how to cut things to make the costume look right... but once you've got the plan down, you can create a great costume! Robots, Shrimp or Lobster, Medieval Knight Suit of Armor, Computer, Airplane, Sailboat, ... these all make for interesting costumes... ideas, anyone?
Cardboard Shark "Costume" Worn by Costume Party Goer...
Well, the Shrimp Costume is Made of Cardboard. There Was More of it Until it Rained...
Okay, you've got a cardboard box (or a bunch of them!)
So what would you like to create with them?
Ah, where to start? Gather up the duck-tape, the markers, the paints, the things you'll use to cut (SAFELY please!) port-holes, windows, doors, and other necessary openings or "trimming". Ah wait... decide what you want to make first! Then, you can more wisely choose the types of accessory materials you'll be needing!
Think Outside the Box for a Moment and Create Your Own Squidoo Lens!
Just click on the icon below to start! It's easy, fast, and fun!
Squid graphic courtesy of Squidoo Squid Graphics For Your Lenses! by GreekGeek.
See that Little Box below? Well.... Say Something in the BOX!
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ViJuvenate
Apr 11, 2012 @ 1:52 pm | delete
- I'd love to give a child a stack of brand now boxes in various shapes, just to let those creative juices flow. :o)
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TeamSTM
Apr 7, 2012 @ 3:38 am | delete
- I built the Starship Enterprise from a Pizza Box and Paper Towel Rolls!!!
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just_Dawn
Mar 28, 2012 @ 10:25 pm | delete
- Have made several Halloween costumes from a cardboard box....A robot. Dice. Train. Race Car. Washing Machine.To name a few :)
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imaginemdd
Mar 14, 2012 @ 12:23 pm | delete
- Good ideas for kids, very creative. Nice lens, amazing what can be put together.
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nubitol
Jan 30, 2012 @ 6:32 pm | delete
- very creative
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What to do with a cardboard box?
This book will give you plenty of ideas!
The Cardboard Box Book: 25 Things to Make and Do with and Empty Box
Amazon Price: $6.97 (as of 05/29/2012)
The illustrations and narratives in this book are well worth getting it so you can have your sanity while the kids create something with the cardboard boxes you have managed to scrounge up. Get this book now while you still have your wits about you!
The ultimate in cardboard box design!
Outside the Box: Cardboard Design Now
Amazon Price: $21.98 (as of 05/30/2012)
This book provides insight in the study of cardboard box design--how to transform this humble material into high-quality, fine-art pieces of architecture! Many ideas can be found here for creating your own cardboard concoctions! Get your book now!
Paper and Cardboard Construction... from more than 70 years ago!
Paper and Cardboard Construction: An Analysis of the Scope of Paper and Cardboard Construction for Primary Grades of Public Schools...Book Problems, Box Problems, Card Problems, Envelope Problems
Amazon Price: $14.18 (as of 05/30/2012)
This is a reproduction of a book that was originally cooked up back in 1923.... and even then, there was interest in using cardboard boxes for creating wild and wonderful new things to play with. Get your copy now!
