With a few clicks you can get just about anything delivered to your home. It’s (scary) simple, shockingly fast, and all too familiar nowadays. Boxes of all shapes and sizes show up on doorsteps and create cardboard congestion in recycling bins. The environmental impact of online shopping is real and rising, which is why these forgotten shipment shells deserve a second chance.
Not to mention that kids often find the most fun in an empty box of possibilities! Check out these fun ways to “unbox” play.
Indoor forts
Stuck inside on a blustery day? Use empty boxes and cardboard tubing to create a custom castle or fort. Add blankets and pillows for extra comfort and fun.
DIY wagon
Take your box outside for some fun! Kids can push, pull, and slide around in makeshift cardboard wagons. When it’s time for a rest, see #3.
Drive-in
Grab some healthy snacks and pull up to the “drive-in” with a cardboard box car. If resources and space allows, project the movie in an outdoor space and enjoy under the stars.
Puppet theatre
A big box makes the perfect stage for puppets. Use toys and dolls from around the house, or make your own, and put on a show!
Robot dress-up
Boxes of all shapes and sizes can be fit to make a robot costume. Tip: Use empty tissue boxes for robot shoes and cardboard tubing (cut length ways) for arms.
Tunnel time – Inside or better yet – outside!
Cut out the tops and bottoms from different sized boxes and make tunnels for crawling. Tip: tape them together for a homemade maze.
Colouring cave
Jump inside an extra-large box with a box of crayons and your imagination for a four-walled colouring canvas.
Pretend play
Cardboard can transform into almost anything: a food truck, rocket ship, kitchen, train, time machine… an empty box is full of possibilities.
