Cardboard creations
What do you think of a nice play house, a kitchen, a grocery shop or a miniature city for your kids to play with? With Cardboard you and/or your kids can create a lot of different things without spending big bucks. It is free (in most cases), disposable and good for the environment as we recycle.
Making something out of cardboard can be a project to design and work on together with your kids. It is not as hard as you think. With a few cardboard boxes, tape, scissors and a bit of creativity you can get a long way.
Age
From 1,5 years
What you need
Cardboard boxes/plates
Scissors
Craft knife
Tape (duct or cloth tape works best)
Glue
Decoration; markers, felt, (sticker) paper, paint
Preparation
Start saving on boxes; big and small. They will come in handy one day. Once you have saved a few, start thinking about what you want to make and if your boxes would be suitable for it. Get some inspiration by looking around in toy shops or online. Thoroughly prepare your design before you start; maybe even sketch it on paper. When you know what you want to make, you can start cutting or bending the cardboard and tape it together were needed. Pimp it up with some paint, coloured- or sticker paper.
Once you have finished building your project, look for things to add to the play. There is no need to buy a lot of new things; you probably already have many things lying around the house that you can use. Add a cashier (you can make one out of cardboard!) to the store, and throw in some groceries by saving empty small boxes and bottles out of your own cupboard.
You can easily make a garage or bridge with a toilet paper roll and some left over card board. Add a few cars and some play animals and your city is founded.
Decorate the inside of your house with some paintings your kids made, throw in a cushion, maybe even add a clock made out cardboard? Attaching a magnet to the wall and to the decoration is a great way to put something up on the wall as your kids will be able to play with it and you can replace it with something else real easy.
Play
There are endless possibilities and can bring hours of play if you give your children some tools for ‘pretend play’. Show them what to do with the shop or join them by being a customer, a mail delivery man or simply let them serve you a pretend-meal. Once they have seen a few play options, their creativity will kick in and they will take the lead in the play.
Add-ons for more fun play
You have to clean up a bit once you have built your project (or a lot depending on your project!). After playing with the toys prompt your child to clean up first before moving onto the next activity.
Educational
By creating a pretend play atmosphere at home you give your child the opportunity to develop him/herself. Give them new set-ups frequently to stimulate them to learn new things. The possibilities are endless, here are a few more ideas; book store, zoo, camping, time machine and gas station.
Making something out of cardboard can be a project to design and work on together with your kids. It is not as hard as you think. With a few cardboard boxes, tape, scissors and a bit of creativity you can get a long way.
Age
From 1,5 years
What you need
Cardboard boxes/plates
Scissors
Craft knife
Tape (duct or cloth tape works best)
Glue
Decoration; markers, felt, (sticker) paper, paint
Preparation
Start saving on boxes; big and small. They will come in handy one day. Once you have saved a few, start thinking about what you want to make and if your boxes would be suitable for it. Get some inspiration by looking around in toy shops or online. Thoroughly prepare your design before you start; maybe even sketch it on paper. When you know what you want to make, you can start cutting or bending the cardboard and tape it together were needed. Pimp it up with some paint, coloured- or sticker paper.
Once you have finished building your project, look for things to add to the play. There is no need to buy a lot of new things; you probably already have many things lying around the house that you can use. Add a cashier (you can make one out of cardboard!) to the store, and throw in some groceries by saving empty small boxes and bottles out of your own cupboard.
You can easily make a garage or bridge with a toilet paper roll and some left over card board. Add a few cars and some play animals and your city is founded.
Decorate the inside of your house with some paintings your kids made, throw in a cushion, maybe even add a clock made out cardboard? Attaching a magnet to the wall and to the decoration is a great way to put something up on the wall as your kids will be able to play with it and you can replace it with something else real easy.
Play
There are endless possibilities and can bring hours of play if you give your children some tools for ‘pretend play’. Show them what to do with the shop or join them by being a customer, a mail delivery man or simply let them serve you a pretend-meal. Once they have seen a few play options, their creativity will kick in and they will take the lead in the play.
Add-ons for more fun play
- Have your kids help you with the decoration. They can colour houses or trees on the city map of the miniature city, or let them add grass on the outside of the playhouse.
- Some other fun things to make with cardboard; guitar, car, train, puppet theatre or a maze.
- Cardboard is also great for smaller craft projects like; paper masks, robots and rockets.
- Especially younger kids enjoy playing with an empty box. Let them sit inside the box and give them some crayons to keep them entertained.
You have to clean up a bit once you have built your project (or a lot depending on your project!). After playing with the toys prompt your child to clean up first before moving onto the next activity.
Educational
By creating a pretend play atmosphere at home you give your child the opportunity to develop him/herself. Give them new set-ups frequently to stimulate them to learn new things. The possibilities are endless, here are a few more ideas; book store, zoo, camping, time machine and gas station.