Cardboard Box Fun

Once upon a time, in a land very windy and cold... and lame.... there lived a mother with two kids still in diapers.  Because her little angels went through diapers and wipes like they were going out of style, she was forced to journey to the magical land of COSTCO time after time after time where she could buy these dwindling amenities in bulk......

Basically, what I'm getting at is this:  My boys take after their dad (if you catch my drift....) so we go through diapers and wipes like nobody's business, and I'm kind of tired of all theses cardboard boxes piling up in the garage like we're building a second home out of them.  I know there are probably a MILLION  things you can do with a cardboard box, but I'm just going to share a few simple ideas of how I utilized them to assist in creative play and different uses.

First (and probably the most simple):  Use as a canvas for your little Van Goghs.

Yeah.  Basically I just stuck Benson in the box with some crayons and said, "Have at it kid."  He loved it!  Especially because coloring time can get a little frustrating for the both of us - I am constantly having to remind him that we stay on the paper, and we don't color on the table...or the walls... or anything else that isn't paper.... This way he could just scribble all around himself as fast as his little hands could take him!  He probably would have loved it even more in a bigger box, but we didn't have a bigger box, so this one sufficed.  He had plenty of fun regardless, and look at his beautiful art work!

 

So you'll notice that the flaps of the box have been cut off.  We used the two longest ones to make 'wings' for Benson to 'fly' with.   Benson is....well....kind of a little pansy, so he was scared of the wings and wouldn't let me fasten them onto his arms.  He loves ceiling fans, so I thought I would cut the wings to look like the blades of the ceiling fan so he could go 'round a round a round' (as he says) with them on his arms along with the fan..... Nope.  Not happening.  So, we used the wings as shields instead to go along with our sword fighting :) 

That he was ok with :)

Did you know that your toddler learns and responds better when you are down at their level interacting with them?  We have a wonderful lady from early intervention who comes once a month to play with Benson.  She always brings a little table and chair that is just Benson's size, and  he does all the learning activities/exercises on it with her sitting on the floor across from him at his eye level.   He loves it!  I asked my husband if he could make one for Bens, and he said he might be able to..... But until that happens, guess what we used to make a temporary one out of?  Ha ha!  You better believe it!

I know it's not much to look at, but it gets the job done! I just cut the flaps off, cut an opening to fit over little Bens Boo's legs, and spray painted the thing to dress it up a little.  It'll work for now :)

Need a toy box?  Something to hold your laundry detergent/household cleaners in?  How bout a place for the stuffed animals?

Just buy yourself some fabric, hot glue it onto that sucker, and BAM!!!!!  Cute little storage box that cost you all but 3 dollars (or less, depending on the size of your box). 

Cut a hole in your box, stick it over a small lamp, and use as a projector.

You've probably seen those cardboard letters wrapped in yarn floating around pinterest, right?

I did mine with fabric and a glue gun, and it was SO EASY to do it that way.  The hardest part for me was cutting out the letters.  I like how it turned out though :)  99 cents.  Yep!

 And if you're feeling really awesome, you can check out this mom's blog.  

http://www.ikatbag.com   Go to her 2008 post called 'What's in a box'.  You should see the things she's done with cardboard boxes!  Amazing.  Actually, now that I've looked at her blog again, I feel kind of stupid about my dumb little ideas... Ha ha!  Oh well. 

And then there's this.

Found at a-happy-wanderer.blogspot.com

There are two more things I've thought cardboard might be good for that I haven't gotten around to doing yet.

1 - A clock, to help teach time

2- A frame for the fabric letters (maybe with lace wrapped around it?)  

I'll post pics of those when I get around to making them :)

Anyway, these are just some of the easier things that don't take much time or money - I know there is so much more to be done with this misunderstood piece of matter! So feel free to leave a comment of all the things you've used cardboard for!  Really.  I dare ya.