Outdoor Fun for later Rain Day Fun: Box Challenge

Kids love boxes. They spark their imagination and get them to make them into something else. Give your kids a box and challenge them- what can you make this into? Watch puppet theatres, castles, caves (“…for hibernating of course Mom!”) emerge. If your kids need a bit of prompting, we suggested a book…

you'll need Materials

• Various sizes of boxes
• Paint
• Brushes (or other tools)
• Plastic containers
• “Not a Box” (by Antoinette Portis)
• Smock or play clothes

Directions

• Save boxes or request some from a local company or grocer. Think of an idea for what to make your boxes into (or several if each child wants to do their own thing).
• Put on a smock or play clothes (that you don’t mind paint getting on).
• Pick a sunny day to go outside on your back lawn. Put paint in various colours into the containers and encourage children to create their vision. We wanted to make a castle after using the boxes for a hibernation den, so we mixed white with a little bit of black to create grey, as well as using silver. We then used a sponge to make bricks, leaving space in between and staggering the rows to give the appearance of mortar in between.

• We allowed them to dry overnight and then brought them into the playroom for rainy day fun, adding other materials such as toys to enhance the play.

• A good friend of our did this with a large refrigerator box and made a boat that gave her children months of fun imaginative play and our aunt made us a puppet theatre from a refrigerator box that we loved as children. What can you think of? What to share it? We love to see your creations.

Purpose

• Re-using materials for a different purpose.
• Imaginary play.

Safety Notes

• Be sure to wear a smock or old clothes when painting large scale pieces.