Building With Boxes

Building With Boxes

What do you do with all those
empty shipping boxes? Build
with them, of course!

This activity encourages children
to use their imaginations, it
enhances their spatial skills,
and encourages cooperative play.



What You Will Need:

• Empty Cardboard Boxes, all sizes (a great way to recycle all those boxes from your Escapade orders)!
• Tape (our favorite is Scotch 3M Heavy-Duty Clear Packing Tape)
• Colored Pencils, Crayons, or Markers
• Scraps of Colored Paper (optional)

What You Do:

• Gather boxes of all shapes and sizes. (Make sure to remove any sharp staples).
• Work together to come up with a plan on what to build. For example, a space ship, a pirate ship, a playhouse, a castle, or a cave.
• Tape the boxes together to create your building.
• Color your structure and add details to the inside and outside.
• If desired, add colored paper scraps to make more details and special features.
• With the help of an adult, cut doors, windows, and trapdoors into the boxes.

Variations:

• We like to tape smaller boxes over openings to create cubby holes to store gadgets while traveling in our make-believe space ships and other structures.
• Use paper fasteners (found at any office supply store) to secure boxes together.
• If you do not have large boxes, you can cut apart smaller boxes and tape them together to make them large enough for a child to fit inside.
• Obtain larger boxes from appliance stores - they are usually more than willing to give you their boxes!

Note: The picture shown here is of a Gingerbread House we built out of large refrigerator boxes. We used this Gingerbread House for a Christmas Party.