Making things with cardboard boxes
This online book club is for kids from preschool to highschool - kids who love to do more than just read a book!
Each month, a new theme will be introduced and we encourage you to choose your own book (or two) to read. Parents and teachers will find lots of fun activities each month based on the theme - this month's theme is Knights, Princesses & Castles. If you're a blogger, connect your books to an activity or craft and share it during our link-up each month.
My daughter has always been a princess girl but this month, we chose to focus on castles. Really, next to the wardrobe, the best thing about being a princess is living in a castle, right!
So we set off to create our own castle.
It just so happens that we had a large box in the house this month that made the perfect start. I love allowing kids to be creative with a cardboard box!
You can use one large box or a few smaller boxes taped together for your castle.
Draw out a Design
She decided on a design for the castle - she wanted pointed turrets and small square 'bricks' along the top. She also wanted a working drawbridge and insisted on it being a very colorful castle (we sang songs from the Disney movie 'Tangled' while she decorated the inside walls).
I helped by using a box cutter to carve out the turrets, windows, drawbridge door and some of the details. Part of the fun with this project is the open-ended ideas that a box offers.
Allow Time for Creativity
The project took a week to complete. I allowed her to work at her own pace and put in the details she wanted for her castle.
And sometimes the creativity involves some help from Mom or Dad. For example, our working drawbridge - that needed a little thought on our part as to how it shoul be engineered.
How to Make a Working Drawbridge
My daughter created the cardboard loop at the top of the door along with a bent paperclip to secure the door when she was inside the castle. But she really wanted to control the door to raise and lower it. So, we attached a string to the paperclip on the door, strung the string through the cardboard loop and tied it around an unsharpened pencil.
|
Photo Jigsaw Puzzle Of Children Wrap Presents Home (Prints Online)
|
|
DIY Jewelry Making: 1pc Rectangle Cardboard Jewelry Box Art and Craft Supply (DIYJewelryDepot)
|
|
Strange Halloween Ghost Pumpkin Collection Custom Playing Cards Design Single Side £¨2.5" x 3.5"£© Sports (trangel)
|
|
Galaxy Nebula Elephant Touch Heart Custom Playing Cards Design Single Side 2.5" x 3.5" Sports (trangel)
|
|
Photo Jigsaw Puzzle Of Errand Boy a Snowballs Home (Prints Online)
|
How to make custom cardboard box sizes.
Cutting a cardboard box to a custom size provides a tighter fit for the items within while minimising the need for excess packing materials that may result in a larger shipping fee if you intend to mail the box to a friend or customer. If you are a frequent seller on eBay or if you need to pack a present for a friend or a family member, then customising the size of your cardboard box is a convenient skill to learn. You can use a new cardboard box or an old box that you'll turn inside out to hide the previous shipping labels and packing tape.
@Dylan: Give me some wood and I'll make you a dam jewelry box don't tell me to draw it and make it out of cardboard
@wanderingelff you could make one out of a cardboard box
@sunnyandpeter ohh!!!! We were trying to make a play pen out of a cardboard box but he just destroyed it
@canadianMom88 I can make that out of a cardboard box but I don't think it would be sexy 😂😂