A large family, homeschooling, adoption, special needs, whatever strikes my fancy, sort of blog.

A large family, homeschooling, adoption, special needs, whatever strikes my fancy, sort of blog.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Box Play




I would really, really like to pretend that this pile of boxes was from ALL of Christmas shopping for our entire family.

But that would be a lie.  The truth is, I found a cool idea shortly AFTER Christmas, and saved up these boxes while waiting for our kit to arrive.  


Fortunately, I have strapping young men to schlep things around for me.  


Even if the "stairs" part didn't go as planned.


Eventually all the boxes ended up in the playroom, and a C shaped fort was made.  


The boys quickly got into the idea, and began creating their own fortresses, barricades, and the like.  


Including a game of Angry Birds


I wasn't sure this was the sort of thing good moms allowed their kids to do inside the house.


But then


I'm seldom accused of being the greatest mom ever, so we went with it.


"WOO HOO!"


Then they got silly.


"Hey Mom!  We're boxing!"  


"Get it?  Boxing?  With boxes?"  


Forts and fortresses went on for days.  


I can't imagine what Luke's parade of therapists must think of our crazy household.


Yes, those are feet sticking out of that large box.


Now the kids are on my side when it comes to having almost-daily deliveries.  


"More boxes!"


Eli's airplane hangar is in the foreground.


Brianna has used our fasteners to hinge together two boxes and add shelves and such for a little fort.  


She's even got a window


The boys have a trapdoor.


He's so cute.


They seriously had fun with... boxes for DAYS ON END.


Did I mention that the kit we got came with two cardboard knives?  
The kids love them.  They are, however, a little noisy.


The hinges allow for walk through doorways.


The back of the knife has a "pokey thing" (that's the technical term) for making holes for the connectors to go through.


Inside Eli's hangar is Eli's airplane.


They even brought pieces up to the school room to mess with while they listened to me read.


We had knights with helmets, shields, etc.


I love the way they worked together.  

And the best part is that the connectors and hinges are reusable, so when they wear out the current boxes (several have already gone off to the recycling) they can still continue to create things with new boxes.  
The exact set I bought on Educents is no longer available there, but these are the same idea.  Now we're saving up lids, hoping to get 4 of the same kind to make WHEELS.  Oh, the places we'll go!  

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12 comments:

  1. That looks like fabulous fun!

    I bet Luke's therapists are thrilled to see a house with imaginative, real play!

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  2. That's awesome!!! I wish I would have seen this before throwing all of ours out!

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    1. Between online shopping and review items coming in, we replenish our box stash embarrassingly quickly.

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  3. Love your box collection and all the creative ideas your children had for using them! I agree with the comment made by Jessim - the therapists were probably thrilled to see a family encouraging creative free play!

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    1. Thank you! Now we're saving jar lids so we can try making cars and robots with them. :)

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  4. What fun! A great author once said - don't get them expensive toys, just get them a box and allow them to use their imagination. So, that's what did.

    Fabulous Shecki!

    Thanks so much for linking up with us again this week!

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    1. I think anyone who's watched a toddler do Christmas would agree with that quote. We no longer use wrapping paper, but often that was the biggest hit for the youngest kids. (Cloth bags don't have the same crinkle, lol.)

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  5. Oh year, and thank you so much for not having captcha. I hate those things - seriously!

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    1. I hate them, too. I figure if I make it EASY for people to comment, maybe they'll do it often. :)

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  6. Thank you for sharing this with Project Recycle and Create - Cardboard Boxes. I just love this post and shows that you don't need any fancy toys to get the whole family involved! You have been featured on my Cardboard Box round up - here is the link and please feel free to share more posts with us soon! http://peaklepie.com/cardboard-boxes-project-recycle-create/

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    1. Thanks! :) Packaging this month, eh? I'll have to ponder that one a bit.

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