This activity promotes development and learning by encouraging children to demonstrate use of creativity and imagination in learning and play.
Materials Needed:
- A variety of boxes such as shoe boxes, food boxes, tubes, packaging, etc.
- Glue
- Paper
- Scissors
- Markers or pencils
Participants: This activity is intended for independent play or adult/child interaction.
Directions:
- Talk about boxes. Where do they come from? How are they made? What are they made from? What are they used for? Do they have to be square?
- Discuss things to do with boxes. You could make a dollhouse, a miniature carwash for cars, a tower, or even a whole village, etc.
- Encourage your child to build something with the boxes. Add other building materials, such as pompoms, aluminum foil, string, etc., or add pretend play elements, such as toy cars, trucks, horses, animals, or people.
- Take pictures of your creations. Draw signs and labels for the buildings or help your child narrate and write a story about them.
Extension: Read a few books about boxes and be inspired: “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis; “Jack in a Box” by Julia Jarman; “My Kitchen” by Harlow Rockwell; “Roxaboxen” by Alice McLerran
