Fun Kid’s Craft Ideas for Old Cardboard Boxes
Cardboard boxes are a versatile material that can spark children’s creativity. Rather than throwing them straight into the recycling bin, save any clean boxes and use them for these fun and easy kids’ craft projects.
Make a Cardboard Castle
What child wouldn’t love their very own cardboard castle to play in? This craft encourages creativity and role play.
You will need:
- Large cardboard boxes
- Scissors
- Tape or glue
- Paint and decorations (optional)
Start by cutting doors, windows and other openings into the boxes. Fold down the flaps to make turrets and connect multiple boxes together with tape to make a larger castle. Decorate the castle with paint, markers, wrapping paper or whatever craft materials you have on hand – you can use some of your fostering allowance from Fosterplus to pay for paints and other craft materials. Add toy figures and soft furnishings so your child can enjoy playing kings and queens in their new cardboard kingdom!
To make the castle extra sturdy, use thicker cardboard or double up layers using packing tape. Let your kids go wild with their decorating – glitter, sequins and jewels are great for adding a royal touch. For a fun lights effect, cut star and moon shapes from cardboard and punched holes inside – place fairy lights or a torch inside the holes.
Design a Robot Friend
Transform old boxes into quirky robot buddies to keep your kids entertained for hours.Cut arm, leg and body shapes from cardboard boxes and tubes. Attach them together with tape or glue. Now let your child unleash their inner inventor by decorating their one-of-a-kind robot with craft supplies. Add personality by giving it a name and backstory. Extend the play by creating an entire robot family or space station from recycling.
Challenge your kids to build robots that can do certain tasks – a robot friend to help tidy their room, a robot chef to help cook or a robot teacher to help with homework. Let them use their imagination to design different robots for different jobs. Various household items like straws, yoghurt pots and tin foil could also be incorporated.
Make a Cardboard Car
Vroom vroom! With just a few simple materials, old boxes can become vehicles for your child’s imagination. Cut square or circular holes in one end of the box for wheels. Tape or glue a long strip of cardboard to the bottom front and back as bumpers. Decorate the car with markers, paint or stickers before your little one takes it for a spin around the house! For added fun, make ramps or a racetrack from more cardboard.
Encourage your child to use their cardboard car as part of imaginative play. They could deliver parcels or pizzas, drive a taxi or work as a stunt driver in an action movie chase scene! Adding extra details like a steering wheel made from another box or plastic container will fuel their creativity. Let them build a whole cardboard town with roads, buildings, traffic lights and signs.
The options are endless when it comes to crafting with cardboard boxes. Let your child’s interests lead the way. From rockets and robots to dollhouses and pirate ships, cardboard is a budget-friendly material that allows kids to build and create anything they can dream up!