Are you swimming in boxes? We are. What with the lockdown, we are having more things delivered, which means more boxes around the house!

You can build a box tunnel to crawl through by opening the tops and bottoms on several boxes and sliding the flaps from one box into the flaps on another. (You may need to tape or clip the box flaps together so they don’t fall down on unsuspecting crawlers!) The tunnel can be part of an obstacle course activity to keep busy bodies moving if you can’t go outside due to thunder and lightening.

One of my favorite books is Roxaboxen by Alice Mclerran, illustrated by Barbara Cooney. It’s based on a true story of what happens when children, imagination, time, and the materials at hand come together to form something magical. Whether it’s a mud kitchen in your backyard, laundry basket turtle shells, or a set of boxes. It’s hard to predict what will happen.

Check out this read aloud version of Roxaboxen. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! If you’d like something shorter, see What To Do With A Box, by Jane Yolen and Illustrated by Chris Sheran or another great option is Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis.

If you don’t have large boxes, small boxes will work just as well: combine items that would normally go in the recycling like cardboard tubes, egg cartons, cereal boxes, oatmeal containers, yogurt cups, etc. with whatever art supplies you have at home. Maybe you want to build a house for your pet rock? Or a boat to sail in rain puddles for when the lightening stops?

Here’s a picture from one of my boys’ birthday parties. A table with random boxes, scissors, markers, and other craft items from which to create!

Apparently I’m not the only one thinking in terms of building with boxes. See this recent article in the Washington Post about building forts. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/05/18/why-kids-love-building-forts-why-experts-say-they-might-need-them-more-than-ever/?utm_campaign=wp_on_parenting&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_parent