Cutting and Folding Cardboard Boxes

In this age of gadgets and smart toys, parents have a difficult time communicating with their children’ and holding their attention.

There are many indoor activities to choose from. However, there’s an activity that’s not so common but has great potential to be a hit. And that is cutting and folding cardboard boxes.

Best for imagination

Of course, empty boxes have always been a favorite toy. At least it was before the advent of Xbox and RPG. Kids simply folded the ears of the cardboard box and it becomes a car or even a spaceship. A smaller box with a hole cut out for the face served as the astronaut’s helmet.

Kids will find cutting and folding cardboard boxes engaging because it actually combines other activities. When they use plain white or brown cardboard, it will need to be painted to look more colorful.

Parents should know that imaginative play is not just fun. It’s actually a learning experience. Kids learn to process and understand ‘adult’ actions around them, as well as their own feelings.

Given an opportunity, parents should listen in to find out if there are internal anxieties that kids are working out.

Family Time

Playing with folding cardboard boxes can also be a fun time for the whole family. You can make dollhouses or doll furniture together. Use printed folding cartons for decorative items like pretend cabinets or a headboard.

And if your young men get squeamish with any mention of dolls, have dad set an example. You can also remind them that many architects and designers are men. Or maybe it’s that time for that ‘we are all the same’ talk.

Of course, you can also just make a puppet show. Again, this combines many art activities and is good imaginative play. But it is also appealing to all ages. Have each participant make one character that they will give a voice to and also accessorize.

To make your characters more artistic, use printed folding cartons and also other materials like colored yarn for the hair, small buttons for the eyes, and actual cloth for clothes and bags.

For the children who have become conscious of taking care of the environment thus early, remind them that glitters are a no-no. Like other kinds of plastic, these end up polluting oceans. Worse, glitter can be eaten by fishes that we, in turn, also eat.

Gadgets do indeed pose a challenge to our children’s physical and mental well-being. However, there is simply no option to not compete, to give up. Parents simply have to be more creative, a lot smarter and more engaging than these temptations.