Review: DIY Box Creations

I’ve always been the sort of person who wants to hang on to happy trash, shorthand for things that might otherwise be thrown out or recycled but that could also be used for creative projects.

Now I’m going to be hoarding empty boxes even more than usual in the hope that we can make some of the projects from DIY Box Creations: Fun and Creative Projects to Make out of Really Big Boxes.

Courtney Sanchez has gathered a dozen fun projects using large cardboard boxes in this book. The projects include:

airplane
rocket ship
boxcar
train table
hot air balloon costume
indoor doghouse
retro stove
dollhouse
puppet theater
fort
lemonade stand
sailboat

The book starts with general tips and a rundown of important supplies, and each project is shown in multiple steps so it’s easy to pull them together. The idea is that kids ages 8 to 12 can make these projects themselves with supervision, but grown ups could make them for younger kids as well.

These projects are cute, clever and a lot more detailed than the projects my daughter and I have made with big boxes in the past.

The train table, for instance, is stunning, with boxes mounted on plastic cups to give the table height and built-in storage for the tracks and trains. I also love the retro stove, which uses dowel rods and milk jug lids to make pulls and knobs. The puppet theater is great, too, and the fort has a Minecraft theme if you know any kids who are into that.

If kids help construct these creations, there’s a lot of learning to be done, including by following directions, engineering and constructing with their boxes, and the creative play that is sure to follow when the boxes have been transformed.

This book is a lot of fun and you might just find yourself buying moving boxes so you can make some of these projects.

Do you have a favorite thing to make out of cardboard boxes? I’d love to hear about it!

About the book: 80 pages, paperback, 12 projects. Published by Walter Foster Jr., September 2016. Retail price $9.99.

Next Plan Idea:

Air Dry Clay Projects for Kids

Shark Week generally happens in July, but any time is a good time to learn more about sharks.

First, start with some fun whale facts like these from Kids Craft Room. Here I learned about the dwarf lantern shark, which is the smallest shark and only grows to about 6-8 inches (about 15-20 cm) long. It also emits light. How cool is that?

Natural Beach Living has some great printable shark information guides, where kids can learn about different kinds of sharks, match the facts to the pictures, or print out doubles and do a shark memory game.

Living Life an Learning has some great shark activity pages including the parts of a shark, types of sharks, a crossword puzzle and more. Also check out their parts of a shark and word scramble download, and a life cycle worksheet.

Learn about how sharks float with this great activity from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Need more facts about sharks? This fact pact from The WOLFe PACK on Teacher Pay Teachers includes fact sheets, a printable flip book, informational text, vocabulary, comprehension questions and more.

Living Montessori Now has a great collection of shark themed activities with a Montessori inspired twist. You’ll find a shark roll and cover, shark phonics and lots more shark activities Deb has collected from all over the Internet.

Remember the “Sharknado” movie? A Few Shortcuts turned the combination of sharks and tornadoes into a fun science activity. You’ll need a bottle connector for this project but otherwise should have everything you need on hand. Use their template to make your sharks out of aluminum foil. So fun!

You can also do some shark themed coloring with these coloring pages from Encouraging Moms at Home. Or make a cool 3D shark with this template from korkotak. And there are tons of different shark crafts collected in this post from Kids Activities Blog.

Next Plan Idea:

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