Cardboard Box Challenge

A few weeks ago, I was invited by Rachelle over at Tinkerlab to participate in a cooperative blogging challenge/event to celebrate her blogiversary! I was thrilled to be included with so many other wonderful bloggers out there, and who can turn down a chance to cooperate with other like-minded folk and to reuse something that others might just toss aside?  So, of course I said "yes"

So, this week in place of my "What Would You Do With It?" post, I'm participating in a creative challenge, from Tinker Lab that is very much along the same lines:

What would you do with a cardboard box? I know I came up with a zillion ideas of what to do with a box. We have quite a few previous posts that use cardboard boxes. They are abundant and most often free supplies to use. However, as I continued to think about this challenge, one thought kept running through my head... "K.I.S.S."

"Keep It Simple, Stupid!"  I don't really care to use the word "stupid," but the acronym seemed to fit quite well with this challenge. ( I heard this acronym at trainings years ago... I really like the alternatives "sista" or silly instead.. Thanks for the immediate feedback so I could make the changes ladies :). )  I think far too often, we as a society, mostly as adults, we forget to keep things simple. Children don't need a box to be anything more than a box. We didn't really need to make the box into anything, we just need to give the children the box and step back......

So, when the children came in from outside, they found a large collection of boxes just sitting in the room. (Have you ever seen the video "The day the boxes came" from Bev Boss?  If you haven't, I would strongly suggest finding it!)

The children spent time climbing in and out of the boxes. They tried to determine how many children could fit inside each box, and they created their own "rules" for box play.  I heard one child say something along the lines of "I don't think it would be safe for more than two in this one."

They sat in the big boxes, they sat in the little boxes. Some of the boxes turned into other things... like trains and planes.

One child walked around packaging up their friends for "special delivery" yelling "tape, tape, tape!" While another impromptu game of "Hide and Seek" or "Guess Which Box I'm In" game evolved.

Even the youngest children in care began to participate in the box fun! After taking time to observe, they too began to imitate the actions of the other children.

The children played with the boxes for quite some time. Then one by one, they moved on to other options, and throughout the afternoon came back to "re-try" or try something new. I left the pile in the middle of the floor, I wonder what they will do when they find them again tomorrow....

Thank you Rachelle over at Tinkerlab for inviting me to participate in this challenge! I'm honored to be included as part of your celebration with so many incredible people! (See the photo/thumbnail linky!)

Do you have a great idea for a cardboard box? Feel free to link it up below!