Boxes, part 2

We're inspired by boxes today (see previous post title just "Boxes"). Here’s a quick idea list of what to do with a cardboard box:

Use it as a blank canvas.
Tear it apart and use it as a large canvas on a wall. Or, if your box is large enough, get inside of it to color.
Here’s a picture from the interior of Child of Wonder:



Crawl through it.
Boxes make terrific tunnels, whether for kid bodies or stuffed creatures. Heck, maybe your real live pet rat would like it as a tunnel too.

Make a game.
Boxes are great collectors of bean bags or stuffed animals for tossing games. Or try rolling balls or cars into them. Practice tally skills when each one makes it.

Make a special spot.
Fill it with pillows and just relax.

Make a play kitchen.
Or any other household prop such as a dishwasher, tool bench, clothes washer and dryer, or piano.

Make a bed for your animals.
Pamper your pet (either real, stuffed or imagined) with a comfy personalized bed.

Make costumes.
Try a robot, a car, a jack-in-the-box, a lego piece, or an x-ray machine.

Nesting supplies.
Try filling a box with strips of scrap material and paper, some twigs, grasses for the birds to nest with. Then hang it from a tree or balcony

Make a musical instrument.
Add holes and strings and experiment with sound.

Make an easel.
I like to make small cardboard easels to hold recipes when I cook with children, but depending on the size of child, box, and easel you desire, the possibilities are wide reaching for easels out of boxes.

Create a scene.
We enjoy making scenes from stories we’ve read out of boxes. Use ribbons, construction paper, cotton balls, pieces of material, wire, paint, markers, and natural materials to make the background for your stories.

Hold a show.
We love puppet shows, and with a cardboard box you can easily create a free standing one or unfold the box and hang the flat piece of card board from a doorway. Cut the whole for the puppets to do their magic, paint or add on some real curtains, and enjoy the show.

Make a car wash.
Make your box into a tunnel and add strips of material that hang down just far enough to scrub your trains, cars, and other vehicles as you are playing. You might not want to use real water with this one.

And if those ideas don’t work for you, you could always just use your box to hide which seems to be perpetually fun thing to do for little people waiting to be found.

Boxes!

Well, a box arrived at our house yesterday filled with books. When we opened the box, Zeal was super cute: he looked up at me and with sweet sincerity said, “I’m proud of you Mom.” Then he proceeded to empty the box as fast as he could.

He first tried to build a Book House, but that didn’t work (don’t worry, these ones accidentally all came individually shrink wrapped so they were extra durable).



Then he made a stunt set for his cars.


But really what it all boiled down to was that he wanted the box for his stuffed animal friends. They need a new house, he said.

Later he came to me and asked me to sign a book to him. So we sat together, he told me how he wanted it signed, and then we read the chapter on storytelling together. It renewed us, and brought back memories, so we spent the evening telling stories (yes, with the box as a prop).


Thank you to everyone who has preordered copies. If you have ordered a book already, here’s some more information:

Copies from me. If you have pre-ordered an autographed copy from me, your books will be arriving shortly.

Online. If you’ve ordered from online booksellers such as Amazon, Powell’s, or BN.com your books will be shipped in the next few weeks.

Bookstores. If you have placed an order through your local bookstore, they will be sent on or around April 1st.

Internationally. International orders will take a bit longer, but rest assured, you will have them soon.