With all the online shopping we get up to these days there is no shortage of cardboard and packaging lying around. Cardboard is absolutely brilliant for building and creating with during playtime. We all know how kids often get more excited about the box than what’s actually in it. So grab some tape, a few crayons and any old boxes or scrap cardboard you can find. Here are 5 Clever Cardboard Crafts for Kids that will keep them busy, happy and entertained!
5 Clever Cardboard Crafts for Kids
1. DIY Cardboard Easel
We created these clever artist easels out of IKEA packaging and some sticky tape. A brilliant idea for the budding artist and easy to flatten and store so they can be used again and again. We just made a triangle out of some cardboard by folding it, then used a narrow strip of cardboard and tape to hold it together. So simple but really effective and great for painting their next masterpiece.
2. Pizza Pizza
A circle of cardboard cut up into 8 pieces, it’s that simple! We had great fun drawing and cutting out our favourite toppings to add to the pizza. The crust was created using paper wrap from an Amazon box along with some PVA glue. This paper pizza made a great addition to our play kitchen setup.
3. Rainbow Garage
This is a great activity for learning about colours and categorization/sorting. We made the car park out of some old cardboard and tape. Then divided the box into parking spaces and coloured each parking space in a different colour. Hours of fun sorting and parking cars in the right coloured spaces.
4. Build a Robot
We have a big mixed box of dry recyclables that we use for ‘make and create’ time. We put together some cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, old CDs, tape and toilet roll and ‘Betsy the Robot’ was born. Betsy lived with us for a good two weeks last Summer before she went to live in the local recycling centre for good. The kids got very attached to her and she was partial to sitting in the front seat of our car and wearing a seatbelt whenever we went for a drive in the car!!!
5. Cardboard City
Grab a few crayons, some old cardboard boxes and tape and create a cardboard city to drive your toy cars and vehicles around. We created everything from trees, to hospitals, ramps and multi-story car parks. This cool road tape is one I picked up in Flying Tiger, but you can just as easily draw your own. Hours of fun and the creative opportunities are endless!
For more play-based learning activity ideas click here.
