How great are cardboard boxes?? From my early childhood development education, I know that simple, open-ended play items such as a box stimulate creativity, problems solving, and brain development. From my own childhood, I know that playing with a box is SO MUCH FUN!! We have a toy box full of toys from friend and relatives for my two year old. My daughter picks through it every few days and plays for a minute or two with each item. But, a cardboard box.....that's more fun that a barrel of monkeys! Or a wind-up dog....or a singing duck...or any other complicated invention that has been created to "entertain" children. Children are designed with their own built-in entertainment...it's called imagination!! And an empty box seems to unlock it best. Next time you walk down the toy isle at Target, have the courage to walk right past the Rescue Heroes and Barbie dolls...to walk past the Tickle Me Elmos and the Leapsters....past the video games and dvds...past the Webkins and Bakugan cards...and go home and give your child an empty box!
Look...a boat!!
A turtle shell!
A house!
A secret hideout!
A "cool bus" (school bus)
And Noah's ark!!
Here's to a child's imagination....and the courage to use it!
When I saw your post in the Etsy blog team and I saw the word "imagination" the first thing I thought of was the SpongeBob episode with SpongeBob and Patrick and the cardboard box! I had a Barbie condo made from cardboard boxes when I was a girl and my son currently has the big tv box in his room made into a clubhouse. I asked him the other day if he was done with it and could I toss it and he said NOOOOOO!!
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