Can you say ‘parenting win’?
Keeping your kids engaged and off screens can be a challenge, especially during the long days of summer break.
The good news is that the solution is waiting in your recycling bin. You can use cardboard boxes to create new toys and games, and if you are anything like me, there are usually at least a few boxes from recent deliveries on hand.
The possibilities are as endless as your imagination (or your Pinterest feed). Make a fort, an easel, marble mazes, boats and more. With each of these crafts, you get an engineering or art activity in the creation of the project, plus the enjoyment of playing with the end result.
Click on the arrow above the image or the link at the bottom of the page to see each project, or jump to the one that looks the most fun:
- Mini foosball table
- Cardboard bed
- Cereal box monster jaws
- Carriage of their dreams
- Parking garage
- Simple airplane
- Marble run
- Marble labyrinth game
- Cardboard-box Noah’s Ark
- Cardboard-box town
- Car track and train tunnel in one
- Dressing table
- Cardboard easel
- Cardboard stackers
- Dino feet
Up first: Mini foosball table
Editor’s note: This article was originally published several years ago, and was most recently updated by associate editor Kari Hanson on May 14, 2024. Three new projects were added and all the other project were fact-checked.
