Sure, you’ve probably got lots of ways to re-use smaller amounts of cardboard–cereal boxes and stash chipboard and the other small pieces that come into our lives far too easily.
How about those giant cardboard boxes, though? If you’ve just purchased a major household appliance, or even a new stereo, or finished a move, or celebrated an extra-generous birthday, you might find yourself confronted with an overwhelmingly large amount of cardboard.
But you don’t have to simply throw it into the recycling, at least not yet! Here are some great kid-oriented projects that make use of those larger pieces of cardboard. Some projects will give the cardboard some extra re-use before it heads back into the recycling program, but some projects can remove that giant cardboard box from the waste stream entirely. Here’s how:
Bunch ‘o Boxes Play City: All you need is a collection of cardboard boxes and a lot of imagination to create a recycled play city that will thrill a kid. Forget Fisher Price, Thomas the Tank Engine, and other pricey plastic city set-ups–this one is custom-made, kid-collaborated on, and can be added to without forty bucks and a trip to Target.
To make a city full of houses that are more house-shaped, try this cardboard box house tutorial.
Corrugated Cardboard Ship: Using plenty of corrugated cardboard, ikat bag constructed recycled cardboard ships for each of her kiddos. It includes a pattern which, if you have enough cardboard, you could totally enlarge and build a ship big enough for your kiddo to actually sit in.
Giant Cardboard Box Planetarium: One cardboard box big enough to crawl in and one set of twinkle lights are all that you need to create this magical cardboard box planetarium from Play at Home Mom.
Cardboard Hopscotch: Large squares of cardboard with numbers painted on make the base of an indoor cardboard hopscotch game from Happy Hooligans. Tape the pieces to your floor, and pick them up and pack them away when you’re done.
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Pizza Box Play Set: No Polly Pocket playhouse necessary! Two not-too-greasy pizza boxes are what you need to create a functional, fun play set for the kid who loves miniatures. This particular kid loves toy ponies, so we’ve got a homemade play dough pastoral scene set up, but dinosaurs, toy cars, and, yes, Polly Pockets can also live quite happily in this pizza box play set.
If you have an older kid, a single pizza box makes an excellent set-up for a salt dough map.
OR would you rather make a play set that’s big enough for your kid to sit in? Check out Cardboard Box Town!
Cardboard Box Ball Ramp: Have a few toilet paper tubes to donate to the cause? Combine them with one long half of a giant cardboard box to make this super-sized cardboard ball ramp from A Happy Wanderer.
Stand-up Cardboard Dollhouse: My favorite part of this easy, simple cardboard dollhouse is that it requires no glue or tape to assemble. You know what that means? You can take it apart and store it flat! Take that, Barbie Dreamhouse!
Cardboard Doll Furniture: Have you seen how much an American Girl doll bed COSTS?!? Just… no. Fortunately, Felicity can bed down just fine in this super-cute DIY cardboard bed from Hellobee. Again, there’s a free printable pattern included with the tutorial, so reduce or enlarge as required.
And don’t forget, there are plenty of ways to recycle cardboard to make adult stuff, too!
