Gross MotorToddlersKindergartners26 Comments
We have had a bunch of very large cardboard boxes around from a bathroom remodel. My husband wanted to recycle them right away… but nope, I had to sneak in an activity or two with them first before I could see them go.
My mom gave me this truly awesome idea for a big cardboard box.
Go dumpster diving!
I brought the big box in the house and filled it with trash.
Maybe not real trash. But newspapers and cereal boxes and other containers that I found in our recycling bin.
Not sure if you know, but if you’ve been reading for awhile, we really like to upcycle our recyclables before they leave the house. We have a stash we keep in the corner just for these kind of things.
While I was wadding up newspapers (to take up more room so I could fill the box), I asked Henry to find me 10 toy cars.
Find other fun ways to play with newspapers. Make a sticky spider web to throw them into, or make it a newspaper throwing game!
I asked for a specific number because I wanted to make sure we knew how many there were so there wouldn’t be any lost.
I then sneakily hid those toy cars in the ‘dumpster’ cardboard box. I hid them in the containers and in the wads of newspapers.
Once I had the dumpster full, I dropped the boys in to find the 10 lost toy cars.
And that’s all it took for a morning full of giggles.
And all the lost toy cars were found. We double, probably triple checked to make sure.
I really thought they’d be super easy to find. But they literally had to completely empty the cardboard box to find the last one.
We’ve since taken the boxes outside and drew on them with chalk and made houses with them. Though I’m sure they weren’t houses to the boys… maybe castles, or forts, or garages…
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T says
As an early childhood teacher thanks so much for some simple activities that I can do immediately……
Mary Jo Huff says
THANK YOU for renewing my world of Early Childhood……………I agree that so many things are not kid friendly. They tend to be more for show and who can out do the other person. Thank you again. I am a retired ECE and I still keep in touch with this special world.
Teodora Haidu says
Nice and simple… I am anxios to see my daughter’s reaction. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Nancy says
Kids loved the dumpster dive. Then played with the box-became a bear’s den, a car, and a castle!Thanks for this creative idea!
Jennifer says
I love your activities!!! I’m grandma to a 3 year old and I love that I can find fun, educational and free things to do with him to make his time with Mammy good for him. Thank you for sharing!!!
Sandi says
Love this idea!! Will be doing this with a 17 month old I nanny. Thank you!
[email protected] says
I love the title of this post – definitely caught my eye! Seems like easy fun, and I love that you doubled the fun by making castles/forts/garages with the boxes when that fun was over.
Jamie Reimer says
Thanks Anne!
Hana says
Absolutely love your ideas. Thanks for making wonderful inspiring site. Will stop over regularly to get more inspiration for my little monkeys.
Jamie Reimer says
Thanks :)
Jill says
Funny. Reminds me of a book on my shelf: Christina Katerina & the Box by Patricia Lee Gauch. I bet your boys would enjoy it, too!
Jamie Reimer says
We will definitely need to check it out! Thanks for the recommendation.
Angela says
My kids would also love this. I just need to put my hands onto some big cardboard box :-) The last ones we had we used it to paint and make some play houses that stood in the living room for like 1 month before I could throw them. So my kids love boxes, and I’m sure they’ll love to have a treasure hunt in a big box :-)
Jamie Reimer says
Awesome! Yeah sometimes you have to luck into the boxes.
andiejaye says
I love it! Bear {4.5} LOVES watching the garbage truck. I think he’d love this idea!
Jamie Reimer says
I bet he would!
Jessica @ Play Trains! says
This is hilarious! And a lot of fun, I bet! My son is really into a show that has a talking rat who enjoys things like “garbage buffets”, so this will be a fun thing to work into pretend play sometime. Thanks!
Jamie Reimer says
It was hilarious! Thanks Jessica.