10 Ideas to Keep Kids Happy With A Box

I find the first few days back to daycare a bit hard for the children.  They have had a change in routine and sometimes the adjustment is difficult. The holidays are a time when regular sleeping patterns are disrupted and sugar intake sky rockets. Houses are filled with extra people and the excitement level is high.  This is a wonderful time for families but also a chaotic time for young children who try to make sense of all the new events and emotions.

The first few days back to work can also be trying for home daycare providers who are over tired from the stress and busyness of the holiday time.  I have a little tip to make your first day back a fun one for the children and an easy one for you.

Grab a few boxes from your recycle bin and help your daycare children build something interesting.  A good box will create a full day of focused fun.

I searched through my old photos and found some ideas to get you started.

#1 Draw on a flat piece of cardboard

This keeps them busy for a good chunk of time if you give them a variety of crayons/markers/chalk, etc. They could make roads and train tracks for their toy cars and trains.

#2 Help them build a fort

This was more of a tunnel that they wanted to crawl through again and again and again. They decided to cover the tunnel with blankets to make it darker. Figuring out how to arrange the blankets and keep them from sliding off was a great team effort.

#3 Give them snack in their fort

We always eat snack at the table sitting down, so whenever we deviate from the norm it is a big treat in their eyes. They delighted in eating their snack inside the box fort.

#4 Use a box to make a marble painting

Cut one side off of a box.  Put a piece of paper in it, a few blobs of paint and some marbles.  Let the children tilt the box and watch the marbles run through the paint.  The more they make the marbles roll, the more paint tracks are created. You could try small cars or anything that rolls.  See how different colours blend together.  My daycare children can do this mess free painting activity for hours.

#5 Make a train tunnel or a car garage

My kids like it when we make tunnels for the trains or cars because they can create something specific that they want to play.  They like to decorate the tunnel and add different features (a car wash station) and then the imaginative game begins.  It’s the imaginative game that lasts for hours.  The empty box and me with a strong pair of scissors are the ingredients needed to get an idea from a child’s head into a detailed pretend game.

#6 Make some cardboard stencils

Stencils are fun to use and keep my daycare children occupied far longer than just paint and paper.  Here are some letter stencils but you can also do simple shapes. Show the children how they can paint around the outside of the stencil to create squares and rectangles. Thin cardboard works best for this activity.

#7 Turn the box into a car, plane or train

We added some scrap pieces of fabric over the shoulders so that the kids could zoom around without having to hold their cars.

#8 Make a castle or a house

Ask the children if their favourite toy needs a house? Small figurines or animals often need some sort of shelter to go to sleep in.  Creating and decorating the space can last a whole afternoon.

#9 Attach a string and pull your box around

Here are some chuck wagons waiting to be pulled on our annual rodeo day race.  Boxes can also be pretend wagons for stuffed animals or dolls. I’ve also seen small boxes double as dogs that need to be walked on leashes.

#10 See what the children come up with all by themselves

O.K., this wasn’t his best idea yet. But doesn’t he look cute in his jammies and box hat?  With a few minor alterations the box became a hockey helmet!

May all your empty boxes transform themselves into endless play pieces for your daycare children.