8 Ways to Use a Cardboard Box for Imaginative Play

In the age of Amazon, it seems like everyone has cardboard boxes lying around. And, as anyone who was ever a child knows, cardboard boxes are a staple of toddlerhood. Here are 8 ways to maximize the fun of your boxes.

1. Toddler Tea Table

Throw a piece of fabric over the box, and gather around some plastic toddler chairs. No one will know the wiser.

2. Washing Machine

We added a small, empty detergent bottle, and a line to “dry” the clothes. The clothes pins doubled as a great fine-motor skill activity.

3. Racecar

Zoom-zoom. Baby girl loved running around the house in her race car. We used yarn for the straps to make this car mobile.

4. Airplane

We made this plane when we were preparing our toddler for her first airplane ride. A propeller in front, and a paper plate steering wheel put her in the pilot’s seat.

5. Tiny House

This was actually 2 boxes we had taped together, and added some lights I found in the Targed Dollar section.

6. Food Truck

We recycled our tiny house into a food truck. A little chalkboard paint for a menu board and play food were the finishing touches.

7. Stickhorse Stable

Again, we upgraded the food truck into a stable for our stock horse. We had another box we used for a trough and filled it with shredded paper “hay.”

8. Puppet Theater

This diaper box was transformed into a finger puppet stage by hot gluing a fabric curtain and adding a chalk board sign.

What ways have you upcycled your cardboard boxes?