When is a box not a box? When it’s a car, bus, ship, train, rocket or other form of transportation. Empty box transportation play has no limits. Boxes come in a variety of sizes and are either square or rectangular, to start that is. With imagination they can become anything.
- This rocket ship is blasting off from a preschool and all the kids helped to make it.
- The pirate ship was made by three kids one very hot afternoon. After making it, they played with it for days.
- Adults are not the only ones that drive cars. This one is child-size. Trips can be around the block, across the world, or deep into outer space.
- “Leavin’ on a jet plane,” or stayin’ right at home. This box has flyin’ power.
An empty box only looks empty, it’s really filled with possibilities. Some children will use their box as a blank slate or canvas and spend their time drawing and coloring, gluing on treasures from the craft and recycling baskets, and decorating it both inside and out. Other children may leave the box quite plain and accessorize with their imaginations. Either way, it stimulates creativity and meets a child’s needs and interests.
Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist, with a special interest in the human brain, says “The brain is an amazing thing. Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads.” With kids, we can’t see what the brain is doing, but we can see how hard kids are thinking when they play. In his bestseller, Brain Rules, Dr. Medina advises, “The greatest pediatric brain-boosting technology in the world, is probably a plain cardboard box…”
Empty box transportation play is great for kids of all ages and stages. Is there an empty box for your child’s play-of-the-day?