Hellobee

We’ve been slowly accumulating tons of cardboard boxes since we’ve moved into the new house. I wanted to take advantage of the long weekend and use the boxes for a fun toddler project. I looked different ways to make use of our boxes on Pinterest… and of course, I was overwhelmed! A rocket? A car? I decided to go pretty easy with my first cardboard box project and make a castle fort. (One reason is because they’re obsessed with these paper crowns from Amazon.) I wasn’t sure how much the kids would enjoy it because we’ve never done anything like this before. I looked at several pictures before deciding to make my own introductory version. Since we have a small backyard, it would have to be pretty compact and simple. Here’s how I got started:

I had the kids involved from the very start. I hyped up the idea that “we” were going to build a castle together and made them very excited. I purchased these smocks from Amazon and also big bottles of tempura based paint. They helped paint the sides while I worked on the front – knowing that the sides were going to be covered up anyway! They had so much fun, just doing whatever they wanted. We must have painted for 1 hour!

I had the hubs help me cut the holes with a sharp blade. I cut out a door, some windows and little picket tops. Everything was done freehand with a sharpie. As far as the type of tape we used, I happened to have some stage tape from the hubby’s band days and it worked really well! It held up but also was easy to paint over.

Here’s the view from the back. It’s kind of a mix of a fort and a walk-way.

I decided to leave the back open and see how the kids did with what we had so far.

Here’s Baby Pencil, to show you about how tall the door and windows were.

We added some pinwheels on top and painted the sides only a little bit more before I let the kids fully play with it. We threw in some random boxes and a make believe “telescope.” They didn’t play with it for as long as I thought they would, and I realized that I needed more props! I am now working on more building blocks (painted the same as the walls) and maybe some crowns, capes, swords and add more tunnels.

Some tips that I’ve learned building this Cardboard Castle Phase I:

• Beware of the weather. It was very damp and cloudy the next few days, and unfortunately the boxes that were left out started to wilt and became warped. I would highly recommend putting it away inside each night, if possible, or just knowing that it won’t last for very long if the weather is damp.
• Use props! Like I mentioned before, I think if you simply set up a castle fort, there isn’t much for them to do besides run around. I should have had at least 2 types of “activities” for them right away. A telescope, a megaphone, a costume or building blocks would be really great!
• If you want to build some tunnels, go big or go home. I only built one mini tunnel and it was kind of a fluke. I think seeing huge cardboard tunnels like this would be so much more fun!
• Think ahead to fold up and put away the castle so you could use it more often. I think it would be worth looking into designs where you could easily fold up the edges and store away. You could also use velcro to attach and take apart the sides so that it can be stored in smaller spaces.
• You need playdate buddies. I really think the more kids there are, the more interesting something like this could be!