We grown-ups can be pretty boring, don’t you think? We look at a cardboard box and see a convenient tool that helps us move bits and bobs around, and that’s pretty much it. But to children, the humble cardboard box is so much more than that. It’s a spaceship, a secret hideout, a castle, a shop – the possibilities are endless.
Cardboard boxes are invaluable to the service industry and serve as eco-friendly packing material. These days, cardboard boxes come in all different shapes and sizes depending on their intended use, from sleek postbox-friendly subscription boxes to tall and elegant florist vase boxes. All this variety in sizing and colour is pretty good news if you’re looking for ways to create fun DIY cardboard box roleplay ideas.
In the spirit of nostalgia, frugal living, and childlike imagination, I’ve put together this blog post full of roleplaying ideas that use nothing but a few simple supplies from home and, of course, leftover cardboard boxes. From big builds to small toys that capture children’s imaginations, you’re bound to find a DIY cardboard box roleplay idea to suit you and your family’s life.
DIY Cardboard Box Roleplay Ideas: Things that go!
We’ve all seen it happen – a big cardboard box arrives and as soon as the contents have been emptied, the kids have jumped into the box to enjoy their brand new toy. Creating your child’s favourite vehicle is the most common, and not to mention also the easiest, DIY cardboard box roleplay toy that you can craft for your kids.
With a lick of paint and a few extras (think sequins, glitter, or felt tips to create car badges), that dull and dreary cardboard box becomes a truly exciting new toy.
There are so many ideas to try, from the normal everyday vehicles your children are likely to see on the roads, such as police cars and fire engines, to the extraordinary vehicles they’ve read about, like space rockets!
Here are just a few ideas to inspire you:
- Cars, buses, and lorries.
- Boats and submarines.
- Emergency service vehicles – police cars, fire engines, and ambulances.
- Rocket ships, satellites, helicopters, and airplanes.
- Trains
Cardboard Box Roleplay Ideas: Everyday Services
Roleplay scenes are great for teaching our children about the world around them. So often we see these services in our day-to-day lives, but how often do we take our time to teach our children how they work, or how to use them? Learning how to pay for things in a shop, or how to post a letter are vital skills that your children will need to learn as they grow, so why not recreate some of these familiar scenes on a small scale using cardboard boxes? Creating roleplay scenes that your children will recognise will encourage them to think more about the particular service and how it works. You could ask your children about the type of shop they’d like and what sort of goods they’d like to sell. For example, if they wanted to set up a fruit and veg store, together you could craft a little stall and decorate it with pictures of their favourite veggies.
Here are some more service-based roleplay ideas for you to try out:
- Cafes
- Hotels
- Train/Bus Stations
- The Post Offices
- A Chef’s Kitchen
- Airport
DIY Cardboard Box Roleplay Ideas: Playhouses
My favourite thing to do when I was younger was to play with playhouses. I remember playing with a giant box that had packaged some exercise equipment in it, and for months this box was kept in the living room, serving as my playhouse.
With the help of others, I had cut little windows and doors in the playhouse and created a whole little universe inside that was completely mine.
Building a playhouse from cardboard boxes is easy – all you need is a big box that your child can move around in; bonus points if there’s enough room for blankets and stuffed animals/dolls.
If your box is big enough, you can even use other cardboard boxes to make furniture, for example making a table for all your child’s toys to sit around.
DIY Cardboard Box Roleplay: Castles!
Building a castle from cardboard boxes isn’t for the faint-hearted. It can be challenging, but boy if you have the time and space to work together with your kids to create a castle that’s fit for a king or queen, it is 100% worth it!
What child doesn’t want to live out their magical medieval dreams? Once the main bulk of the castle is up, don’t forget to add some extras to make it more convincing – every castle needs a drawbridge and some battlements, right?
It’s not just about the outside for this DIY project though, the inside is where you can really make your DIY cardboard box roleplay idea extra lavish.
Why not hang up some string lights, throw in some cushions and some blankets, and any other finishing touches that will turn your cardboard box into a sanctuary?
Cardboard Roleplay Ideas: Small World
For this make, all you need is a large cardboard box that you can cut in half lengthways to create a tray. You’ll need to make sure that the box has edges as this is what will protect all your small world objects and keep them from getting lost.
Small world roleplay is so versatile, and you can create so many different landscapes and scenes, from farmyard fun to a prehistoric dinosaur land.
All you need are some toys and some simple materials to help you create the small world, for example, breakfast cereals such as wheat biscuits work really well for creating farmyard hay bales.
Why use cardboard boxes to make roleplay areas for children?
The cardboard itself is a cheap, degradable material that is brilliant for creating role-play areas for children. Cardboard is easy to manipulate, shape and cut.
It can be flat packed and stored away when not in use, and once your children are finished with it, cardboard can then be recycled.
Setting up role play areas for kids is an amazing way to nurture their development, and encourage their social skills, as well as fine and gross motor skills. Role Play helps children to understand the world around them, and most of it, it’s fun!
