Thursday, July 22, 2010

Configure Your Own Cardboard Castle

We made this cardboard castle set, and it kept the girls happy and busy for a large part of this afternoon. For something as frugal as cardboard, it was a big hit!


Not only did they spend a lot of time immersed in pretend play, but they also really enjoyed getting to decorate the castle exactly the way they wanted. We did a sort of assembly-line style production. I cut the cardboard, Clara did some scribbling.....


.... then Emily took over to put on the finishing touches of flower drawings and glue on bits of colorful tissue paper!


With the help of a bit of wire, I was able to make a working drawbridge! The girls LOVED that!!


I enjoyed watching them come up with all sorts of different configurations for their castle.


The peg dolls seemed right at home here.... Hello, peg doll!


It was starting to get dark outside, and they were still having so much fun!


Finally, it was time to get dinner started, but I have a feeling we'll be enjoying a lot more play time with this castle for the next couple of days.... (or weeks)! 


I have some exciting things planned for our little bloggy-blog: Mark and I have been hard at work on a new layout that will make finding activities by theme, age, holiday, etc. SO much easier! There's even a section for "quick and easy" activities, and you can upload photos of your versions of our projects to share!!

13 comments:

Mark said...

Dear Valerie,

I was saving that cardboard for something incredibly awesome, and you knew it.

Pack it up, folks, the party is over.

Love,
Mark

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

How fun - but can you describe for inept crafters like myself - how did you make the castle reconfigurable? Did you cut the slits in the cardboard, so the pieces can slide into each other?

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

I really like the tissue paper accents - they give it a magical, stone kind of look. Very nice!

Ariella said...

great project. My kids will love it! Cardboard boxes are the ultimate favorite toy of all kids--- they can transform into anything!

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

@ Mark -- HA!!!

@ Raising a Happy Child -- We kept it really simple and the girls made grooves in the dirt to keep the walls propped up. I think having them slide into each other as you described would be a great way to do this too -- especially for indoor play!

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

@ An Almost Unschooling Mom -- I thought they looked a bit like stone too! :-)

@ Childhood Magic -- I totally agree!!!

(V.Kerr) School Time Adventures said...

I am excited for the new changes sounds great! We have the same peg people.

Christy Killoran said...

I am very excited about your new additions to the blog! Very cool!

Making a castle is on our summer bucket list, so we might make this one!

danita said...

i knew i was saving that cardboard from earlier today for something! thanks! looking forward to seeing the 'new look'!

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

@ V.Kerr -- I can't wait to show off the new look!! :-)

@ Christy -- OMG!! You're going to love it... Mark is going to contribute "Daddy Craft" posts on a regular basis. Who knows what crazy things will go on in this house! LOL

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

@ danita -- I was thinking the other day that I NEVER buy cardboard. We almost always have some that can be recycled. The corrugated cardboard can be used for SO many different projects! Have fun!!

Unknown said...

Oh yes, Peg People deserve castles too...

Sarah said...

Boxes sure are fun...this is such a fun blog and I will be back for more. Your girls are having so much fun with that creative little castle!

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