BOX BOX BOX BOX

Learning opportunities for the children this week included playing with cardboard boxes.  Playing with a cardboard box can build skills that some toys can't, such as creativity, imagination, and resourcefulness.  Cardboard boxes inspire creativity and imagination as the children build upon, transform, and reinvent them.  The cardboard boxes held the children's imagination and attention for lengths of time, and we witnessed children coming back to the boxes throughout their morning.  Our play was unstructured in that we gave the children the opportunity to explore the versatile, open ended material (boxes) with no end result in mind.  We put out the boxes and let the play unfold! 

We are all about cardboard boxes here-the rug was filled with boxes of all sizes and we called it  "box land".  Each day brought  iterations of doghouses, vehicles, hideouts, spaceships....you name it and it happened. Boxes offered the children endless opportunities, and agency in imaginative play.  Markers were brought in for decorating or creating buttons and steering wheels and controls.  

There was  a social component in which the children shared ideas with others and learned to make room.  There were rules for box land, which we created together. The children realized that if we were rough with the materials they would not last.  We also reiterated "ONE child per box." 

For this post, I'm sharing pictures of our box discoveries, as well as "words we've heard" as the children negotiated box land.  

"Anyone want to come in my house? Just knock on the door"

"I need a long box I can fit in. It's perfect! Well, it's a little longer but that's okay."

"I'm in a box too"

"When you have a nightmare you can come to my house okay?"

"I need it dark but I still need some light." 

"flap flap flap flap flap flap"

"I don't think airplane wings move when you fly"

"Am I flying?"

"It's a little funny because you said you were on top! It is HOT in here."  

"I'm staying inside my house" (giggles)"

"Hmmmm Hmmmm Hmmmm Hello is somebody in here?"

"I have books and maps, I'm all set!"

"Now I got some food on my trip"

"Come in! I'm going out the door."

"We can MAKE maps    !"

"Giant house together. We can build a giant house together."

"Grab some roof supplies." 

"Let's make a bigger house. How about we make a bigger house?" 

"this is a Lamborghini vroom vroom vroooooooom"

"I have a basement right here."

"You have to bring your house closer to mine. If you move it here then I can come in the back door."

"We're going in an airplane infinity one ninety nine"

"Look! We have a t.v. We don't have to drive the car it drives itself"

"Put the left side on the left side." 

"Okay, I'm going in."

"This is connected to you. I need all the power in the belly."

"How about we can make an ultimate play station. I'm going to put it on top of mine."

Until Next Time,

Michele