Health & Fitness
4 Ways to Use Holiday Boxes for Creative Play
Throwing away all those empty gift boxes? Think again! Reuse boxes for playtime with your little one. Here's how.
Did the holidays leave you with a pile of empty boxes? Don’t throw them away! Boxes of all sizes are perfect baby toys and props for encouraging creative play with your toddler or preschooler. Recent research on Child Development has highlighted the importance of creative and pretend play for boosting communication, problem solving and empathy skills, as well as overall school-readiness.
Plus, creative play is fun!
Here are some ideas for how to use all those boxes for creative play with your little one:
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- Box Hide and Seek: For babies age 8- to 12-months-old, a box is an exciting toy in and of itself. They love to put things in and take things out of boxes, or just practice taking a lid on and off. Amp up the fun by placing brightly color objects under a row of small boxes and let him discover the items hidden underneath.
- Play Shop: Set up a row of boxes behind a coffee table and fill them with various toys or safe household items. Have your child practice sorting like items together, such as by size, color, or type. Then get shopping! Reverse roles of store keeper and shopper with your child to encourage role playing.
- Create a Dress-Up Box: Children love to dress up and make up silly outfits. Gather old clothes, gloves, hats, wigs, and jewelry and let your little one be creative with a variety of outfits.
- Create a Magic Play Box: Find a medium-sized box to hold creative items that your child can explore for play, art, or craft. Items could include: crayons, colored paper, play doh, pipe cleaners, stickers, feathers, stamps,etc. Create this box together with your child and encourage him to decorate it with wrapping paper, coloring and stickers. Check out the video below on creating a Magic Play Box for more ideas:
Happy playing!
