Hint! Ask each child to save cardboard food
boxes for a week and bring in what their family uses. Recycle those boxes with some of these projects.
Cardboard
castle –
Let children use masking tape to create a castle or other play sculpture.
Puzzles – Cut box fronts into
puzzle shapes. Store in zip
bags. For younger children use two
like boxes. Cut one up and let
them place the pieces on the second box.
Fronts
and backs
– Cut front and back panels off of boxes.
Mix them up and then ask the children to match up the ones that go
together.
Play
a memory game where you place the fronts and backs face down on
the floor. Children try to match
up pairs.
Stencils
and templates
– Cut geometric shapes out of box fronts.
Children can trace these with colored pencils, crayons, or markers.
Cut
seasonal shapes or objects that relate to a unit of study for the children to
trace.
Sewing
cards –
Punch holes around the sides of boxes.
Children can sew these with yarn, string, or old shoelaces.
Weaving – Cut notches around the
sides of boxes and let children weave through these with yarn.
Fractions – Give each child the
front panel off a box. Can you cut
it in half? Fourths? Eights?
Math – Have children sort the
boxes by product, size, etc. Graph
favorite cereals, cookies, crackers, etc.
Nutrition – Cut the side panels
with nutritional information from cereal boxes. Have children rank them according to sugar content, food
value, etc.
