Have you ever observed that when a young child has received a gift (at the time they do not find out that it is a gift) he puts the toy aside and plays with the box? Yes, with the box. The parents insist on showing him the wonders of a new toy, but the little boy is still fascinated with the cardboard box.
Something as simple as a cardboard box can become a fabulous toy. And if more is bigger than the best child. We recently bought an appliance and while my husband and I installed the device in question, we were surprised at the silence of our little one. When we looked at him we realized that he had discovered that the large cardboard box became a little house only with the use of his imagination.
I took the opportunity to stimulate him even more. I cut some windows and the covers turned them into a door. My son loves his house ... but not only is his small home, the box some days is a bus, a plane, a tunnel that encloses the adventures he invents. Playing with boxes develops motor skills, imagination, critical thinking, symbolic play. Adults can also expand this activity further, motivating children to decorate boxes such as cars or trains, or whatever they can think of, using paint and construction paper. For example, if children begin to pretend that the boxes are trains, then we can motivate them to add wheels by giving them paper and encouraging them to cut it and stick it in the boxes.
If the child is a crawling baby, make him a tunnel in which he can go under, encourage him to enter and exit a box. Let her experience, drag her, hit her (but be careful not to eat her). A box can also be converted into a small puppet theater… just let your imagination fly.
