How to Reuse Empty Kitchen Boxes
Many foods in our kitchens come in cardboard packaging, and those boxes can definitely add up. Children love empty boxes! So why throw all of them away when you could use them to create some fun and creative activities for your children to enjoy? Check out these five simple ideas to reuse your empty kitchen boxes.
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Things You'll Need
- Empty kitchen boxes
- Scrap paper
- Tape
- Contact paper
- Uncooked pinto beans
- Stapler
- Rubber bands
- Scissors
Instructions
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Children love going shopping at the grocery store with their parents. You can create your own grocery store experience in your home and let your children pretend to run their own store. Do this by taking empty kitchen boxes and fill them up with scrap paper (this will keep them from crushing) and then tape up the boxes. Set up a store area and give the children some pretend money and a toy cash register. You can even put price tags on the boxes so that children can learn about the value of money too. Children will love this activity, as it will make them feel like they are shopping for their favorite foods just like Mom and Dad do.
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Another fun thing that all children love to do is to build creatively with blocks. Many preschool classrooms have large collection of cardboard blocks that children adore; however, to gain the same collection at home can be pricey. You can actually create your own set of cardboard blocks by using your empty kitchen boxes. You will want to stuff the boxes with scrap paper so that they will not crush as easily when being played with. Then you can cover the empty boxes with brightly colored contact paper so that they will look alike and children will not even know that the blocks they love to play with at home were once sitting on their kitchen shelves.
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Children by nature love to make music and noise, it is a very natural way for them to express themselves and be creative. You can help your children do this by reusing empty kitchen boxes to create several different homemade musical instruments for your children to experiment with. The first that you can create is a shaker box or a maraca. Simply take a small empty kitchen box and fill it with dried pinto beans, then reseal the box with tape. You can make a rubber band box guitar by using a cereal box. First seal the box up with tape, then using scissors or an utility knife, cut a square out of the center of the front of the box. Take several rubber bands and staple one end to the box and then stretch it across the cut-out square and staple at the other end. Children will love being given the freedom and time to explore the sounds that these instruments will make, and they are sure to really enjoy this activity!
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Children love to pretend, and they can often use everyday objects in very creative ways. You may simply keep a large collection of empty kitchen boxes in all various sizes in a box. Every once in awhile pull it out and see what the imaginations of your children create. You may find that they want to make a robot or use them as pretend walkie talkies. Be prepared to find other items to help them transform these everyday boxes into all sorts of creative items.
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Kitchen boxes are also great to use for wrapping gifts and shipping items. They can often fit items that otherwise are hard to find boxes for. To use them for shipping, you can simply fill them and then wrap them with the blank side of a paper grocery sack.
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