The other day a very large box came in the mail. Of course, the kids claimed that box in an instant!
As they climbed inside giggling and popping their heads over the side, an idea formed in my mind.
The box made the perfect cardboard box playhouse. The kids used it for lots of fun Valentine’s Day pretend play.
Looking for more ways to recycled those boxes? Check out these 25+ Recycled Crafts for Kids.
Cardboard Box Playhouse
To make the sweet shop large enough for both of my sweeties (don’t want any fighting, after all!), I used another large box I had stored in the basement to help form our walls.
Then I covered the boxes with some of the brown packing paper that had filled up the over-sized box. Once that was finished, it was time to decorate.
I drew curvy lines in an X on some paper plates. I marked every other space space for the kids to color to create large mint candies to hang.
Then I showed them how to fold paper in half to cut out hearts. We used some old shiny gift bags for some of our hearts. For the preschooler it was easier for me to draw the half heart on the paper for him to then cut out.
A smaller box was turned into a sign for our pretend candy shop.
They had fun using the hot glue gun (with my constant supervision) to glue their decorations to the shop.
Finally, I got out some old Christmas tree lights that I almost donated, and draped them across the shop’s top.
In no time at all the toy cash register was inside, along with all the cookies and cupcakes they could find in their play kitchen.
We bent red and white pipe cleaners into small candy canes to sell, and then I had one more treat for them!
A jar full of pom-pom gumballs!
Dishing out pom-pom gumballs with the tongs is not only fun, it’s great practice for those fine motor skills!
It was time to open shop!
Large cardboard boxes are so much fun to turn into cardboard box playhouses.
This pretend candy shop is perfect for Valentine’s Day inspired pretend play.
You may also like:
Donna DM Yates says
It’s adorable. I want to come over and play too. Wait. I want one of my own. Your children are going to be so creative for their entire lives.
Morgan Prince says
What a great way of using cardboard boxes. My boys would love that!
#LOBS
Morgan x
OneMommy says
Mine have both been having fun selling me treats!
Angela @ Joy Focused Learning says
Nothing beats the excitement of a big empty box waiting to be turned into something! My little one loves when we get big boxes too. 🙂 Thanks for sharing at Anything Goes!
Brooke (siayla) says
I LOVE this idea!