Dimensions of Early Childhood - Southern Early Childhood ...

Put These Ideas Into Practice!
Cardboard Boxes: Learning Concepts Galore!
by Laverne Warner and Linda Wilmoth
Art Explorations With Boxes
• Roll—Cover the bottom of a box with paper. Roll a marble or small ball in paint and then
tip the box to roll it back and forth.
• Stamp—Use lids, box tops, edges, and bottoms as stamps. Cut into shapes and dip into
paint.
• Decorate! Paint or use markers and crayons, along with craft materials, to decorate
boxes, large and small.
• Ripple—Peel a paper layer from corrugated cardboard to reveal the ripples. Use them for
crayon rubbings or to paint prints.
• Build! Glue and tape boxes of all sizes together, even inside each other, to make small or
gigantic sculptures. Children decorate with paint, paper, streamers, recycled objects, or
whatever fits their theme.
Fine-Motor Activities With Boxes
• Sort—Select similar and different small boxes. Sort with
tongs or fingers. Which boxes will fit inside the others?
• Stack—Pile boxes high. Order them from large to small—
or small to large!
• Wrap—Wrap pretend or real gifts with newspaper, recycled
gift wrap, or children’s own gift wrap made with roll paper.
Add paint, stickers, and/or stamps. Tie bows, too!
• Play games—Create board and playground games with
boxes. Design matching and memory games on box lids for a
3-D experience. Cut out sections for beanbag toss. Store game
and puzzle pieces in decorated boxes.
• Solve puzzles—Choose magazine pictures or decorate with
art materials to make the picture or design. Glue on
cardboard. Cut into pieces. Store in another box.
Math Concepts With Boxes
• one-to-one correspondence (match
sets of boxes, match balls or other items
to boxes)
• counting (how many in a stack? in a
row? fit together?)
• patterns (arrange by color, shape, size,
type of cardboard, lids)
• names of shapes and sizes of
boxes (square, cube, deep, shallow,
wide, narrow)
• seriation (largest to smallest, darkest to
lightest, heaviest to lightest)
• observe and describe similarities and
differences between and among boxes
(sturdy, collapsed, bent, folded, types of
tape, wood)
Skills Children Develop by
Learning With Boxes
Language—express thoughts, feelings, and ideas
Social Studies—contribute to class community, recognize
cause-and-effect relationships
Fine Arts—create original work; use colors, textures, and
shapes to create form and meaning
Social Development—share and cooperate, develop
friendships, respond to others’ suggestions, exhibit self-control,
engage in self-directed learning
Fine-Motor Development—develop pincer control,
learn to grasp art and writing tools with fingers
Science and Math—solve simple design problems,
gather information, compare sizes, match objects,
increase vocabulary
Note: Dimensions of Early Childhood readers are encouraged to copy this material for early childhood students as well as teachers of young children as a professional development tool.
16 Volume 35, Number 1 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Winter 2007