More Than A Toy House
So we made a house out of a shoe box. No big deal you might say. It’s so easy it’s not worth sharing. The truth is, simple things can sometimes go a long way. What I’m trying to demonstrate is that you don’t have to get something fancy for children to enjoy it. It doesn’t have to cost much or anything at all. They love the process and you might just find that they’ll love it more than a store bought one. Transforming something ordinary into something new is a concept that will spark your child’s imagination and will be the basis for more complex ideas and inventions. So, it’s not just a shoe box house now is it?
Hisham is opening the door of his little shoe box home and peeking inside at his toys.
On Vacation
We made this little house when we were on vacation and was spending a month away. He had some car toys that we’d brought with us but we bought some simple stationaries that would be used throughout our vacation. Because we homeschool, we can travel anytime we want and the schooling comes along with us. Unlike mainstream school where most learning takes place in a classroom, homeschooling especially on vacation means that not all learning is conducted indoors. A lot can be learnt while being out and about in a new place.
Some Tips
You can start with one box and expand it to a whole town using multiple boxes . You’ll find that every single box that comes home will have its use.
All that’s needed is a scissors or box cutter (parent time), tape and glue, some paper, paint, markers or crayons. Try different mediums and let your child explore.
Keep instructions to a minimum.
Do one on your own and let you kid do their own. They will learn by observing and may even try out new methods on their own.
Hisham likes to open and close the door of his little house.
Benefits
Playing with toy homes whether store bought or made, encourages dramatic play which is great for developing creativity, social skills, language and more. In the picture, Hisham is closing the door of his house in an act that mimics real life where the house door would be closed and the inhabitants would be inside. Even though it may seem like he is not doing much, there is a lot going on in his mind. For example, he may be imagining what is happening inside the box. This is called free play or unstructured play; which is basically to let your child choose how and what they want to do with their new toy.
Hisham peers inside at all of his toys inside the house.
An Opportunity To Teach
While it is good to leave some time for unstructured play, you can also give them some lessons without them knowing. I find that the easiest way to teach is to ask questions.
For instance you could ask, What colour is your house? Or “How many cars are in their new home? If one car goes out, how many are left? What are they doing? Why is the door closed or open? Is it dark inside the house? (Maybe if it dark, you can offer to cut some windows to let the light in).
You could also introduce them to play acting. For instance, you could knock on the door of the house and say, “Hello, anyone home?” to which your child; if he is able to speak will reply. If he is not able to speak you can carry out an imaginary dialogue and this will encourage him to hear new words and sentence structures and will help him in his speech development.
The possibilities are endless.
I hope you have enjoyed this article. Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to share your own little box project and experience.
Coming soon: How to Set Up Crafting Time and Traveling with Kids. Subscribe to get notified!
