Adventures Await With a Box!
Give a kid a new toy and they want to play with the box! Parents get so upset by this, but I say bravo!
Kids are creative genius's, they have a fantastic imagination, that should be encouraged.
My grandson, turned a shoe box into a hat, a truck that he tried to sit on and make vroom vroom noises, a pail for his little cars, and the base for his blocks. He played with that box all afternoon until it was crushed, and no longer held its shape. He was as crushed as the box!
I think parents place too much emphasis on toys and electronics for their children. They are great, but giving your child a box, paper, crayons, etc, allows the children to develop fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, manual dexterity, and the ability to use their brain. They learn to amuse themselves by creating. They will be more content to play alone, making them happier and better developed.
I can recall my son, he was 3 years old at the time and he loved Spiderman, he had a series of strings tied from our shower rod to the shower curtain tie backs to the window to the shower to the bubble bath in the corner of my bathtub. It was very elaborate, and was used for his action figures to make quick getaways in their aquatic adventure land. My husband, daughter and myself were used to this obstacle course, so we knew where to climb over, under or around, his web of doom. My brother in law, came to visit for Christmas that year, and he attempted to climb into the shower. I heard the water turn on, I heard it convert to the shower, and then...nothing. There was no familiar sound of the shower curtain being drawn back. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder if he can get through that maze of strings...and then I heard it, a bang followed by cursing. Nope! Wait for it...the bathroom door opened, and out limped my brother in law, dry as a bone, with an expression of confusion and pain on his face. I began howling, I just couldn't stifle it. My brother in law, as composed as he could be, wearing a blue floral towel, that was haphazardly wrapped around his waist, asked me through clenched teeth "What the hell is that mess of strings in the bathtub for"? I didn't have a chance to reply, because my 3 year old son, quickly replied to his uncles's query. "It's Spiderman's web, it catches bad guys! See mommy, it works"!
Children are amazing, their imagination knows no bounds. They can turn a box into a castle, play dough into ice cream cones, or string into Spiderman's lair. They can look at the pictures in a book and make up the most fantastic story, better, sometimes than the actual story itself. I have heard these amazing stories from different children over the past 30 years, mine, friends children and young charges I have taken care of over the years. Stories that could make J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books sound like a nursery rhyme!
At some point, as children grow into an adolescent, and finally an adult, they lose their creative edge. They are bombarded with technology, and the want for the newest gadget on the market.
I believe we should encourage each child to be creative, use their imagination and just be a kid. No computers, I Pads, tablets, or phones. If they need to have one, let them make one from a box and markers.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates didn't begin their multi million dollar corporations with electronics. They began with an idea, lots of imagination and a dream, and more than likely a box!
Here is a link to a childhood study on toys and development.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/let-the-children-play-its-good-for-them-130697324/
This is my grandchildren's play house, thanks to a box!
Kids are creative genius's, they have a fantastic imagination, that should be encouraged.
My grandson, turned a shoe box into a hat, a truck that he tried to sit on and make vroom vroom noises, a pail for his little cars, and the base for his blocks. He played with that box all afternoon until it was crushed, and no longer held its shape. He was as crushed as the box!
I think parents place too much emphasis on toys and electronics for their children. They are great, but giving your child a box, paper, crayons, etc, allows the children to develop fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, manual dexterity, and the ability to use their brain. They learn to amuse themselves by creating. They will be more content to play alone, making them happier and better developed.
I can recall my son, he was 3 years old at the time and he loved Spiderman, he had a series of strings tied from our shower rod to the shower curtain tie backs to the window to the shower to the bubble bath in the corner of my bathtub. It was very elaborate, and was used for his action figures to make quick getaways in their aquatic adventure land. My husband, daughter and myself were used to this obstacle course, so we knew where to climb over, under or around, his web of doom. My brother in law, came to visit for Christmas that year, and he attempted to climb into the shower. I heard the water turn on, I heard it convert to the shower, and then...nothing. There was no familiar sound of the shower curtain being drawn back. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder if he can get through that maze of strings...and then I heard it, a bang followed by cursing. Nope! Wait for it...the bathroom door opened, and out limped my brother in law, dry as a bone, with an expression of confusion and pain on his face. I began howling, I just couldn't stifle it. My brother in law, as composed as he could be, wearing a blue floral towel, that was haphazardly wrapped around his waist, asked me through clenched teeth "What the hell is that mess of strings in the bathtub for"? I didn't have a chance to reply, because my 3 year old son, quickly replied to his uncles's query. "It's Spiderman's web, it catches bad guys! See mommy, it works"!
Children are amazing, their imagination knows no bounds. They can turn a box into a castle, play dough into ice cream cones, or string into Spiderman's lair. They can look at the pictures in a book and make up the most fantastic story, better, sometimes than the actual story itself. I have heard these amazing stories from different children over the past 30 years, mine, friends children and young charges I have taken care of over the years. Stories that could make J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books sound like a nursery rhyme!
At some point, as children grow into an adolescent, and finally an adult, they lose their creative edge. They are bombarded with technology, and the want for the newest gadget on the market.
I believe we should encourage each child to be creative, use their imagination and just be a kid. No computers, I Pads, tablets, or phones. If they need to have one, let them make one from a box and markers.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates didn't begin their multi million dollar corporations with electronics. They began with an idea, lots of imagination and a dream, and more than likely a box!
Here is a link to a childhood study on toys and development.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/let-the-children-play-its-good-for-them-130697324/
This is my grandchildren's play house, thanks to a box! 
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