Boxes

Cardboard Play Days 4&5

[slideshow_deploy id='3717'] This week was filled with lots of play, lots of cardboard, and lots of discovery. I learned a lot by watching children and parents play and build together during the two events that took place.

The first was a play event for my daughter's Yoji group, a play group that meets weekly at the local Jidokan (a kind of youth community center). The other was at a local park called Kajino Koen. The Kahjino event hosted lots of local groups that support the park, like Play Park: a local adventure play organization that facilitates weekly play events for children.

Play Park built an amazingly tall and steep wooden slide with wooden handholds, as well as over-sized hammocks, rope walkways, and braided swings. I'm in love with the work that they do and I'm hoping to deepen my relationship with their community in the coming year.

A few things I learned this week:

  • Crayons (bright, waxy pastel ones) play really nicely with cardboard. Markers wander, and paint is a pain to clean up.

  • Parents love to play like children. Children give them a great cover for indulging in the kind of play that they used to do.... and at the same time children fall in love with their parents all over again. There is an amazing playful connection that Is kindled, and when I see parents leave cardboard events smiling, I know an imaginative little fire has been lit and will grow into something more.

  • pre-teen boys like to kick cardboard boxes and stab them with screw drivers. At first I bristle, and then I watch for a while and see the totally therapeutic effect of this activity for them. They calm down, start talking to each other and then start to cooperate and build. Cardboard stabbing boys, I welcome you, and I love to see the amazing things you can build with cardboard.

  • Girls can bring a quiet measured intensity to building with cardboard. I love watching them deliberate while considering all the details like widows and shelving...their excitement is contagious.

  • I love connecting with people through cardboard, seeing parents build something for their children, seeing children build something else for themselves, watching three year olds rip their older brothers around in the back of wheelie cardboard boxes.

  • What can I say? I'm hooked.

Resources: How to put wheels on a box and instructions for Tanaka Satoshi's Giant Cardboard Windballs

Cardboard Costume Challenge Results

[slideshow_deploy id=2839] (Notes: Because all of the costumes were essentially made of cardboard elements mixed with other media, I eliminated the "hybrid" category. There were no bicycle costume entries.)

Adults:

Edward Westerhuis: I am the Ram! Cardboardia: Cardboard Jack-o-lantern (Special Mention) Leelada via Flickr: Cardboard Cowboys

Kids:

wrnking via Flickr: Cardboard Knight Rachel and Tom Morgan: Archery Knight

Kid Made:

Leo: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Sid: Star Wars Storm Trooper (Special Mention) Lego Block

 

You all have me pondering the many new ideas you put out there with your incredible costumes! I'm thinking about metallic cardboard, felt on cardboard, fringed cardboard, cardboard horns, and wearable cardboard houses and cars.

So much inspiration! I hope you feel the same way! The level of creativity that turned out for the challenge was so overwhelming, I hope everyone feels a great sense of accomplishment from the costumes they created. Tomorrow I'll be posting some reflections about the challenge and welcome your suggestions for next year.

Deep bows to all our judges and to MakeDo Japan for donating MakeDo kits to all the winners of the contest!

Meet the judges: Lullatone

We have another cardboard aficionado joining our team of judges! Shawn James Seymour of the Japan-based band, Lullatone. Shawn knows a thing or two about making incredible cardboard stuff. He teaches kids how to make a variety of musical instruments out of cardboard for a local television show here in Nagoya, Japan.

Whether you know it or not, you've probably heard Lullatone's beautifully soft yet vibrant music. They've done commercial work for clients like Target, Volkswagen and Anthropologie, but my daughters' love the clip they did for a Japanese female hygiene products company called Laurier the most. Check it out.

If you haven't heard Soundtracks for Everyday Adventures, their latest album, let me just say it's one of our favorites. Usually we put it on while we're doing things together like working on puzzles or cutting up vegetables for dinner. This is also an album I love to listen to when I'm just sitting around in my living room making stuff out of cardboard during nap time.

And one more little tip for you. If you ever need to calm down a cranky baby, try this Lullatone masterpiece. It works every. time. Thanks so much for joining us Shawn!