The Wonders of a Box

I would bet that my husband and I spend several hundred dollars a year on toys for our five children. Most of the time, we don’t buy things for no reason, but with all the birthdays and holidays it can really add up. So why is it that what they really seem to like is just an old empty box?

My husband got a new recliner this week as a gift from his parents. They are justifiably proud of him, and so when his old chair died last month, they bought him a new one. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

The best part of the chair, as far as the children are concerned is that it came in a giant cardboard box. This box has become the central item in their play ever since. It has been a clubhouse, a home, a pirate ship sailing the high seas on the lookout for treasure, and a great place to sing at the top of their lungs.

When the rest of the world seems to want to dictate what it is that children play, and how they play, and what they should pretend, and even the toys talk so the children don’t have to even use their imaginations to figure out what the toys have to say, it is wonderfully refreshing to watch our little brood spend so much energy and brain power on the potential of a humble cardboard box.