Upcycled Life: Cardboard village

You don’t need special materials to be creative – and kids can be most innovative with what is at hand. So if you are worried about keeping school-age kids busy while school is closed, then start building a cardboard village.

To get started, look for beautiful packaging in the materials that you might typically recycle, like tissue boxes, chocolate bar wrappers or greeting cards. Cardboard, toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes, bottle caps and buttons are ideal for the base of building. Then get out any art materials you already have like scissors, glue, tape, paper, pens, markers or crayons.

Start with a theme – like my neighborhood, fairy-tale land, the future, my favorite place or prehistoric – or see where your creativity takes you.

If you or your child needs more structure to start with this task, here’s another prompt: Make a creature and the home it lives in.

Not only does this kind of unstructured project foster creativity, but it also can provide an outlet for play and storytelling. Encourage your child to write or tell you a story about their creation for extra credit. With any luck, this kind of project can keep little hands busy for days.