We do tons of play, crafts, and activities with recycled materials. Cardboard boxes are a bit hit in our house! We are very excited to join the Project Recycle & Create series each month this year as we create, explore, and play using recycled materials. This month is all about creating with cardboard. I don’t know about you, but since Christmas, we are well stocked on the cardboard supply! This activity was made with a simple cardboard box and inspired so much creative play and fun. We made a small world zoo that encouraged pretend play, fine motor skills, imagination, language development…and FUN! Pretend Play is something we love and have done before with many themes and senses. This zoo themed small world stayed out for a while and was a huge hit with the cousins.
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Baby Girl is a big fan of Little People. We pull out the Little People Learning Zoo Playset almost daily. The animals were definitely needed for our cardboard zoo.
Using a large piece of cardboard, I drew a pathway and a few areas for the animals. Little Guy provided great input about what we needed in our zoo. He said we needed a few cages for the animals and an igloo for the polar bear. He set all of the animals around the zoo and gave everyone a home.
This DIY zoo play mat sat out in our dining room all day and once the Toddlers were up from their nap, they were excited to get in on the play too! What a great way to encourage pretend play and language!
We had so much fun with our pretend play zoo. And, it doesn’t get much easier to set up a small world for hours and hours (days…) of imagination and pretend play! How many small worlds can you create with just a few sheets of cardboard?
We’re joining these creative bloggers in the Project: Recycle & Create series this month for cardboard crafts and activities:
P is for Preschooler
Powerful Mothering
Afterschool for Smarty Pants
Still Playing School
Lemon Lime Adventures
Creative World of Varya
Mama Miss
There’s Just One Mommy
Little Bins for Little Hands
Peakle Pie
Teach Me Mommy
Danya Banya
3 thoughts on “Small World Pretend Play Cardboard Box”
I love this creative play. Isn't it great how a box can be so many things?
Oooh, love this! We have a big box right now that we need to play with, too…
This is great – so full of imagination! What a fun way to use a cardboard box!
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