The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
. We made him a “kennel” and he slept in it for several nights. See – unlimited possibilities! Way more than the toy that was actually in the box! He is 24 now and we still reminisce about doing this …Maybe flip the question. Why does it strike an adult as odd that a child loves a box more than a hyper-engineered product for sale to adults?It’s a sign of an exploratory mind where the child is discovering the possibilities and nature of the box and cardboard.
The majority of toys seems to be hard, coloured bits of plastic, usually with some licensed intellectual property design to suck them into a lifetime of consumer loyalty. A cardboard box seems far less harmful.I either heard or read about this a long time ago; it was explained that a small child is in a world designed for adults, ie chairs, tables, door handles etc. By playing with a box, a child has a perspective on size in all dimensions.
A cardboard box engages your physical and mental senses. It sparks imagination. Because it’s “just” a cardboard box destined for the recycling bin, there’s no hesitation to play with it. If you make a mistake, it costs you nothing. You can experiment with it to your heart’s content. Cardboard makes you feel free to go places ...One of my favourite old photographs is of my four children sitting in a row of varying sizes of boxes, “travelling by bus” in the garden.