Egg Carton Castles in the Sky

by Julia Parker, from the December 2005 Newsletter

A few weeks ago, my daughter Simone announced “I want to make sculptures!” As a long-time aspiring artist, I thought I recognized that feeling. You wake up with a picture in your head that you just have to paint, or in this case, an urgent need to sculpt. So, I quickly looked around the house and found – an abundance of egg cartons, beads, a big bottle of glue and some poster board. We settled down by the wood stove and began to sculpt. As I watched Simone begin to think through and put together a structure I decided to let her do this through trial and error. “Ok,” I said, “you be the designer and I’ll be the gluer.” From her simple materials, she made fountains, benches, a castle with a courtyard, bridges and a flag made from toilet paper.

Simple materials that children can turn into playthings help them develop their imagination and creativity. I believe children who can find ways to entertain themselves with basic “toys” – wood blocks, scarves, string, paper and glue – develop a sense of self-reliance more than if they play with toys designed for specific play. It has become a standard Christmas story of parents or grandparents who tell how their children, given an abundance of toys, play all day with the boxes. Usually, this is presented as a quirky, amusing story, but perhaps the children are expressing their real needs for imaginative play. However, even children given pre-programmed toys sometimes overcome the toy manufacturer and use toys in creative, unique ways – G.I. Joe becomes someone’s baby doll, Nintendo game cartridges become building blocks. (See Beyond the Rainbow Bridge by Barbara Patterson and Pamela Bradley and Children at Play by Heidi Britz-Crecelius for more discussion of simplicity in childhood.)

Crafts can also fall into the realm of pre-fabricated, directed and expensive kits instead of simple exercises in creativity. This month, when kids tend to be home more, I suggest you skip the craft store and stock up on basic, interesting craft materials for sculpting. Supplies that we have found useful are: egg cartons (this project), yogurt cups and lids, straws, toilet paper and paper towel roles, lids of all types, tabs from soy milk or other spouted cartons (a very cool shape), and buttons.

Materials

• Egg cartons
• Glue
• Poster board or cardboard
• Scissors
• Optional materials (Paint, beads, glitter, toilet paper tubes, 3x5 notecards, toothpicks…)

Directions

• Cut and/or tear egg cartons into a variety of building block sizes and shapes:1 egg section, 2 egg sections, 3 egg sections, 4 egg sections work well
• Cut strips from the lid of the carton (Use for bridges, supports, flag poles)
• Let the child create the structure and design through imagination and trial and error.
• Use notecards and strips of carton to help support the structure between layers
• Help the child with gluing and holding in place while the glue sets (the irregular structures sometimes take a few minutes to stick)
• Use beads, paint, glitter, fabric scraps, yarn et cetera to decorate the castle.

Julia Parker will be spending her winter months alternatively making and cleaning up crafts in front of the wood stove.

Copyright: Copyright on articles and recipes are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective authors, except were otherwise noted.

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