
The Magic of a Cardboard Box - wallflower
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/opinion/cardboard-box-creativity-material.html
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strictnein
Every year I build a Halloween themed cardboard structure for the kids. It
started originally because we had just moved into our previous house and we
had cardboard boxes everywhere. I was bored one night so I stayed up way too
late and built a "Haunted Mansion". Kids loved it, so I've done it the last 5
years now.

It was a lot easier when the kids were 4 and 2, since the size of the
structure could be significantly smaller, and therefore cost a lot less.

Last year I built a "Haunted Volcano" (imagine a large box structure covered
in black fabric) complete with "lava" (orange lights flowing down the side),
internal lighting, and a second level (used some of those little Ikea tables).
It was over 6ft tall and probably something like 50sqft all told. I honestly
probably spent close to $200 on it, so it's somewhat of a waste of money, but
at least you can reuse some of the materials and recycle most of the rest when
you're done.

Home Depot and other similar places sell cardboard boxes that are pretty
reasonable and reasonably strong. The "medium" sized boxes are good for small
kids. The large and XL boxes are better for big kids and, uhmm, adults who
think they're still kids :). You'll quickly figure out good ways to combine
and attach boxes to each other.

Grab a bunch of those, a big pack of quality packing tape (3M, not the knock
off stuff), a tape gun, and a box cutter or two, and you're all set.

~~~
jchin
For building large structures like this, we've found Makedo's are great.
[https://www.make.do/collections/all-
products](https://www.make.do/collections/all-products)

The screws and screwdriver make it super easy to connect the cardboard
together, and I've found the fit to be surprisingly sturdy. It's reusable and
pretty quick to remove from the cardboard once you're ready to take everything
down.

The saw, in my opinion, doesn't cut that well. Possibly still better than
having the kids use large scissors or a box cutter though.

~~~
xargon7
Makedo is awesome, and I agree that the saw isn't very good.

We got this saw: [https://www.amazon.com/Corrugated-Cardboard-Fluorine-
Coating...](https://www.amazon.com/Corrugated-Cardboard-Fluorine-Coating-
DC-190F/dp/B008RIS0UY/)

It's amazing! It cuts really well but is dull enough that I have no worries at
all with my 6 year old using it as she pleases unsupervised.

~~~
strictnein
Awesome. Just ordered one. Never knew something like that existed. I've nicked
myself plenty with a box cutter.

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uptown
Cardboard boxes with a utility blade or x-acto knife are really pleasant to
work with. I've built plenty of things both for and with my son (now that he's
a little older) for school costumes and projects. When we've got larger boxes,
they're great for making a truck or a car to play-in. The durability of the
box is usually pretty well correlated with the how long they remain interested
in playing with the creation. Our latest creation was a cardboard knight
costume with helmet, sword and shield. One of the more-freeing aspects of it
all is that mistakes aren't a big deal because you've likely got plenty of
replacement cardboard to try again.

~~~
akehrer
We've found that box cutters like these[1] work great and are safe for even
our six year old to use.

[1] [http://www.canary.jp/canary-
en/item/en_11_dan.htm](http://www.canary.jp/canary-en/item/en_11_dan.htm)

~~~
marktangotango
Thanks for this, which one specifically? My 5 year old watches cardboard
project videos on YouTube and loves building. We even got him a hot glue gun
which he uses on his own, after a couple of burns he’s very adept with it. Yes
I tried to dissuade him but he’s very persistent!

~~~
akehrer
We have a few of #2 we got from Amazon. You can still cut yourself but it's
more of an abrasion than a laceration. It's great when you can find real tools
for your kids to use and explore their ideas independently.

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djrogers
Here's a $1m kickstarter idea that I'm never going to do, so have fun:

A computer controlled cardboard scorer/cutter to make Labo style toys from
trash. Give it a simple UI that can import standard file formats, and have a
website with a store/free sharing portal for users to download designs.

~~~
fuzzybeard
Great idea. That's basically what a desktop laser cutter does. They start at
$400 for the Chinese versions that require a little elbow grease to get
working, or around $3K for a well built desktop cutter that works and is
supported.

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packetslave
Adam Savage (of Mythbusters and tested.com fame) is a huge proponent of
cardboard as a "gateway drug" into the Maker and/or cosplay world. One of his
first major Maker projects as a kid was a set of armor made from cardboard.

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paultopia
How are there no mentions of the other great beneficiaries of cardboard boxes
in here? I speak, of course, of cats. Cat + box = happiest cat.

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subpixel
One interesting factoid is that for a very long time cardboard was far too
heavy to ship in bulk, so cardboard industries sprung up all over the world,
and many of them were the foundations of very large fortunes.

One cardboard scion just bought a forest in Austria for $108MM
[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-08/the-
story...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-08/the-story-of-the-
rothschild-forest-sold-for-108-million)

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owlninja
Reading Calvin and Hobbes and seeing what he did with cardboard boxes made
them even neater to young me.

~~~
ericsoderstrom
Yeah, I really liked those strips :) Made myself a transmogrifier when I was
younger too

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Kagerjay
Cardboard and duct tape have always been my go to for building together a lazy
hacky solution. I always have access to nice boxes of every size and shape as
well, usually from my leftover amazon boxes.

A few things I use cardboard for right now

\- Filler material (e.g. if I need to clamp something on an uneven surface).
My boom mic had some issues so I just took some cardboard and fixed it

\- My treadmill desk, there's a safety latch that can be yanked off to quickly
shut off power in case of an accident. It dangles around, so I used some
cardboard and ducttape and clipped it below my desk.

\- Storage dividers. I have some sterlite bins and I seperate them with
cardboard + duct tape. Works suprisingly well

\- Custom-storage solutions. You can build anything with cardboard its great

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cafard
Back about 55 years ago, it was a big deal when somebody on the block got a
refrigerator. Lay the box flat, open out the ends, three or four kids crawl
in, face perpendicular to the ends and start doing an all-fours crawl forward:
instant caterpillar.

~~~
Infernal
When I was in elementary school (early 90s) our field day included a "tractor
race" that was this - two kids in a box racing two other kids in a box. Of
course you can't quite see where you're going, so it's crucial you and your
teammate crawl at the same rate. Good times :)

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ryanmcbride
Every year when I go to nerd conventions I like to make a costume out of
cardboard and spray paint. I've gotten pretty good at making robot armor out
of cardboard, and my friend's job gives me easy access to huge amounts of the
stuff.

Cardboard really is an amazing medium for making toys that don't have to last
forever

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pupppet
Immediately made me think of Halo Kid
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TPANByjqh8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TPANByjqh8)).
I hope he found success somewhere.

