Hours of fun with Cartoon Stripz and a cardboard box

When I was little, one of my favourite things to do was to make domestic appliances out of cardboard boxes.* Washing machines were a particular favourite. I would cut the flaps off the box, turn it upside down, cut out a door and draw buttons and dials on the front. Then I would arrange it nicely in my bedroom, pop Teddy’s clothes in through the door, and Bob’s your uncle, hours of fun.

When Bee was born and I was quite poor, I even had a bedside cabinet made out of a cardboard box turned on its side and filled with books.

Fortunately nowadays I don’t rely on cardboard boxes for any of my furniture, apart from the box bed in the corner of the kitchen that I make Boyfriend sleep in, but Belle has definitely inherited my love of turning cardboard boxes into things.

This week she has been working on an entry for a new monthly competition from Cartoon Stripz. The competition involves taking a creative photo or video of her Cartoon Stripz characters, and as much as I’d like to think Belle was drawn to the competition because she was fed up of watching CBBC and wanted a more wholesome activity, I suspect it was more to do with the prizes.

Have a look at what your kids could win and you’ll see what I mean:

  • November Prize: an amazing Apple iPod Nano
  • December Prize: a super-cool Sony Digital Camera
  • January Prize: a monsterrific Moshi Monsters 7-inch Capacitive Touch LCD Tablet
  • February Prize: a huge voucher to spend at Toys ‘R’ Us, worth £75
  • March Prize: a brilliant Nintendo 3DS Console

See?

Now, fortunately for Belle, I have been getting into the Christmas spirit lately by ordering masses of books from the Book People, so the house is awash with cardboard. Belle has turned one of said boxes into a two-storey home for her Cartoon Stripz, complete (obviously) with a giant penguin. The characters are perhaps a little out of proportion, but I think all in all it gives a desirable, high-ceilinged town house effect:

"Cartoon stripz"

Belle has now sent off her entry, and has her fingers crossed for an iPod Nano. If you’ve got young children, perhaps they might fancy entering themselves? Full details can be found on the Cartoon Stripz website, but don’t tell Belle I told you, I’m not sure she can handle the competition…

*I am very old. We didn’t have computers or anything in those days.

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1 Comment

  1. knittymummy
    10 November, 2012 / 8:44 am

    My favourite was making a TV out of a box then presenting a programme whilst sitting inside it

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