Friday, January 11, 2013

Making a Castle from Old Tissue Boxes

I confess I have a bit of a fascination for all things medieval.  I usually read a couple of books each year set during that time.  So it's no surprise, really, that I'm always hoping to get the boys to play knights and castles.  The boys received some knights and dragons for Christmas, but we were missing a castle.  So I decided we would build one, out of craft supplies we had around the house.

 I used purple duct tape to join together 3 tissue boxes - one long box and two smaller boxes.  I thought briefly about spray painting the ensemble, but then decided we could have a purple castle.

 I made flags from toilet paper tubes and foam sheets, and also made a moat complete with frog and fish stickers from foam.  Then I cut doors and windows.

Here is the back view - the knights can go in the doors in the back of the castle and peek through the windows.  The boys are enjoying the addition to their knight and dragon collection.  Maybe next we'll creat a dragon's lair to hide our dragons in.  After castle creation was complete, we read a few books to help with our creative play.

How about you, readers?  Do you remember reading books as a kid and then reenacting them in play? 

This post linked with Read, Explore, Learn at JDaniel4sMom. 

38 comments:

  1. Steve SurrattJanuary 11, 2013 at 5:56 AM

    Neat idea, and clean. I recall making mud castles in the back yard and using the silverware to dig the moat.

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  2. Vision By MilaJanuary 11, 2013 at 6:10 AM

    absolutely I was reenacting stories, snow white and all!

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  3. andyJanuary 11, 2013 at 7:15 AM

    I want to play with that castle !!!! Very cool !!!

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  4. Buttons ThoughtsJanuary 11, 2013 at 7:22 AM

    Oh that is so cooool Lisa. B

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  5. JillJanuary 11, 2013 at 7:47 AM

    This is just great! You're such a great Mom!

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  6. NancyJanuary 11, 2013 at 7:51 AM

    How fun -- children have such great imaginations. :)

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  7. SlamdunkJanuary 11, 2013 at 8:33 AM

    Excellent idea Lisa. I did not do this as a child, but we have tried to create imaginative playthings as parents. It is amazing how much fun an old refrigerator box can be for little ones.

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  8. Eat To LiveJanuary 11, 2013 at 8:57 AM

    What a GREAT idea Lisa! The boys have got to think you are the best Mommy EVER!!

    The only castles I tried to make were sand castles and that didn't work out so well.

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  9. ChasityJanuary 11, 2013 at 9:02 AM

    The castle looks great! Have fun playing with your little ones! :)

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  10. AngieJanuary 11, 2013 at 9:04 AM

    What a fun idea! I would have never guessed it was made from duct tape. I wish I was that creative :)

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  11. Tina Fariss BarbourJanuary 11, 2013 at 9:08 AM

    I love the purple castle! You are such a creative and fun mom!

    I acted out scenes from the books I read with Barbie dolls. I made a house boat out of a cigar box one time, I remember.

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  12. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2013 at 10:06 AM

    That's a great idea!

    I remember re-enacting some great stories when I was a kid.

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  13. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2013 at 10:49 AM

    This is such a cute idea! You will be so ready for the tissue box challenge. I am going to share this post on the Read.Explore.Learn. Facebook page.

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  14. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2013 at 11:10 AM

    WE adore all things medieval at our house, too. Very clever castle building.

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  15. SallyJanuary 11, 2013 at 11:37 AM

    No, but after John Wayne movies my brother and I would come home and play cowboys and indians. :)

    You did an awesome job on the castle!

    xoxo

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  16. HeatherJanuary 11, 2013 at 1:23 PM

    This is a great idea! We recently used all of our boxes from Christmas to make a castle. The kids loved it!

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  17. Ginny HartzlerJanuary 11, 2013 at 1:36 PM

    This is a brilliant idea, I LOVE it! And it is also really pretty with the purple. You should be looking for a job as an architect, ha ha ha.

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  18. Valerie BoersmaJanuary 11, 2013 at 1:58 PM

    I remember having a castle shaped birthday cake when I was five or so. I love it when kids are inspired by books-there is nothing like a good story to get the imagination going!

    Have a great weekend, Lisa. A convo is coming soon, I promise:)

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  19. renae January 11, 2013 at 2:56 PM

    Lisa! hi! What did I tell you about you being a great Mom to your boys? ...that ...you are one!

    This is so dang great and cute. I will have to tell my daughter that has a son about this.....yes!

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  20. Are We There Yet!January 11, 2013 at 3:46 PM

    Hahahaha.... there is even a moat around it. I didn't see that on my first visit. Good job!

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  21. renae January 11, 2013 at 4:58 PM

    hey Lisa! Oh that is nice to hear, thank you; you remembered a thingy about me. That is always super fun to hear.

    Nope, I don't know Belk. Do you have a Gordman's. That store is new to us here in Utah. Gordman's is a cross between Old Navy and Hobby Lobby. haha, it is. Oh with shoes, too. Lots of cool shoes. LOL

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  22. Gail DixonJanuary 11, 2013 at 5:22 PM

    You are so clever! We once did a play based on the song Wendy, years and years ago. :)

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  23. MichelleJanuary 11, 2013 at 8:02 PM

    Really creative and no doubt the boys loved it.

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  24. MyyaJanuary 11, 2013 at 11:19 PM

    I don't remember doing that when I was little but my girls totally do. It is the cutest thing to watch. Books help imagination so much, I feel kinda jipped as a kid for not being a reader.

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  25. UnknownJanuary 12, 2013 at 2:17 AM

    What a brilliant idea to build your own castle, it looks very good :) Enjoy your weekend.

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  26. UnknownJanuary 12, 2013 at 10:01 AM

    beautiful post!!:):)Your blog is so lovely! I'm thinking, if you want, we can follow each other! It would be great!!
    http://www.borsadimarypoppins.com/
    xoxo Gloria

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  27. Karen thisoldhouse2.comJanuary 12, 2013 at 10:42 AM

    Very clever!!...

    and hey, your fascinationg with midievel things is probably better than my lifelong reading of Vampire material..lol.. I am a twilight fan, and yes, I'm embarassed to admit that.

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  28. Marie January 12, 2013 at 11:05 AM

    So creative! I miss this kind of fun with my son, but now he drives me around. lol
    Happy Saturday to you!

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  29. jp@A Green RidgeJanuary 12, 2013 at 11:45 AM

    And I though my idea about using the toilet paper tubes to hold electrical cords was nifty!!! I'm now going to blow my nose a lot!!!...:)JP

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  30. Chatty CroneJanuary 12, 2013 at 2:17 PM

    That is awesome with the duck tape - Andy has to make a diorama on his book - you are really teaching your children well!

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  31. Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan TooJanuary 12, 2013 at 4:24 PM

    What a cute idea!

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  32. LindaJanuary 13, 2013 at 12:25 AM

    So cute! And yes, I remember doing things like that.

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  33. GiuliaJanuary 13, 2013 at 5:29 AM

    Oh you are a fashion mum like me! love to have found your blog! I am a new follower of you, would u like to follow me back on gfc? I would be so happy of it! thanks giulia
    thefashionmamas.com

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  34. Our Neck of the WoodsJanuary 13, 2013 at 9:15 AM

    How creative! My husband loves all things medieval as well so he'd probably like to play with this too haha.

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  35. AndreaJanuary 13, 2013 at 10:41 AM

    That is too cute! I love it! :> I love castles, real ones. They're beautiful.

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  36. Debby@Just BreatheJanuary 13, 2013 at 1:53 PM

    That's a great castle.....

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  37. LinJanuary 13, 2013 at 8:24 PM

    You need a refrigerator box....that's what we would do when we read books that we'd act out. We'd get a box and make it our castle.

    You guys did a GREAT job with the castle!! Very creative!

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  38. An Apel a DayJanuary 14, 2013 at 10:50 AM

    That's fun! Isaak was caught last night playing in his bed. He was playing with a toilet paper roll. LOL

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