Castle Week (Simple Summer Theme Week #4)

As I let Big Brother help come up with several of the themes for our Simple Summer series, some of them have made me stretch my imagination a little. It's been interesting to see what I can think of that sticks to the point of our simple summer weeks, yet still matches his theme idea. Castle Week was a bit of a stumper, but I think I came up with some good activities.

Castle Week was another week where I had several different aged kiddos, my two boys plus two visitors, so I had to think of activities that were approachable for all the kids.

Cardboard Airfield

Okay, so I'm not going to lie, I had a little too much fun putting together this cardboard airfield for the boys.

They've been really into airplanes lately, and I knew they would love it. But, I also just loved having a chance to be creative myself. And even though I could have let them help me put it together, I again have to admit I was having too much fun to let them help and decided to put it together all on my own.

Cardboard Igloo and Ice Fishing Play

We love cardboard box play and take any opportunity we can get to grab a big box for really fun activities. So when we offered a freezer box around the holidays, of course we couldn't turn it down. With a little paint and imagination, we turned our box into an igloo!

Big Brother has been really enjoying some weekend ice fishing with Daddy, and liked the idea of extending it into play at home. This inspired us to turn our box into an igloo and add some fishing fun too. 

Cardboard Christmas Tree

We have the tradition of getting our tree a little later in December, so that we can keep it up a little past New Year's Eve. A few years ago Big Brother started noticing other people had their tree up earlier than that, and started asking why we couldn't have one sooner. That's when we started the tradition of creating a cardboard tree.

Cardboard Christmas Tree

This post may contain affiliate links, thank you for your support. 

The fun of the tree is that each year we build it, paint it, and decorate it — and at the end of the season we recycle it. That way we get to start fresh the next year. It's great to keep in either the boys' room or the playroom after we get our real tree as it's a little smaller. And, this could be a great idea for a classroom or preschool where they might not have room (or money) for a real tree.

Outer Space Birthday

As you already know from Little Brother's Construction Birthday party last month, we love themes for our birthday parties. When Big Brother asked for an Astronaut Outer Space Party I knew there were a lot of fun ideas we could use for that theme.

This was Big Brother's first "friend party" instead of a family party and it was really exciting for both of us to put together projects and games for a group of kids. We wound up with a bigger group than we originally expected but it all went really well!

Cardboard Post Office

So I'm pretty certain my Mom made me something like this when I was a kid as I have fragments of memories of playing Post Office in a large, cardboard box. I've always loved box play, even as I grew into an adult, and I've loved some of the ways Big Brother and I have used them so far. But with my fond memories in mind I couldn't wait to create a Post Office for him.

Our timing was perfect this week as Big Brother's been interested in the mail and regularly checking our mail box. And while we were cleaning our basement he found this unusual cookie tin and incorporated it into his daily play.

We also have our Big Niece visiting three days this week. At age 6 I knew she would be able to add another level of pretend play to the Post Office theme and make the experience more fun for both of them. 

We've been holding onto the box since December when we got a new oven, so it was already a little used and colored on. But I cut a new special window and slits for mail. I used colorful duck tape to create the signs and added in a few props. This included a small table, blank envelopes, markers & pencils, scissors, white paper, mailing labels, stickers, stamps & ink pad, and tape. I also put in a few containers and bags. 

The kids were pretty excited when they discovered the set up and played in the Post Office for big chunks of the day. They made mail, bought mail, gave mail, delivered mail, stamped mail, and sorted mail. 

They extended the play to involve more areas of the house and varied the scenarios for who, how, and why they were delivering mail. 

When they had to come eat lunch they "closed" the Post Office for a while. Check out my niece's great inventive spelling! 

The sign is meant to say, "Staff Only. No People. Out of Order." 

One great thing about box play is the theme can change with the inspiration of the child. My niece's plan for tomorrow is to bring her pretend cash register from home and turn it into a grocery store. The other great thing about box play, is that the play continues until the box is well loved and ready to go to recycling. I have a feeling ours will be well loved this week.