The Magic of Cardboard
by Heidi Bratton in Homemaking on Wednesday, February 03, 2010 6:00 AM
I finally did it, and it felt so good!
After months of searching, I found the perfect present for my four-year-old son. One that made his eyes pop out, his jaw drop down, and a squeal of delight spontaneously burst from his lips:
A cardboard toilet paper tube.
You see, my son’s name is Ben, and what with “Bob the Builder,” being a popular, commercial hero, my son has completely assumed the identity of “Ben the Builder.” Last year, for his fourth birthday, we pooled our finances with his grandparents and went all out to give him a toolbox full of plastic tools, a sturdy plastic tool bench, and an authentic ‘Bob the Builder’ outfit including bib overalls, a flannel shirt, and yellow construction hat.
Unfortunately, Ben was not satisfied with his gifts. No matter how cool he looked in his outfit, no matter how hard he pounded on his pretend bench with his plastic hammer, and no matter how hard he revved up his battery powered drill, he couldn’t actually build anything. That’s when I remembered the gifts I had given his older brother when he was about the same age … cardboard in every shape and size imaginable, a few rolls of masking tape, some yarn, and a bag of rubber bands.
Now, not only is Ben more-than-satisfied with his new, improved set of tools, he has become a true builder. For his older sister’s birthday he built a “catch-the-button-in-the-hole” game completely on his own, using one toilet paper tube, a length of yarn, a medium size button, and a bunch of masking tape. She and he had great fun playing with it together. As Christmas approaches, he is madly constructing a set of binoculars for each member of the family, again, all on his own.
With the help of a book called Look What You Can Make With Tubes
Toilet paper tubes have become so popular in our house that I have caught several family members, unrolling entire rolls of toilet paper and leaving the paper on the vanity next to the toilet just so they could be the first to grab a tube they “really, really needed.” After getting such a gleeful response from Ben after presenting him with one small, toilet paper tube, I can’t wait to see his response to all the empty wrapping paper tubes I’m going to put under the Christmas tree this year instead of throwing them away!
Our birthday experience with Ben was a good reminder that when is comes to giving great, educational gifts to kids, creativity and usability, rather than expense or name brand are what really count. The whole family gift we’ve maintained in our home for many years is an art desk which I stock on a regular and seasonal basis with stuff like different types of paper, stickers, pipe cleaners, beads, stencils, glue, scissors, coloring books, and even glitter!
Everything in the desk is up for grabs. The only rules are that creators and creations must to stay at the desk and not migrate all over the house, and that the creator is also responsible for his or her own cleanup. Another bonus is that relatives and friends can easily contribute to this all-family gift by sending special art supplies.
Do our younger artists sometimes get into the desk and make a huge mess, and do the older ones sometimes forget to clean up after themselves? Well, yes, I will admit they do, but I consider it a small price to pay for having a place right in our own home where creativity and imaginations can run wild.
—Heidi Bratton is amazed to have found her niche as a wife and home-schooling mother of six children ranging in age from 2 to 20 years old. She is author of Making Peace with Motherhood…And Creating a Better You
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