The Useful Box

Like most Australian kids I grew up watching a show called Play School. One thing that has always stuck in my mind was their 'Useful Box', it was a box full of every weird and wonderful craft item known to man that the hosts would empty out and create toys and play scenes with. I thought it was really cool.

We now have a Useful Box in our home and not only do my kids love creating all sorts of things from the bits and pieces inside it, it also provides a place for me to dump all the loose parts that I know could be used but that don't really 'fit' anywhere in the craft storage area.

We have all sorts of things in our Useful Box; ribbon, twine, scrap fabric, pegs, fishing line, bag ties, yoghurt tube lids, buttons, rocks and sticks collected from playgrounds, googly eyes, parts of broken toys and the inside of an old clock. You name it and you'll probably find it floating around in there somewhere.

The girls love nothing more than emptying it onto the floor and making all sorts of things; a doll playground, a milk bottle robot, sculptures, gluing bits onto card to make collages, treasure hunts. The things they invent using the stuff in the Useful Box is endless!

WE USED:

* storage tub

(ours is a vessla from IKEA, they fit perfectly into our bookshelf)

* odds and ends that can be safely reused, the more unusual and interesting the better!

The contents of the Useful Box are forever changing as things are used and added.

Some of the odds and ends inside the Useful Box at the moment.

Do you have a Useful Box at home or remember the one on Play School?