This prompt from Parents magazine was the perfect project for a rainy summer day! We raided the craft bin to build a house. What kind of house you ask? It can be made of anything and for any toys your kids desire. To wit, my toddler loved it for her Calico Critters, and my son loved it as a Lego fortress!

To start, I pulled out a bunch of old delivery boxes in various sizes, as well as other building materials like empty cardboard tubes, craft sticks, pipe cleaners, masking tape, and rubber bands.

To start, we taped a few of the boxes together in a configuration that took shape piece by piece. Older kids can design their own layout. With two-year-old Veronika as the guide, I taped things together according to how she wanted it.

She loved “helping” as we added towers and turrets from the paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes. There was a even a secret room around back.

A few craft sticks taped together made neat fences.

At this stage Veronika used it as a house for little cats and bunnies. We added some of her toy furniture inside, and it kept her so busy and playful!

Later when big brother Travis got home, he immediately wanted to tape on a few extra towers. He also used the pipe cleaners for decoration. Pom poms, paint, and anything else that strikes your kids’ fancy can be added as embellishments, too!

Needless to say it was soon a fortress for his Lego figures.

Let your children’s imaginations take the lead on this one, because it’s the perfect project for open-ended play.