by Alix Tonsgard
Why do children have a fascination with boxes?
Box play is open-ended play in the purist form. Open-ended play is at the heart of what we do at DCM. All of our exhibits are designed so that there is no one “right way” to interact with the exhibit. When children play with open-ended materials, like a cardboard box, they are using more imagination and creativity, as well as developing more complex thinking and problem solving skills. Playing with open-ended materials makes it possible for children to develop their own ideas and explore their world at their own pace.
What do children get out of playing with boxes?
There is much to be gained both developmentally and educationally when playing with boxes. For starters, box play develops spatial awareness – what is the first thing most little ones do when encountering a box? They try and get inside of it. According to Gil Connell, blogger, teacher, and child development expert, the reason why children spend so much time crawling in, through, around, over, and under things is because they are developing spatial awareness and seeking to answer the question “how big am I?”
As young children learn through their senses, their natural instinct is to seek an answer to this question by physically experiencing how big they feel in relation to something else. Larger boxes that can act as a cave or hideout can provide children with comfort. Much like curling up in a lap, or a nice warm hug, small spaces can provide children with a sense of security. Along these same lines, being in small spaces makes children feel big. When you live in a world that is made for big people, being the giant must feel pretty empowering.
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Alix Tonsgard is an early learning specialist at the DuPage Children’s Museum.
