Cardboard Castle

Collect as many cardboard boxes as possible!
I end up getting the majority of mine off Facebook marketplace and my local Harvey Norman store also gave me some of the large fridge boxes.

Supplies

Lots of boxes! And an industrial tape dispenser.

Step 1: Assemble Boxes

The boxes were all stored flat packed, so the night before commencing the project assembled all the boxes and stored them under the patio.

Step 2: Commence Construction of Outer Walls

Decide how large you want to go with the calculated amount of boxes you have. Then start with the outside walls. I have allowed for a door where I will be building a drawbridge a little bit later on in the project.

Step 3: Continue Building Up

Continue building the outside walls till you teach a desired height.

Step 4: Securing As You Build

I'm using an industrial tape dispenser with over a dozen roles of tape in supply. And also used a few tent pegs to secure the bottom layer to the lawn.

Step 5: Internal Rooms

With all the external walls complete it's time to use up the remaining boxes and build internal rooms to your own desire.

Step 6: Slide Through Tunnel

I taped two fridge boxes on top of each other, to make a tower and then cut a door either side of the bottom so that as you go down the slide you slide through a 'tunnel'. I also added another smaller box at the end to make the tunnel a little longer.

Step 7: Functioning Drawbridge

Almost finished the project, with the final step of building a functioning drawbridge. I taped several pieces of cardboard together so that they were thicker and more structurally sound. And also put some reinforcing on the edges. Then used tent pegs to secure the bottom to create a hinge.

Step 8: Adding Rope

Securely tape some cardboard rolls to underside of the entrance to allow the rope to slide through and then secure the rope at the end of the drawbridge.

Step 9: Playtime!

Now that the kids have at it and enjoy!
Feel free to check out the video to see more on the build process or clarification if needed!

Comments

[Kuchbert]

Wow, definitly The Simpsons Episode 15, Season 18. Box Fort. Hilarious :D

[ElectronicsDesigner]

Feels like the drawbridge needs a water body flowing beneath it, but that would take a toll on the structural integrity of cardboard drawbridge.

[mattcintosh]

Fold a blue tarp and put it under it

[Bildabear]

Good idea... Turns out I have one too! 🙂

[ElectronicsDesigner]

Haha That should work!

[KarenP177]

Fond memories of suburban childhood in the 60's, where one large appliance carton would entertain half the block of kids until we had beat it to death (about three days) or it rained. Good times.

[Bildabear]

I have good memories of playing in a fridge box when my parents upgraded. 😊

[KarenP177]

Fridge boxes were the best! A family down the block got a new fridge, and my sister an I were about the same age as their girls. They had a sloped front lawn, and we discovered that if we laid the box on it's side with the open end pointing up hill, we could get a good running start, dive into the box and slide with enough speed and force that we hit the bottom and stood it upright, then knocked it over pointing down hill and slid out. When we had done this enough times that the bottom of the box gave way, we then had a tube several of us could get inside on hands and knees perpendicular to the box and all crawl, making it a giant tank tread, and chase the other kids. When that gave way, we had a giant piece of flat cardboard that we could slip and slide on in our stocking feet. Now tell me: Would kids today have that much imagination?

[StarWarsFanCC_2224]

I'd just make stuff out of the cardboard ( Costume, toys etc)

[CissyJean]

You must be the coolest Dad ever. But I bet you enjoyed making it as much as your munchkins loved playing in it. Now it needs rock or brick design aesthetics. Would love
to see what else you've made.

[Bildabear]

Haha, thanks!
I have a YouTube channel with lots of other things made for the kids 😊👍

https://youtube.com/c/MarkMakes1

[CissyJean]

OH, MARK, I WAS DROOLING OVER NOT ONLY THE THINGS YOU WERE DOING/CREATING BUT YOUR TOOL SET UP. ALTHOUGH I'M A FEMALE, I WAS BORN, RAISED AND WORKED IN THE OIL FIELD. I KNEW WHAT ALLEN WRENCHES AND SOCKET WRENCHES WERE BEFORE NURSERY RHYMES AND BUILDING BLOCKS WERE. SO SEEKING NOT ONLY WHAT YOU COULD DO BUT WHAT YOU DID IT WITH.....AWESOME. I AM SO IMPRESSED BY YOUR WORK. I BET YOUR KIDS ARE CRAZY ABOUT "WHAT CAN DADDY MAKE FOR US NEXT". KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK.

[Bildabear]

Wow, that's awesome. Thanks so much 😊

[olsenm900]

Good God almighty! My kids would have loved it when they were little. However my HOA would have had a total fit when my neighbors complained! LOL Great job putting it together. But what do you do with all that stuff when it becomes wet and..........well you know,,,,

[Bildabear]

Thanks, yep it all turns to pulp ... In the end the wind got to it before the rain. 😏

[TerryM140]

Do you make the rugrats chase the Victa around inside the castle?

[Bildabear]

😜

[seamster]

That's an impressive amount of cardboard! My kids would love something like this, to build, play in, reconfigure over and over until the cardboard was completely ruined. Fun stuff!

[Bildabear]

Thanks! It took a little while to collect that many but very happy with the end result!

[seamster]

Some of the images look like this is from a video. Did you make a video of the process? If you wanted to, you could embed the video into a step for people who want to watch it. Just a tip! : )