- Ready for something cool? A painted box cake is about as awesome as it gets.
- When you see a painted box cake, it just sticks with you
- This art activity is so easy… and so amazing for kids
- And the kids started painting
- I can’t believe I finally did the painted box cake activity
- Make the box cake – you’ve got to
Ready for something cool? A painted box cake is about as awesome as it gets.
Years ago, I was thumbing through an amazing kids art book called Cardboard Creations (by Barbara Rucci). One of the activities, a painted box cake, stuck with me for years… finally, I had to do it.
All the credit for this activity goes to Barbara Rucci and her Cardboard Creations book. I never could have come up with something this artistic. I’m not that kind of parent (wink).
(Nope, this isn’t a sponsored post. I just really loved this idea, the book is fantastic, and especially right now with all the cardboard being delivered each day… this is a handy book to have.)
RELATED: Looking for more easy activities? Check out my favorite list!
When you see a painted box cake, it just sticks with you
It was years ago that I first saw this activity and I knew, someday, we will try this.
That day came with the stay at home orders and all the cardboard flooding into my house. Suddenly, I went from a box or two at a time in my garage to looking like we live at the Amazon distribution center…
Yikes.
But it meant it was finally time to try Art Bar’s (that’s her blog) painting box cake.
RELATED: Need more outdoor activities for kids? This is my newest list!
This art activity is so easy… and so amazing for kids
I grabbed a bunch of boxes from the garage and taped them back together. I closed the lids, taped some more, and then started stacking them.
I put a little tape under each one to hook it to the next and our cake kept getting hire.
It was pretty impressive that I found a little cardboard top piece, huh?
And the kids started painting
My kids thought this was fantastic.
The large scale – it was as tall as my 7 year old.
The 3D – they could walk around the art, reach over it, and move with it. It was so much different than painting on a 2D piece of paper.
Together, my kids painted this for THREE DAYS. Yes, THREE DAYS. This lived outside and I just kept adding more paint to our beloved cupcake tin.
Actually, the kids called it “remodeling.” They said they were “remodeling” their box cake. I love that kind of imaginary play and creativity.
I can’t believe I finally did the painted box cake activity
It was as amazing as it looks. I also followed Art Bar‘s advice and gave my kids complimentary colors so they couldn’t make brown mud paint.
We used pinks, turquoise, blue, and purple. No mud color in sight!
I’ll keep this tip in my back pocket – I hope you do too.
Make the box cake – you’ve got to
Save your boxes this week. Tape them up, stack them together, and grab the paint.
Let the kids get their paint and play on with this super unique activity.
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Vera Karimova says
This is awesome project. You can also have fun with different patterns on “layers” – stripes, flowers etc. Thanks for the idea! My son will love it, he adores making stuff from cardboard)))
I’ve shared some of our best creations on my site’s blog.