Cereal Box Sandbox

Summer is on its way, but if you just can’t wait to get outside in that sandbox, bring the joy indoors!  Or for, er, less tidy kids, to the front porch? You can turn a cereal box into a play zone. Let the kids decorate the box any way they like with paint, stickers or decorative paper. Fill with sand and toy miniatures and let the kids imagine it’s a warm and sunny day.

To make a cereal box sandbox.

You will need:

Empty cereal box
Empty cereal bag (plastic bag that contains the cereal in the box)
Tape
Craft knife and/or scissors (Parent supervision needed with these)
Paint and paintbrush OR decorative paper and a glue stick.
Stickers (optional)
Sand*
Toys

*Find sand in the craft store, home renovation store, pet store or hardware store.

Remove the cereal bag from the box and shake any crumbs from both. Close the top of the cereal box and secure with tape. For Parents: Place the box on its back, and with the craft knife and/or scissors, cut an opening, leaving a 1-inch ledge around the sides.

Decorate the cereal box sides and ledge. Have kids paint and add stickers or glue pieces of decorative paper to the box. I found this wood patterned paper at the craft store.

When the box is dry, flatten the empty cereal bag. Press inside the box and flatten along the bottom and against the edges of the inside of the box.

Fill the box with sand. TIP: To help keep the sand contained, place the box on a baking tray as the kids play.

Play with shovels, sifters, trucks and cars, action figures and plastic animals. Shells, rocks, sticks and stones, whatever your kids imagine for their sandbox!

Meaghan Mountford, author of Sugarlicious: 50 Cute and Clever Treats for Every Occasion, has been creating crafty sweets for 15 years. She is especially fond of decorating cookies, marshmallows and putting sweets on sticks. See more on her blog, the decorated cookie.