My students love creative projects, and this book has given me lots of ideas to excite them in the future!

I honestly thought this is a perfect addition to things my son and I could create during rainy days and days just too hot to be outside. He loves crafts and including boxes in the mix sold him instantly. It was amazing how his face lit up over doing some of the crafts. The masks were a hit because he loves to pretend but so was everything else. I will tell you that there are some lengthy projects and if you're dealing with a wee one then maybe some prep on the side would make things go smoother. It just depends on the child's ability to sit still and follow instructions with regular guidance. Over all we found plenty of things he could do and I was thrilled to see how excited he got once things are finished. We haven't made it throughout the entire book yet but it is something I refer to on bored days.

This looks like great fun with imaginative projects for kids.

This is a fun resource for crafts made from boxes and recycled materials. The book starts with tools that may be needed and techniques for cutting, curling, taping and gluing. It closes with templates for many of the projects.

There are smaller items like tube owls, butterflies, flowers and lizards to larger items like outdoor games such as Ring Toss Challenge and Feed the Monster games. There are Racing Rabbits and an alternate version for Penguin Skate race. There are fun items to wear like helmets, masks and body costumes. There are settings like a play theater, aquariums, castles and a city. Finally, there is a large geodesic den to serve as a clubhouse and an ambitious project to build a recycled racer.

The projects show the difficulty range as easy, medium or hard. Each project ends with an extra tip to try another version or add on. Although I suspect that working with cardboard may not be as easy as this makes it look, this clearly gives a chance to encourage the imagination of young people with crafts, variations and colors! I like that it uses recycled materials. If I was home with children I would give this a try.

Source: NetGalley; my rating 4.5.

If you are looking for an easy way to get a makerspace up and running, start with this inspirational book. With a few supplies, children can make games, puppets, castles and hideaways. The introduction sets the foundation for building with cardboard. Clear instructions and crisp images prepare readers before they begin constructing. "Difficulty Level" thermometers also help children choose a suitable project. Encouraging notes compel makers to work through problems and try different ideas.

I love the ideas in this book! With the mirage of shipping boxes we get from time to time—I see how we can gain a few extra activities and it is a win win situation for everyone. Families to schools would gain from using this book as it has projects that are small to projects that are grander. I homeschool and this is a great way to add some fun to our learning. I am a parent to a 7 year old who is such creative bug.

Great projects in the book with detailed steps and photos/illustrations to show how-tos and whats for each project. The only reason for one star less on this - some of them might be more harder than expected for a younger audience and all definitely need parental help..
disclaimer: thanks to netgalley for the digital earc for the book.

This book gives good ideas on what to do with cardboard boxes. I plan to make several project for a library programs coming up.

This is a lovely book that teaches kids how to make all kinds of fun stuff from just a few simple tools such as scissors, glue, and cardboard. There are plenty of projects in the book, sure kids love hand-crafts will spend a LOT time reading this book and make toys or tool or decorations that will benefit them. The projects are diverse, colorful, and most of them are not just a simple decoration, they do have function. This could inspire children make other objects with function, the beginning of little engineers. The fun stuff in this book reminds me of my childhood, and I would recommend parents making these together with their kids. If they don't have time, the book sure is concise and straightforward enough for kids to follow. A nice way for kids to NOT playing iphones, ipads.... Would highly recommend this book and such activities.

this would be a great book for a makerspace, classroom, or at home. would be great for keeping the a child(ren) from being bored. Uses lots of everyday items. Totally recommend this book.

This book is a great imagination starter. Seems like we all have cardboard around and is there anything better than making great projects from it?
Twenty-five projects are presented with clear instructions and wonderful photo illustrations.
I really liked the rating scale listing whether the project was easy or difficult or somewhere in between.
These are great ideas to copy or expand .

What a cool book! I would definitely buy this book for a young child to spend doing activities on a rainy day. It's even perfect for a kindergarten or first grade class art activities. How imaginative it is, and most of the materials are very inexpensive.

Fun, creative, incredibly useful instantly useful for parents, teachers, and anyone who deals with children.

I was unable to get this book to load in ADE. I would really like to read it.

I had so much fun with this book! Unfortunately, I suffered a major technology crash and lost all my pictures of the creations my son and I made with this. However, I highly recommend this book. It kept us busy for a long while and we loved every minute!

Just about everyone has experienced gift giving where the recipient child winds up ignoring the (usually) expensive gift in favor of playing pretend with the box. This book will open up a world of possibilities for using the box (and maybe saving the cost of the expensive whatsit inside)!
This book is full of really great projects to do together. There are fun activity toys (ring toss, puppet show, 'rabbit' (cardboard) racing game) as well as decorative crafts (flowers, butterflies, dinosaurs etc).
The book starts out with an introduction of techniques and materials, followed by written and visual project tutorials.
Most of the projects also include a 'Now try this' after-activity which builds on the crafts for each project.
The photographs are well done and illustrate the tutorials beautifully. The page layout is fun and engaging and accessible.
The target audience is grade school(ish) but there are many projects which are 'all ages' with a friendly facilitator/adult.
The projects themselves range from the simple (toilet paper roll owls) to pretty complex (pirate ship with play accessories). They're colorful and fun and will keep any kid (*ahem* of whatever age) amused for hours.
Five stars. I can't see it being better than this.

Absolutely loved this book. It was fun to do the step by step projects. My grandchildren as well as I had fun and a sense of accomplishment when finished with a project in the book. For young and old alike. Think of will use this book to help my grandchildren make Christmas gifts.

This non fiction book is full of fun and color photographs with clear directions about how to create 25 different projects with cardboard. I can't wait to put this one in my library!

I requested this magazine as my 6 year old truly is a mechanical genius! He has no issues building lego sets that are meant for age 12 by himself, and all in just a few short hours!

He recently got his first ADA box - in which he had to code and build a small music player. He thoroughly enjoyed the project and I thought that this magazine was right up his alley and I was not disappointed!

The photos are very colorful, and the instructions are clear and very helpful!
I can't wait to get started on some projects with him!

Thank you for the opportunity to review this magazine! I hope to see more like it soon!

Out of the Box by Jemma Westing includes twenty-five interactive cardboard model projects that will encourage kids' creativity and "out of the box" thinking skills through hands-on learning and the application of science-based principles. Kids can bring old cardboard to life and build recycled creations they can play with, sit in, or wear. From small-scale gifts to large constructions there are clear, step-by-step instructions to show kids how to make dinosaurs, masks, race cars, and so much more. There are also images and ideas to encourage them to make their own unique projects when they feel ready. Each of the projects use recycled materials, including cardboard rolls and boxes, so all the supplies should be easy to find right at home.

Out of the Box is a well written group project instructions and inspirations for making a wide variety of creations with common cardboard objects we all are likely to have around the house. The additional supplies, such as glue sticks, scissors, markers, duct tape and the like are also things that many of us have on hand. Even if you do not have every tool that the instructions use throughout the book, there are certainly some projects that will require no shopping. The projects include games, animals, wearable masks, ships, a 'cityscape', things for pets, and more. Even though I am an 'adult' I still want to try out some of these projects. So I work in a school and I will find a way to make it about the kids, but I want them for me- they are just a good excuse. I found the instructions to be understandable and easy to follow, although some of the projects are significantly more difficult than others. The photographs that accompany each project are helpful and clear. One of my favorite things about the book was the inclusion of "Try This" ideas which encourages kids to take their projects to the next level, and to truly make it all their own.

Out of the Box is a wonderful addition to school, public, and personal libraries. While it is a wonderful jumping off point for organized or personal crafts (i.e. makerspace, classroom, storytimes, homeschooling) it would also be a great resource for anyone that likes to build and create. I will be trying to get a copy for my school library for next year.

I'm a crafter and my younger daughter inherited that crafting gene. She loves crafting out of Popsicle sticks, rocks, gemstones, paper, old shoes even! This book was made for us! We had so much fun not just following patterns in the book but our own creations! We don't normally use frozen orange juice in the can but we bought some just for crafting use to embellish our creations. This book is the perfect rainy day, summer day boredom booster and every day in between!