Fun with cardboard for kids, or for teachers looking for low cost maker space activities. This book offers activities that pre-teens will enjoy.

Perfect for elementary arts and crafts or makerspace area . Creative make and takes with easy to follow instructions.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. It has a lot of unique ideas, so if your child is into ninjas, there's a project for that, but if they're into outer space, there's another project for that. I like that it could reach a lot of different children with a lot of different interests. I'm not a huge fan of the weapons in the book, and the instructions are extremely details, so I wouldn't recommend it for very young children. I think this would be a great idea for a group of children, like a library event or a classroom. Overall, a fun book with projects that don't take a lot of money.

I didn't read it word for word, as my son is much to young to enjoy it yet, but I loved flipping through to see all the potential when he gets older! I especially liked that the projects were grouped by theme - so you can make multiple things to play whole scenes. The puppets were my personal favorite. Big thanks to NetGalley for this gem, and I'll definitely have to pick up a copy in the next few years - I can't wait to try out the projects with my son!

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I fully applaud encouraging kids to explore their creativity with simple materials. Most of these projects can be made with cardboard, glue, tape, and paint. And they're more than just art projects. These are toys, props for make believe. Fantastic. On the other hand, we are given very specific, step by step directions. While I understand their necessity, there's no opportunity for personalization, nor even any encouragement to invent. I know that as a child I wouldn't have needed the book to suggest ways I could change a project but I've worked with enough kids to know that many do. They need someone to suggest that the reader needn't follow the directions exactly.

Epic Cardboard Adventures is a wonderful find! The projects in the book are do-able. Kids can select a project- from making dinosaurs to building games, and they could follow the instructions to complete the project. (There would need to be adult supervision with cutting of the cardboard.) I found the projects in this book interesting and believe children would enjoy making the items. I definitely would like to purchase this title for use in my elementary library maker space. With the majority of things being digital, many kids do not have the skills to make things and pretend. This book would get those creative juices flowing!

Lots of fun for the kids! I wasn't really expecting a lot of new information here, and I was pleasantly surprised by the level of creativity.

I had a beautiful niece which love do this kind of stuffs, so I ask this one for use it with her was a great experience and the book is pretty beautifyl.

For years, my great grandma subscribed to Pack O Fun magazine. I remember sitting and flipping through the pages for hours, wishing I could make my own safari jeep out of cardboard boxes.

In Epic Cardboard Adventures, Leslie Manlapig has come up with something even better. I don't think those old craft magazines ever had a time machine or a pyramid to sit inside of, complete with mummy and sarcophagus.

There are things to wear and things to play with and inside of. The book is targeted for the kids themselves and projects range from extremely simple to what looks like it would be challenging...but adaptable to whatever materials you've got around the house. If you've got some creative kids in your life, I highly recommend this one!

My thoughts: This book contains many creative ideas – using, as the title says, cardboard. And while cardboard in its many forms (cartons, paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, other) is not the only material needed, many of the other materials are ones you will likely already have at home! Plus, you can put those Amazon shipping cartons to fun use! A helpful material list for each craft and step-by-step photographic instructions help the reader work towards a cool end result – be it something just pure fun, a costume, playtime use, games, props to put on shows, and more. My favorite sections were those on Ancient Egypt (could be because of our recent visit to the amazing local museum here – a travel post on that to come in the next couple of weeks!), space (our Kennedy Space center visit?), and the section ‘Put on a Show’ which includes crafts for a rock concert, puppet show, and carnival fun among others. Displaying the end results of my creations?? In a future post – coming soon!!

Note: While some crafts can be completed by kids by themselves, many of the crafts will need an older kid or adult help/supervision to complete. But – be warned, this can be addictive for those who love creating – like my DD and me (and my DH will not be a happy camper as he prefers cardboard boxes and used paper towel holders in the recycle bin usually!) This book while, will appeal more to younger kids, creative ‘uns of all ages will have fun exploring these ideas…

Rating: B+
Reading Level: Ages 7 to 11
Reread Level: 5/5
Disclaimer:Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for sending me a digital review copy of the book – Epic Cardboard Adventures. I was not compensated for my reviews. My thoughts were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my personal opinions formed when I read these books.

I absolutely cannot wait to dive into this with my students! There is so much to explore in this book. It is full of projects that will help children stretch their imagination and have fun while doing it.

There are bold, colorful pictures to accompany each project and easy to read and understand step-by-step instructions. The clear directions will help each child be successful while still allowing for individual creativity.

These projects are able to be completed alone and as a group. I can see many hours of fun family time here.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing a preview of this book in exchange for an honest review. Epic cardboard adventures has a number of great ideas for students to utilize. Many can be used to make things for fun and/or educational purposes using recycled materials.

I think cardboard is one of the most fascinating materials: it is inexpensive, widely available, easily manipulated, recyclable, recognizable, light-weight, sturdy, and adaptable. I have been known to rescue stacks of heavy cardboard sheeting from recycling bins at work, put wheels on the bottom of cardboard fruit crates from Costco and tie rope to the front with my kids to make crude go-karts, and let my children play for endless hours in the yard with the large cardboard box our new washing machine came in (which, of course, attracted all the neighborhood kids too!). And so, of course, this title caught my attention.

"Epic Cardboard Adventures" by Leslie Manlapig offers several projects that can be made with (duh) cardboard, along with other typical craft supplies (like duct tape, pipe cleaners, recycled lids or egg crates, markers, glue, craft knife, and scissors). The projects are arranged by various (fittingly) adventures: have a kid who pretends he is a medieval knight? Check out the "Medieval Defense" section. Does your daughter dream of space travel? The designs in "Outer Space" might be right up her alley!

I thought the ideas in "Lights! Camera! Action!" might be great props for an Academy Awards-watching party -- for adults and children alike! But most of the ideas will appeal to kids from about 4 to 9, and most will require the help of an adult. Most projects are fairly basic in nature, but a few are kind of unoriginal (if a kid knows what nunchucks are, they will make them out of toilet paper tubes and string without instructions). Additionally, it is worth noting, that several projects detail how to make various weapons (see "nunchucks") -- out of cardboard, yes, but it might make this book unsuitable for some audiences.

This would be fun for the public library craft time, or middle grade kids.

A fun addition to a children's crafting collection at a library or school. I appreciate how the book is organized and how each set of directions is displayed with simple layouts and wording. Still, some projects seem overly complicated (space helmet, claws), while others seem more weapons-focused than they need to be (guns, swords, nun-chucks). Images of children wearing the cardboard creations are photoshopped; real photos would be better. While many girls are of course interested in pirates and construction workers and dinosaurs, I think the author misses an opportunity to appeal to a wider audience with unicorns and princesses and pink-caped (pink-taped?) superheroes! Many of these cardboard projects would be great for themed birthday parties.

Recommend to: crafty kids in grades 3-6

Want to travel through time? Become a ninja? Set up a carnival or puppet show? Epic Cardboard Adventures is a good resource to help. The book is broken into four themes: explore the world, travel through time, put on a show, work a cool job; and includes a list of supplies needed for every project. Supplies needed include cardboard of various types (old boxes, paper towel rolls etc.) as well as glue, duct tape, markers and paint, pipe cleaners, old CDs etc.

Different projects will probably appeal to the imaginations of different age groups, with some being quite simple and others more advanced. All of the projects will help to build creativity, fine motor skills and will get kids actively involved in imaginative play. I would also think it would encourage children to go one and develop their own projects beyond the one explored it the book.

While parents will likely have seen some of these projects before on Pinterest or blogs aimed at children, this is a nice collection of inspiring activities that kids will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Book with lots of creative ideas on using cardboard for making fun toys and play

This book includes 20 easy to craft adventures using cardboard. Explore the world, travel through time, put on a show or work a cool job! Each project has a list of materials and supplies needed in order to make the project and the how to instructions for each. Some of the ones that I thought were pretty cool included a paper towel roll space shuttle, claws, a sled for toys, dinosaurs, a banjo and a ukulele for a rock concert and a construction vest. These are a lot of ideas for a rainy day and you can use your imagination to build upon the projects already in the book to come up with even more great ideas!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

Epic Cardboard Adventures offers an interesting reading opportunity for the person who wants to create. It offers quality instructions along with the chance for the reader to move in her own creative direction. A good title to add to the "maker" section of your classroom library.

This book,is a cute and easy resource for fun and cheap projects kids can easily do at home using cardboard. Easy instructions with many different ideas. Cute and quick for hours of fun with very few supplies.