Creativity 521 #65 - The Mystery Box

I remember we were at a carnival last year and one of the station games was getting the kids to put their hands into a mystery box to guess the item. Angel queued up for her turn to play and when she started to reach out her hand, I was all ready to capture that moment. Alas, she hesitated for a matter of a few seconds, then started to whine, shook her head and even cried.

Yes, my brave girl who can hold a live prawn, stroke a python and go on the trapeze was actually scared of a box! It was then I realised that I could actually try to do something to help her overcome her fear of the unknown and turn this into a fun learning game too!

So, in this week's Creativity 521, we made something very, very simple but I think it will provide us with hours of entertainment - A DIY Mystery Box!

What we used:

1) Empty tissue box
2) Cloth
3) Pipe cleaners
4) Scissors
5) Alphabet stickers
6) Double sided tape
7) Decorative tape
8) Glue

First, we used the cloth to wrap the tissue box the same way we would wrap a gift, using double sided tape to secure the edges.

Next, I cut a slit a the top with a width that was approximately the same as the box opening. To add some glitter and also prevent fraying, I pasted silver decorative tape around the slit.



If your slit tends to open up too wide (depending on the type of fabric you use) or if your child likes to peek, you can also stick a piece of black cloth underneath so that it helps to conceal the contents. It's much easier if you do this before wrapping the box!

Lastly, decorate the box with stickers, beads, sequins or any embellishments of your choice.

We kept ours very straightforward by naming it Mystery Box using alphabet stickers (I used glue to double secure them onto the cloth). Question marks made out of pipe cleaners were also made and glued onto the box. And we are all done! Easy peasy, right?

So, these were the items we used for our first round of Mystery Box game. You can basically use anything around the house that can fit into the opening! If you prefer a bigger hole, you can cut away one shorter side of the box and wrap it in such a way that it can be opened up so you can place the item.

We took turns to play and other than guessing the object, I also tasked Angel to give descriptions of the item using adjectives like hard, soft, smooth, rough, sharp, small, big, slim, fat, furry, round, squarish and so on. I wanted to let Ariel try too but soon I realised she was much more interested in filling up the whole box with items she could find from basically anywhere.

This time round, my big girl was not scared, no not scared at all, but instead very proud and delighted when she managed to make the correct guesses. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that she now loves to play the Mystery Box game and will have the confidence to step up to the challenge the next time.

Have a happy weekend, people!

For our DIY tutorials and craft inspiration, visit my gallery here.

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To fellow bloggers who have a fun craft session, DIY tip or creative idea to share, come join in the party! Highlight and press Ctrl + C to copy my button above, include it in your post/sidebar and add your link below. I will be hosting Creativity 521 on the 5th and 21st of every month, do hop over for more inspiration. Remember: The sky's the limit when it comes to creativity!