Junk Drawer in a Box

Education Rethink 2013-06-01

this isn't our junk drawer, but you get the idea

It wasn't my idea. I told Christy we should teach the kids to stay out of the junk drawer, because I was tired of losing scissors, tape and rubber band. Her response? "Maybe the kids need their own junk drawer." And that's where we create Junk Drawer in a Box. Here's how it works, you take the items that your kids would normally want to take from the junk drawer and you cram it into a box and surprise them with it as a gift. Our junk drawer boxes included the following:

Duct tape
Masking tape
Electrical tape
A ream of paper
Paper clips
Rubber bands of all sizes and textures
A spool of string
Scissors - the nice kind that are big (I know, I know, that's probably not safe)
Some random objects, like marbles
Colored pencils
Clothes pins

It didn't cost much and it became their go-to place last summer when they complained that they were bored and it was too blazingly hot outside to play (we live in Phoenix).

Take it or leave it. I rarely say that "this works for all kids," but I have a hunch that this time it just might be true.

photo credit: jeamac via photopin cc