Flat Pack

WATCH IT HERE

Episode Description: While Mum and Dad struggle to build new flat-pack furniture, Bluey and Bingo transform the empty boxes into their own new world.

ACTIVITIES:

• Anyone who’s been following my page for a while knows I love a good cardboard city. You can simply set up a bunch of cardboard boxes and bits and bobs from flat packs, or whatever else you have lying around and let the kids build and create as they like.
• Another project I love is setting up a cardboard painting wall using things like egg cartons, toilet rolls, and yes, bits from flat packs. (See photo above)
• Who doesn’t love a bit of bubble wrap art? Try out one of these ideas:
  • Bubble wrap rollers
  • Bubble wrap stomp painting
  • Bubble wrap stamps
  • And though they may need be able to try this technique themselves (it involves medical syringes) they might enjoy seeing it done.
• We explored tinkering a bit in Hammerbarn, so why not re-visit it by creating a tinkering kit from your leftover Ikea hex keys and screws. Here are some other ideas for what to put in a tinkering kit. Incorporate it into your cardboard box play!
• You can simply hand the kids some textas and a box to make their own cave drawings, or why not use the opportunity to learn about Aboriginal cave drawings. This tutorial shows you how to turn cave drawings into a lovely project.
  • Take some inspiration from rock art at Kakadu
  • Have a look at Aboriginal art as old as 60,000 years ago
  • Explore symbols and their meaning
  • Have a chat about respecting sites of cultural significance such as Uluru.

NB I couldn’t find any articles specifically about this, but it might be worth having a chat with your kids if they (very innocently) portray Aboriginal people as “cave people” chanting “ooga booga”. You can talk about the depiction of indigenous cultures as primitive and how stereotyping affects indigenous people today.

• In general though, I think one of the things people love about “Flat Pack” is the way it marvels at children creating their own self-guided fun and using their imagination, so don’t feel pressured to direct their play. Spend the day seeing where their imaginations takes them.