Homemade Shadow Boxes

DIY Shadow Boxes With Common Household Items

Shadow boxes are a great format for your child to create a personalized mixed media sculpture. It can be a format for your child to imagine and create their own world, and practice skills such as cutting, folding, rolling, and gluing that develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Materials:

o Shoebox or cardboard box
o Tape
o Glue
o Collage materials such as wrapping paper, Newspaper, magazines, and construction paper
o Mark making supplies such as paint, markers, and pencils.
o Loose parts: look around the house, is there anything in the recycling bin, or string, rubber-bands, screws, tacks, ribbons, etc.
o Natural materials: sticks, pinecones, sand, bark, leaves, flowers, grass, etc.

Directions

1. This box can be anything, it can be a tropical beach with a palm tree, a jungle, a self- portrait, a maze… let your imagination run wild!
2. Cover the box using paint, paper, or natural materials to transform the outside, and the inside.
3. Use found materials, drawing, pictures, and loose parts to create a three-dimensional object.