How to Make a Giant Cardboard Box Castle
We have been studying Medieval History lately and decided to build a giant cardboard box castle! My knights were excited to storm the castle after listening to King Arthur tales.
Supplies for making a cardboard castle
- 3 large moving boxes ~ available at stores such as Lowes or Home Depot
- Duct tape
- 1 can of spray paint ~ We picked gray, but a castle can be any color!
- Box cutter or strong scissors
- Optional: markers to draw stones and/or vines
I am sure there are a million beautiful DIY Castles on Pinterest, but with just a bit of time and dexterity, we were able to create a fun little castle to enjoy.
How to make a giant cardboard box castle
Be sure to remember which box is which, so you can easily remember what you need to do to it. I would forget, have to put the boxes together, and then take them apart to cut. Remember the 3 boxes are the: base of the tower, tower, and drawbridge.
Step 1: Cut one side from the base of the tower box and the drawbridge box. This will make one giant “bottom floor” of the castle. If you keep the flaps you can tape them together so they do not pull apart during playtime.
Step 2: Cut a side from the drawbridge box. Your child should be able to crawl through the drawbridge and into the bottom of the tower, then stand up. (The drawbridge box will have 2 sides cut from it.)
Step 3: Cut the parapet into the tower box and the drawbridge box lids. (Do not cut any sides off the tower box. We just kept the bottom open and placed it on top of the other box in order to move it around easily.)
Step 4: Cut a window into the tower.
Step 5: Duct tape the parapet inside corners of the boxes.
Step 6: Spray paint your boxes. Since we only purchased 1 can of paint we only had enough to paint the outside. However, later the boy decided to decorate the inside of his castle with markers.
Step 7: Assemble the tower. Be sure the window faces the same side as the drawbridge.
Optional:
- Add 2 more boxes for another tower on the opposite end. My hand cramped after cutting one tower, so I did not add to our castle.
- Punch 2 holes into the top of the drawbridge and 2 holes into the box itself. Weave yarn through the holes, knot ends, and pull for a real moving drawbridge.
Building a castle offers a great hands-on opportunity to learn the different castle terms. Discuss them as you build your castle. During snack time in the castle, we read You Wouldn’t Want to be a Medieval Knight and You Wouldn’t Want to Live in a Medieval Castle.
Interested in making more giant cardboard box fun? Check out our Cardboard Box Pirate Ship.
This article was written by a Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers guest author. See the author's full bio in the body of the post.
This looks like way more fun than the little castle we made out of cereal boxes. It was more complicated and the kids couldn’t play in that castle! We’ll have to try this one instead.