Upcycle a box into this brilliantly beautiful south pole children’s book scene.

For many, December is all about Santa and the North Pole, which gets all the attention of the holidays. But beyond Christmas and into the winter months there are so many fun winter-themed projects.

The Snow Must Go On by Molly Wigand that inspired me to create a cardboard South Pole. I have done it before: turn a plain cardboard box into a cool toy for my boys.

My first attempt was a car wash that I managed to waterproof so the kids could actually wash their cars with water. This cardboard South Pole is similar the cardboard road though it’s more detailed and elaborated.

South pole and Penguin Mini World tutorial from a used Cardboard Box

In the book, the residents of Antarctic Springs decided to put on a great show to demonstrate everybody that the South Pole could be a fun place, too.


I started with a small shipping box that I unfolded carefully. (You can use  the boxes from Christmas gifts for this!) Next step was to draw penguins, snowmen and snow buildings on each side of the box.

If you were to flip through the pages of the book, you would recognize the fish juggling penguin or the ice skating penguin. I also tried to replicate the beautiful town of Antarctic Springs with its small buildings and ice tree. I couldn’t leave out the South Pole sign, of course.

I have to say that the cutting of the box was the toughest part of the whole process. Use a craft knife and a lot of patience.

At this point the boys started to gravitate towards me, looking eager to play with their new toy. But there was one more step left before I could hand them the cardboard South Pole: painting.

Use light blue for the buildings and the path in the middle and white for the snowmen and penguins. I wanted these little fellows to stand out. They do look adorable in their colorful hats and scarves, don’t they?

The very last touch was to glue snowflakes to the path and tiny pom poms to some of the hats.

The more I look at this cardboard South Pole, the more I tell myself I should also try the North Pole. After all, this is the place where all the holiday joy starts!

More cardboard toys to make:

• You don’t have to fly all the way to Paris to visit the Arc de Triomphe
• Check out how to make a colorful cardboard town
• If your kids love playing with planes, give this cardboard airport a try

More book inspired winter activities for kids:

• A cupcake kit that every little baker will love
• Read a fun book about a penguin and make a couple of penguins from LEGOs
• This play dough snowman kit was a big hit with my boys

Stef is a wife, mom of 2 little boys and the blogger behind “Non Toy Gifts”. She loves creating and searching for great gifts for kids. She also shares fun and easy crafts that use nature elements and recycled items.

 

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