"Cardboard city" takes over Eston Wheatland Library

When you give kids cardboard, and let them go to town, they will build a city.

When we caught word of a 'cardboard city' that was constructed over the summer at the Eston Wheatland Library, an immediate phone call to librarian Cassie Stocks was in order to see what the rumours were all about.

"It was a project we did every Friday over the summer." said Stocks. Kids in the library's summer program visited three times a week over the summer. "Basically we had a pile of cardboard boxes, and a pile of different craft supplies. Glue, scissors, and just let the kids go at it. They made a ton of buildings. It's taken over the whole front of the library pretty much."

It was a pleasure to watch the project grow from week-to-week. The kids took an honest effort to add simple things like people and furniture. There were also dungeons and castles. Creativity grew every step of the way and Stocks was happy to see it.

"They would come back in, or start a new project and just go to town! It was amazing the things they made."

Stocks believes the overall fun is what made the simple idea work. It made for a fun entrance at the library that turned peoples heads, but unfortunately, it won't be around much longer as Stocks cleans up and prepares for the next round of programming at the library.

Even though it takes up a fair amount of space it's something Stocks would definitely consider bringing back in the future.

"The kids loved it, and it was great fun, and it was really low cost. It was 90% just cardboard."

Stocks picked her brain for more of the fun things at Eston Wheatland Library over the summer. A 'geode day' allowed kids to smash rocks with a hammer to find the prize. Another day similar saw kids grow crystals in jars. Domino rallies, treasure box day, and all sorts of other summer fun made Stocks' job easy.

"All kinds of things. Most of which I would just put the supplies out, and they would just go for it!"

The summer holidays are certainly conducive to a fun summer at the library. With school back in session and more indoor time coming up over the next few months, stay in tune with the Eston Wheatland Library for fun opportunities with Stocks and her team.