Fireflies: Box Lunch

A BOXED LUNCH

The boys and I absolutely loved this book:

"CHRISTINA KATERINA & THE BOX" by Patricia Lee Gauch

We loved it so much that we decided to make not just a snack but an entire day out of playing in our own cardboard box. After all, if Christina Katerina and her sometimes-friend Fats Watson could have that much fun with their box, we wanted to too!

We found the perfect box. I added a few embellishments to mimic the one from the story.

We placed it on the porch and released the boys on it.

In no time at all, it became a pirate ship on the high seas and a Sheriff's horse for his wild west chase.

It was the perfect place to relax, prop your feet up and read a book (you can guess which one was THE book of choice).

And when they got hungry, like all Sheriffs and Pirates do, we munched on this display:

A cardboard castle under the apple tree.

This particular pirate decided that EVERYTHING would be more fun while in the box, so he chose to dine in that cardboard establishment. You can tell that it must have been a fine dining restaurant since his manners and etiquette were so incredibly refined.

After lunch, the box quickly became a tunnel, and then a teepee:

And slowly but surely, a certain little toddler laid on top of the teepee and, just like in the case of Christina Katerina and Fats, we ended up with a lovely cardboard floor on the yard. Unlike the story, this Mama could not wait for the box to slowly disintegrate on the yard. After the Pirate and Sheriff were snug in their beds, the box somehow disappeared! Wow! What an incredibly amazing box!

To make your own, Christina Katerina lunch themed scene, you will need the following:

Sliced cucumbers for the tree leaves
Cherry tomatoes for the apples
Pretzels for the tree trunk
a cheese sandwich. Cut off edges to make a square and remove small area for "door". We used edible marker to make the castle top but you could also just cut the top to resemble that of a castle.
For the grass, cut a long cucumber section, slice it in quarters and slice off the point so that the section lies flat. Cut some "fringe" into the top of the piece.

Just place all the picture "parts" in various bowls and your little ones can assemble all the pieces to make their own scene.