Coolest fort ever? Edmonton students get creative with cardboard

A box is just a box... or is it?

On Wednesday, a group of Edmonton kindergarten and Grade 1students was tasked with turning cardboard boxes into something much more fun: an entire city.

Back for a second year, the assignment was based on the popular children's book Not a Box,byAntoinettePortis.The book follows a rabbit who shows how a box can become anything when achild's imagination makes it feel real.

Using boxes collected in the community and donated from local businesses,kindergarten and Grade 1 students from Ellerslie School cut, pasted, and taped the cardboard intoan eclectic assortment of vehicles, houses, garages and other whimsical forts.

Teachers felt students could use boxes to stretch their imaginations, but also pick up a few skills on the way.

"We have a science unit on building things," teacher Laurel Clark-Parker explained."We talk about using different materials, how to make hinges, how to make things stable.

"I think the expression on the kids' faces just says it all. They just love this."