Most of us will remember, a time in childhood, when you turned a simple cardboard box into something amazing.

Perhaps it was a rainy day when you were about four. Perhaps your mum had put your little sisters down for a nap and it was your special mummy-eldest daughter time. Perhaps your mum had just bought a new appliance which left a large empty box when un packed. Perhaps your mum decided you should make a stove together. Perhaps, you spent the afternoon painting the box pink, creating elements out of tin foil, temperature knobs out painted of jar lids and so on. And, perhaps, it was the pride and joy of your playroom until a jealous play date destroyed it, just to stop you from bragging. Just perhaps.

Most adults have a hypothetical story similar to this, and every holiday or birthday, you will watch your children become far more interested in the box the gift came in than the actual gift itself. It is no secret that kids love to play with cardboard boxes, transforming them into everything from forts to robots.

One clever parent, inspired by his son’s passion for ‘cardboard box remodelling’, came up with Makedo, which is a construction set containing clips, hinges and a miniature saw allowing children to safely combine them with found materials and assemble anything they can dream.

The idea is to inspire social change through creativity, enabling unwanted objects that would normally be binned a new chance at life.

The Makedo website is a great place to pull inspiration from for projects you and the kids can do, or to share your own creative constructions as users have sent in pictures of things they have made with their kids, ranging from incredible forts and cars to costumes and creatures.

You can find Makedo at www.makedo.com.au

How to makedo – extended from MAKEDO on Vimeo.