My son love trains!  He loves his Thomas Trains and Chuggington!  But one of my best investments wasn’t something I bought in the store.  It was a simple cardboard box made into train tunnels, caves and roads for his cars.  The best part?  You can most likely make it with what is already in your house.  No special skills needed!

* * Let me first say that the black squiggles were done with my computer’s paint program because I was unable to obtain permission to use the copyrighted Chuggington images from Disney on the blog.   You’ll see why later.

For some odd reason, my son calls this “The Sports Enough Tunnel.”  I don’t have the faintest idea of why, but I’m guessing he heard something to that effect on one of the train shows.  So out of ease, I have started calling it that too.

How I Made the “Sports Enough Tunnel”

1.  This box was given to me exactly as is (open bottom and slotted opening in the top).  It really was the perfect set up because the kids can reach down inside to maneuver the trains.  I started by cutting out the tunnels on each side.

2.  I used black electrical tape to create the roads and Wite-Out Correction Tape for the dashed white lines.  The Disney CARS are pull-back, so they go flying off the road (pretty cool!).  The red electrical tape I added was just for fun.  Safety Update:  I have since found out from a wonderful reader that PVC electrical tape has lead in it!  Use Black Duct Tape for the roads and other colors for added detail.

3.  I printed coloring pages from Disney Junior (go here for the Chuggington printables), resized them in my scanner and then traced them onto the box.  A fine tip gel pen (I used these pens) and a lot of patience is all you need!  Even though the images are printables, they are still copyrighted, hence my squiggles for the blog pictures.

4.  Out came the crayons and markers to draw and color tunnels, caves, trees and more.  Each time I added a new feature, my son was elated!

I can’t even tell you the hours spent playing with this BOX.  It has been better than I could have imagined . . . and really, that was all it took . . . a little imagination.  
 
Related Post:  
It Takes a Village . . . of Cardboard Boxes  (yes, you really can make anything into a party!!)

 

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