Our Big Red Barn

This week we started our school-wide farm unit.  Last year I made a giant castle with 8 refrigerator boxes for our fairy tale unit. The kids loved it so I decided to make a barn this year.  I once again used plans from  Mr. McGroovy and I was able to reuse his box rivets that I had bought last year.  The barn only needed 3 refrigerator boxes and was really pretty simple to make.  Although it is not nearly as spectacular as the castle, the kids had a wonderful time playing in it today. 

I started by cutting 2 boxes (the lines don't have to be perfect).  I then made corner brackets (from a smaller box) and put the boxes together with the box rivets.  

The kids painted the barn using house paint (fortunately I have a red door at home) and paint pads (also from last year).  I then cut out the door and windows and had the brilliant idea to use white duck tape to add the trim around the door and windows.  Finally I laid the 3rd box across the top as the roof.  

In just a few hours we created a wonderful new play spot for our room.  I did learn a few things.. first, look for an independent appliance store for the boxes.  If they do their own deliveries, they will probably have several boxes every night.  Second, get 3 boxes that are all the same size.  I had one huge box.  The directions said to use the biggest box for the roof.  I had to cut it down and make several adjustments that I think would have been avoided if I had the same size boxes. Finally, as I said above, duck tape is wonderful for adding straight line details.  I didn't have my phone with me when the kids were playing in the barn but I can say they loved it...nothing better than special "kids-only" spaces when you're 5 years old.