How to Build a Cardboard Castle

Learn how to transform recycled cardboard boxes into a grand fortress for your toys or yourself. HowTo: Family Edition: family how-tos that actually help.

1. Plan your layout. Arrange your boxes on the floor to decide where your towers and main hall will go. Put the biggest box in the middle to be the main castle keep.
2. Cut the battlements. On the top edges of your boxes, draw a row of squares with your pencil. Ask a grown-up to help you cut out the spaces between the squares so the top looks like a jagged castle wall.
3. Connect the towers. Use your tape to attach smaller boxes to the sides of your main keep. Make sure the tape is pressed down firmly so your castle stays sturdy.
4. Add a drawbridge. Cut a rectangle shape on one side of your main box, but leave the bottom edge attached. This becomes your drawbridge that can fold up and down.
5. Decorate your fortress. Use markers to draw stone bricks on the walls or glue on construction paper flags. You can even cut small holes for windows.