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"We have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. If there's a large box in the house, they want to climb inside it," Fred Marion, a writer, explained. "We like to get out the box cutters and make them little doors and windows. They spend hours inside them. I started wondering how they'd react if we built them something truly enormous."
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Credit: Photo: Paul Thomas
Credit: Photo: Paul Thomas
>> Check out the video to see the kids playing in the awesome creation.
Marion's friend Paul Thomas put his engineering skills to good use on the castle, using 2x4 pieces of wood Marion had in his barn.
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“The next time I looked at the castle, there was a cardboard staircase leading up to a huge platform. The kids spent most of their time up there. They loved it,” Marion said. “Kids live in a world made for big people. They need a footstool to sit on the toilet. A castle's a chance for them to make their own little world. I also think there's something primal about forts. Kids are still in touch with that. They love tunnels and nooks and crannies. They did things with the cardboard I wouldn't have thought of. They made swords, helmets, a drawbridge. Then, they knocked it all down. They had as much fun doing the demolition work as they did the construction.”
The Guinness record for the "largest cardboard sculpture" -- which was 33.2 feet wide by 33.255 feet tall -- was set in Hong Kong on April 4, 2016.
Credit: Photo: Paul Thomas
Credit: Photo: Paul Thomas
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Marion said he thought about taking it on during his kids’ party, but then he stepped back.
“Maybe we'll do that when the kids are older. At this age, I realized they don't care about records,” he said. “They just like building, playing and having fun.”
Kettering resident Alf Butler helped build the castle.
“I was totally impressed it had multiple tiers. I was expecting walls, but (it) ended up having more than one level, even,” he said. “Awesome stuff.”
WHAT WENT INTO THE CASTLE?
- 205 cardboard boxes
- 30 rolls of Duck Tape
- 10 box cutters
- 100 feet of pennants
TIPS FROM FRED ON HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF
— Ask guests to bring boxes. The bigger, the better.
— If you have a friend in engineering, make sure you invite them.
— Let the kids tear the castle down. They'll have as much fun doing that as they do building it.
—When you're done, have everyone help you toss the boxes in a trailer or the back of a truck. Then, you can take them to your area recycling center.
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