One idea for school projects that gets overlooked too often is that of shoebox projects. There are so many different projects that can be made from shoeboxes and can be incorporated into each subject. Another positive reason to try a shoebox project on for size is that they are easy to stack and store if you want to keep them.
Shoebox projects for science can be used for almost any unit. If the students are learning about the planets, make models of the solar system in a shoebox tipped on its side. Use different-sized styrofoam balls, paint them to look like each planet, and then use string to hang them from the top of the box. Add a fact sheet to the lid of the box with facts about each planet.
Social Studies Shoeboxes
Social studies shoeboxes are just another good example of a subject that can really use these types of projects to illustrate topics learned in class. A unit on any number of wars can have a shoebox project depicting a famous battle learned in class. For units on the desert or the forest, different scenes depicting what would live there and what it would look like can be made in shoeboxes.
Math shoebox projects can be a little bit more difficult to come up with, but can still be used to good advantage. The students can come up with math games in shoeboxes that illustrate the concepts being taught. They can even be passed around and played during free time. If they are learning about word problems, the students can create shoebox word problems where the shoebox illustrates the word problem being solved.
Any story the students are reading and learning about can be turned into a shoebox project. Make a scene from the story and explain it, or pick vocabulary words from the story and illustrate them. They can even choose a reading concept and design a shoebox activity for it, such as antonyms. Design an activity, such as a shoebox matching game, to illustrate antonyms by using words, pictures, or objects that represent the words they chose.
- empty brown box image by nTripp from Fotolia.com