BoomBox Kids Craft

Decorate a cardboard box with colors, pictures and shapes inspired by your favorite musician. Cut a small rectangular hole in the front of the box so that you can insert “the music” you want to hear into the slot.

No BoomBox is complete without speakers. Glue two paper plates (or paper cut into circles) onto both sides of the front of the box so that the slot you cut out is in between. Decorate the speakers with markers and paints. If you have any old CDs or tapes in the attic, you can glue them onto the center of the plates. Glue the bottle caps around the outside of the BoomBox. These will be buttons to “start/stop” and “adjust the volume” of the music. If you don’t have bottle caps, you can cut out circles or rectangles from paper instead.

Next, create the CDs or tapes that you will put into the BoomBox. If you have old CDs that you don’t mind coloring on, you can simply apply markers or paint directly onto the discs. If you don’t have vintage music technology available, try cutting out a few homemade discs or tapes from pieces of cardboard, small enough to fit into the rectangular hole you cut into the BoomBox. These could be rectangular, like an audio tape, or circular, like a CD. Write the name of your favorite artist or song on each tape or CD and decorate it with markers and paints. You can also use aluminum foil to decorate the discs!

Now you’re ready to play! Place a fully-charged Bluetooth speaker, smartphone or tablet into a cardboard box and close the lid. When your child inserts one of their “CDs” or “cassette tapes” into the slot, press play on your Bluetooth speaker, phone or tablet to make the BoomBox come to life! Fun fact: placing your speaker inside the cardboard box may actually increase the volume and bass of the music, as the sound waves resonate with the surrounding cardboard. We hope you enjoyed this blast from the past!