There is a beauty in finding the magic in the mundane, and one particularly interesting trend in that regard is the rise of custom cardboard boxes that create an experience through the packaging they use.

Toys, board games and especially electronics tend to be packaged in a way that cultivates an unboxing experience which inspires a sense of joy through discovery and play, even when opening items that would otherwise be relatively mundane.

This is part of the reason why high-end electronic peripherals such as smartphones, headphones, mice and keyboards are often stored in remarkably well-designed boxes; not only does it convey luxury, but it makes people feel happy even in the earliest stages of owning a product.

However, a question that many people have asked, often with a tone of frustration if they own a child or a pet who is prone to this, is why people seem to find more fun playing with the box than its contents.

It is such a common experience that the National Toy Hall of Fame inducted the cardboard box in 2005, the same year that the popular board game Candy Land and the wind-up jack-in-the-box were also inducted.

The reasons why are particularly telling and highlight the importance of a cardboard box for far more than its practical purposes, even if there is a remarkable overlap between what a child sees in a box and what a manufacturer does.

Endless Possibilities

Manufacturers like cardboard boxes for typically very different reasons than children, but the common ground is that almost anything will comfortably fit in a cardboard box, leading to a range of possibilities limited only by imagination and the size of the box.

The biggest difference between a manufacturer and a child in that regard is that, whilst the former is looking for all of the potential options for making the most of the space inside the box, a child is more interested in making the most of the box itself.

A box can contain a toy car, a doll’s house or a model kit to make a spaceship, as long as it is carefully and appropriately packaged. For a child, the box can be a car, a house, a spaceship; it can be literally anything that they imagine.

That is ultimately its biggest appeal; there are no rules and no wrong ways to play with a cardboard box, something aided by it having one of the best value propositions of any toy possible.

Widely Available And Very Cheap

Toys can and often are very expensive; buying something on a Christmas or Birthday wishlist can cost potentially hundreds of pounds, which, during a time when many families are struggling with the cost of living, can be prohibitive.

Boxes, on the other hand, are plentiful, and because they are typically used to package other orders, are effectively provided at no additional cost to a customer. Similarly, the overhead cost of even a specially printed cardboard box is low relative to the cost of the product itself.

The cheapness and added value from a child’s perspective are part of what makes it an ideal toy. Often, children will play with the wrapping and box with the knowledge or at least the suspicion that it will end up going away, so they will make the most of it before playing with the centrepiece.

Some companies have taken advantage of this by producing cardboard toys and accessories that either complement a more expensive piece of technology or are designed to be played with, customised and even broken apart.

One of the most famous of these is the Nintendo Labo, a line of cardboard accessories that work with the Switch game console to add extra functionality.

Works With Anything, Needs Nothing

The then-chief curator of the Strong Museum, which holds the Toy Hall of Fame, Christopher Bench, rather poignantly pointed out in a quote printed by the Baltimore Sun that children see an empty box and fill it with potential that adults do not always see.

Many manufacturers see boxes in a similar way; they have a product and a certain number of components that need to fit, so the question is about which box will fit the pieces most comfortably, fit the most units in an SKU and look best on a shelf.

Children also often fill up the boxes they get, either with other toys to make little shoebox houses and dioramas, drawings and sketches that turn the box into something from their imagination, or even themselves if it is a big enough box to fit an appliance.