It's a spaceship, it's a castle, it's an empty cardboard box

The four-year-olds stared at the empty cardboard box in their preschool classroom. They waited for teacher Hema Khatri to tell them what to do with it. "What is it supposed to be?" one asked.

Photo: Alena Darmel/Pexels

Children have lost the ability to play independently, to see the magic in an empty box, writes Khatri on EdSurge. "Many of my students now hesitate to begin open-ended play without direct instruction. They wait for something to be defined for them instead of defining it themselves."

Is the box a castle, a race car, a pirate ship or a nest for stuffed animals? These days, children are used to being viewers of ready-made worlds, not creators of their own stories, she writes.

Screens can be educational as well as entertaining, Khatri writes. "Many children learn letters, numbers, languages and songs through digital tools."

But they can do too much. Always entertained, kids have no need to invent their own games.

"The silence that once gave birth to imagination is replaced by noise, movement and constant stimulation."

Parents should make time and space for their children to play without instructions and without a screen, Khatri writes. "Boxes, fabric, paper, paint, blocks, tape, water, and natural items invite imagination far more than expensive, pre-designed toys."

Don't "fix" boredom, she advises. Children can learn to amuse themselves. "Maybe the moment we choose to slow down, to listen, and to leave a box unlabeled, we will begin to see castles rising again."

When my "surprise" brother was little, we seriously considered not giving him birthday gifts. He preferred empty boxes.