How to Make a Horse Stable Out of a Cardboard Box in 5 Mins!
My daughter loves imaginative play. So when we got our new tuff tray mats, we decided to create a really simple stable for her horses. I didn’t want to spend ages on it, as she just wants to play, so I came up with this super quick horse stable in about 5 minutes!
The cardboard horse stable is super simple to make with just one cardboard box, some white tape, scissors and some wool! We used it on our Hay Tuff Tray Insert which you can check out here: Tuff Tray Mats
Once we had made out cardboard horse stable we realised we needed some show jumps for our horse because well why not! So you can find all those details below too.
Supplies to Make Your Cardboard Horse Stable
This really is a super simple craft. As usual these are just suggestions based on what we used, but they are just what we had in the house! use what you have and let your child’s imagination do the rest!
Cardboard Box Stable
We used an old delivery box that we had ready to be recycled. If you look closely you can tell that it wasn’t in the best shape, and I didn’t even take all the labels off but my daughter didn’t even notice! It wasn’t very deep so the horse has to go in sideways – but we worked with what we had! (Just make sure it’s tall enough for the horse at least!)
White Tape For The Stable Details
As the box was pretty battered, I wanted a quick way to neaten the edges and add a bit of detail. The tape we used was actually double sided sticky tape that we just didn’t peel! I find electrical tape is good for these kinds of cardboard crafts too.
Straw Colour Wool for Extra Hay
If I had been planning this out then I would have actually used something like natural raffia for a more realistic ‘hay’. But I found this creamy colored wool that worked just fine.
Pegs & Lolly Sticks For Making Show Jumps
Pegs are such a great craft item as you can use them in so many different ways. We used wooden pegs (but any will do) We had large lolly sticks but I imagine the smaller ones would work just as well too.
How to Make Your Cardboard Horse Stable
Depending on the box you have, you will need to make adjustments to the following steps as you go along, using what you have to make the cardboard horse stable work for you and your horse!
As you can see, our box is not very deep so the horse isn’t able to fit facing forwards. However that isn’t too important, what is, is that you’re horse can actually stand up in it!!
Lay your horse down in the box to give you an idea of how big of a box you need.
Once you have your box you need to cut off the top half. We left a lip at the top for a neater finish but you can just tape this off to achieve the same finished look.
The box we used already had these flaps but if yours doesn’t, then just simply cut down the middle so that you can open up your cardboard horse stable and let your horse in and out.
Once I was happy with the stable (this took all of a couple of minutes!) I used the tape to neaten any torn edges and add to add detail. I used the white tape to create more of a barn door by adding diagonal trips. Â
I cut up little strips of wool to represent the hay in the barn and for an extra sensory play element.
Making the Horse Show Jumps
I wanted to make some show jumps to go with our cardboard horse stable in the tuff tray.
I used pegs to hold together a couple of wooden lolly sticks which worked better than expected! They stand up well on the tuff tray, but will fall if knocked, making them the perfect show jump accessory!
Get Playing just 5 Minutes After Making Your Cardboard Horse Stable!
And that is it! It really is that easy. We might jazz it up a bit in the future, or we may just turn it into something else! That’s what we love about cardboard crafts, they can be anything you want and simply recycled when you’re finished with them!
If you like the mat we used in our tuff tray then click below to find out how you can get yours:
We hope you have fun playing with your cardboard horse stable in the tuff tray!
Louisa | Mum’s Creative Cupboard x
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