A box is just a box... or is it?

On Wednesday, a group of Edmonton kindergarten and Grade 1 students was tasked with turning cardboard boxes into something much more fun: an entire city.

Back for a second year, the assignment was based on the popular children's book Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis. The book follows a rabbit who shows how a box can become anything when a child's imagination makes it feel real.

Using boxes collected in the community and donated from local businesses, kindergarten and Grade 1 students from Ellerslie School cut, pasted, and taped the cardboard into an eclectic assortment of vehicles, houses, garages and other whimsical forts.

Teachers felt students could use boxes to stretch their imaginations, but also pick up a few skills on the way.

"We have a science unit on building things," teacher Laurel Clark-Parker explained. "We talk about using different materials, how to make hinges, how to make things stable.

"I think the expression on the kids' faces just says it all. They just love this."