DIY Toys from Cardboard...

I am not sure I completely understand how nice you want these to be. But here are some ideas I've seen in magazines that I thought looked like fun, are made from cardboard, and may not work with a car, but are meant for marbles which can be fun too!

http://www.greenchildmagazine.com/diy-marble-roller-coaster/

http://frugalfun4boys.com/2012/09/05/paper-plate-marble-t...

I saw a blog about making chairs and tables for children from cardboard night before last and forgot to pin it :-/ Went looking and can't find it but found some links that will hopefully help.

http://voices.yahoo.com/cardboard-box-furniture-kids-###-...

http://www.examiner.com/article/eco-friendly-life-sized-c... - this site has a picture of the chair so you see what I mean, but they're advertising kits. The blog I read said to use a box 12" x 12" for the base/seat of the chair, reinforcing it inside with cardboard in an "x", adding boxes for the back and sides in appropriate sizes and gluing them together. It showed the chair and table covered with paper of some sort that could be changed at whim. If I make some for my guy I'll let him color them with crayons, markers, stickers, etc. A table can be made with 2 different sized boxes, one longer for the base and a larger/squarer one for the top. Hope this helps :)

My son and I made a cardboard bed for his stuffed animals when he was 6 - don't see this one as particularly girl or boy. A robot is pretty simple to make out of cardboard boxes - my son (now 7) just made one. He has also made storage boxes (with dividers) for his fossil collection and decorated it with pictures of fossils.

i just made my son a superhero mask for his "superhero day" at school tomorrow... :)

also, about the play dough, my grandma made some and instead of food coloring she put glitter (like you mentioned) -it turned out AWESOME! also, she put some mint extract in it and it smells wonderful. love home made playdough! have fun!

For the boys:

-piggy banks
-race track for their Matchbox cars
-parking garage for their cars
-gas station for their cars (complete w/pumps & pay station w/guy inside)

For your daughter:

-love the castle idea
-the mailbox
-tiny bed for her dolls
-mini car for her dolls (think the pink Barbie-mobile)
-mini clothing store for her Barbie's to shop in
-mini closet for her Barbie doll's clothing

How about stick puppets and a theater for them? You can make puppets out of cardboard and tape a popsicle stick or half of a disposable chopstick on the back. You can use a larger cardboard box or a shoe box to make the theater with different props or scenery also made out of cardboard. You can cut little slits the scenery can slide into, or make little stands the scenery can sit on or against. They can use markers or paint. They can act out their favorite books or tv shows, or make their own stories and characters too. My son is 5. He loves playing with stick puppets and creating his own stories.

Do your boys play farming at all? Mine have multiple grain bins made of tin cans with the labels peeled off and washed. We also have many garages and other buildings made of Velveeta boxes and other small boxes for their cars while they play. How bout flattening a large piece of cardboard and making a track or city etc on it, like a car rug? Just some thoughts that have entertained my boys for hours with their multitude of cars/trucks/etc... Great idea to make gifts! Merry Christmas!