Explore the Art of Working with Cardboard

August 32: organizing a school event in the format of a cardboard parade and creative laboratory.

I’ve completed the course and already can’t stop talking about it to my colleagues — especially about our September 1st celebration at school. I honestly don’t know how to sit still and not rush back to work during my vacation 😅

This course is absolutely wonderful and incredibly useful for me. Everything about it feels just right.

But let me go step by step.

1. I have ADHD, and I’m truly grateful for the short and concise lessons. I finished the course in about a month, maybe even faster. It’s very easy to watch and process each block of information.

2. The questions at the end of each lesson and the feedback helped me reflect. It felt like a reality check. Sometimes I had to rewatch or reread parts of the lecture, and thanks to that the material really stuck.

3. The detailed guides complemented my notes, and now it will be much easier for me to navigate the world of materials and prepare for any cardboard-based project.

4. I gained a huge number of tools, construction methods, connection techniques, forms, and solutions. Life will definitely not be the same. I feel like I’ve learned all the spells at Hogwarts ❤️ Now I just need to start applying them step by step whenever I can. The clear explanations, simple terminology, and well-chosen camera angles helped a lot.

5. Thank you for the examples during and at the end of the lessons. It was so important to see how these constructions look in real life. Photos and videos helped закрепить everything in my mind, and the humor made it even more memorable ❤️

6. Thank you for the organizer module. These things are often overlooked, but without a strong and resourced organizer everything can fall apart. The teamwork section really helped reduce the fear of organizing events.

7. The module about crankshafts and levers is amazing. I used to look at it with curiosity, but now I actually understand how to build it. There are so many small details and нюансы — it’s mind-blowing, but your explanations made everything clear and accessible.

👀 I do have one question about the wire used in the crankshaft — what size and material should we choose? I don’t remember if this was covered in the materials, or maybe I just missed it.

I feel like shouting about your course to the whole world ❤️

How will I use it in my work?

In August, we’re opening a cardboard workshop at our lyceum, where together with students and parents we will prepare a parade for September 1st. We are moving into a new building, and we want to make this day unforgettable for everyone. I can already imagine us walking in giant masks 😎

We also plan to create themed decorations for events at our school.

This is too valuable to be used just once, so we want to make the workshop a permanent space — to keep creating all kinds of things for future events.

Creating a mobile shadow theater from cardboard as part of an educational project with students, followed by a presentation in a museum.

I completed the Cardboardia course in a short period of time. For me, it was the right decision — I managed to go through everything without dragging it out or getting bored. The content is concise and to the point — a great format!

I’m self-taught in working with cardboard, so most of the material was new to me. Some things I had been doing intuitively — and it turns out, correctly! The PDF materials were especially helpful. I used to search for information online all the time, and now everything is in one place.

This academic year, my second-year students are working on a project called “Nocturnal Etudes” based on the works of E.T.A. Hoffmann. In addition to graphics, I decided to create a shadow theater to present the characters developed by the students. Translating the silhouettes into cardboard was relatively easy.

The more challenging part was building the theater structure itself. But I had completed the Cardboardia course. Complex constructions are not really my strength — I’m more of an artist — but the lessons on decoration and fastening were incredibly helpful. I immediately realized that cardboard would be our solution.

We are creating mobile theater structures that can be easily moved. We are planning to present both the project and the shadow theater in a local museum.

I also decided to make the stands from cardboard — thanks to the course. Cable ties turned out to be a real discovery! All the stands were assembled using cable ties. It’s a simple and cost-effective method that I now use regularly in my studio.

We didn’t have long cable ties for assembling larger elements, so we had to use alternative fastening methods, which we then decorated. I showed how to build the box structure and the stand, and the students completed the rest themselves.

Launching and running a creative workshop for educators based on the Cardboardia research methodology.

I have completed the Cardboardia course. Even the name "Research Institute" already sets the tone — it reflects a serious approach to working with such a simple material as cardboard.

The title itself contains a very valuable method — an approach that works with any audience, whether children or adults: research-based, and I would also add experimental. And yes, it really is a whole science.

The course fully delivers on what it promises: materials and tools, workshop organization, and techniques for working with cardboard — connections, fastening, properties, and construction methods.

It is concise, structured, and rich in content, with a touch of humor. Even if you think you already know a lot about cardboard types, your understanding becomes more precise and structured here. The module on connection methods alone reveals just how many possibilities there are.

Each module feels like a research process. This is probably where one should start when creating their own workshop: try things out, explore, work руками, experiment with different materials, and observe the results.

For me, the module "Materials for Decoration and Decoration Methods" was especially valuable. It contains many ideas and approaches that are essential for creative construction.

Throughout the course, there are many examples — and these examples naturally lead to new ideas.

We have already held an art-based workshop called "Kartonka" for educators in Krasnoyarsk, and we will definitely continue — now using the materials from the course. Thank you for not only developing your own practice, but also for collecting, structuring, and clearly presenting everything you have learned. Thank you for promoting the idea of creativity with cardboard — the number of followers and like-minded people is growing.

I would also like to share our experience of organizing the art and play-based festival "Kartonka". More than 30 educators from kindergartens, schools, and additional education studios from Krasnoyarsk and the region took part.

Create, play, explore, build, experiment, discover the world and art — from the culture of the Krasnoyarsk region to the ancient world, and get familiar with contemporary art techniques. Art techniques are not the goal themselves, but a tool for exploration and understanding.

This is for those who value creativity and authorship — all made possible using simple materials: cardboard, packaging paper, and tape.

We explored themes such as:
— Inspiration from masterpieces
— Books, book-making, and authorship
— Games
— Landscapes based on famous artists
— Carnival
— Theater
…and many more

One of the workshops, led by Lyudmila Koroleva, focused on book-making. Participants created books from cardboard and packaging paper — both collaborative and individual. Creating books with children is a unique and underused form of creativity. Any two pages that resemble a book can already be a book. It can be anything: only illustrations, or only text — but it always has a title and a structure. We even created a full exhibition of books:
"Alice in Wonderland"
Works inspired by Astafiev
"Ode to the Garden"
"A Mushroom Story"
…and a collective book we created together — "Family"

Another workshop, led by Irina Ilyushina, began with a mystery: she brought a large box and didn’t reveal what was inside. It turned out to be a source of inspiration for exploring heroic imagery. Participants created attributes such as helmets, armor, and shields, inspired by folklore, literature, music, and visual art. Her deep engagement with the topic created strong interest — this was not creation for its own sake, but meaningful, idea-driven work.

Another theme explored landscapes — including landscapes of our own city. In workshops led by Lyubov Lozhkina and Nadezhda Tarasova, participants created сценические environments inspired by artists such as Aivazovsky, Levitan, Obolensky, and Surikov. These landscapes then became theatrical backdrops where stories unfolded. We explored how to create the sea, mountains, snowy plains, forests — even the famous Krasnoyarsk Pillars.

The "Kartonka" festival is now an annual event that we organize, inspired by the ideas, workshops, and projects of the Cardboardia Research Institute.

Creating cardboard sets and costumes for children’s theater performances.

I really enjoyed the Cardboardia course. I believe it should be offered to all beginner theater educators, as it opens your eyes to how you can create sets and props for any children’s performance using cardboard.

After completing the course, we have already staged two productions — a Christmas performance and the musical "Sinbad the Sailor".

The creators of Cardboardia are true masters and artists of their craft. Keep it up!!!