There aren't many premade cardboard play garages on the market. No matter--make one yourself. It's cheaper than buying one, more eco-friendly because you're reusing boxes and much more creative. Look at cardboard playhouses for design and construction ideas. Ask your kids what features they'd like their garage to have and involve them in the project by having them decorate the finished product.
Picking Features
What type of garage do you want to build? Is it a multistory parking garage for your kids' Matchbox cars or a two-car structure like the ones attached to so many houses? Does it house a champion's racing car, or is it a standard body shop? Talk to your kids and find out what they want their garage to look like and what features they'd like it to have.
Perhaps they would like a traditional garage door they can pull open. Maybe they want to be able to crawl inside the garage to play, or maybe they're more into the idea of "driving" toy cars up and down ramps, which they can do from outside the structure. Their wants will lead to your design. Try to allow for some flexibility: kids' games will evolve over time, and your garage will need to adapt to each new game as much as it can.
Cardboard Creations as Inspiration
Formulate a basic garage structure by looking at cardboard playhouses. Usually, they're built from one or two large cardboard boxes. If you recently purchased a washer, dryer or dishwasher, save those boxes: they're the perfect size. Some playhouses use one box for the "body" of the house and another, cut up, for a sloped roof. If your garage isn't going to be the kind kids crawl inside, you can use smaller boxes. Turn shoeboxes on their sides and stack them for a multilevel parking structure that's open on one side.
Play castles also can give you ideas for garage features. A drawbridge on a castle can turn into a ramp for a play garage. Cut a square flap in one side of your box, making sure it opens from the top and is attached at the bottom. Attach it to the other sides of the box by punching holes in the sides and the ramp and threading rope through the holes. Once the rope is through, knot it on the other side. Now you can pull down the ramp and "drive" cars up it and into the garage. For a traditional garage door, reverse this process, cutting the flap from the bottom and keeping it attached at the top.
Decorating the Garage
Here's where your kids' creativity can really be put to use. Let them decorate the garage inside and out with paint, markers, stickers or all three. Paint one side of the garage at a time and let it dry before moving on to the other sides: if there's too much wet paint on the cardboard at once, the weight might warp your garage's shape. For a more detailed look, draw or paint bricks onto the outside of the garage.
Inside, you can add wallpaper or decorate the walls with stickers and markers. Paint the walls and ceiling, let them dry and then add details using stickers or marker. If you want to draw complicated designs on the wall, such as rows of tools or other garage-oriented paraphernalia, consider drawing them on paper first, then gluing the paper to the inside of the box: it may be easier than sitting inside the box to draw or reaching inside a smaller box.
If your garage is a gas station or includes a car wash, make a sign detailing prices for gas or a wash. Fold a piece of cardboard in half and score it down the fold with a knife. Write your prices on each side and prop up the sign by setting the cut ends on the ground like a sandwich board.
Tags: your garage, your kids, cardboard playhouses, crawl inside, features they, features they like, garage door