We met a lot of our neighbors the week some helpful Home Depot guys dropped off six large cardboard boxes when delivering our new washer and dryer.

When my two kids, ages 7 and 8, came home from school that day, they never even made it into the house. They went to work on the boxes immediately, setting up a fort with an inner courtyard and a complex, maze-like entrance. Neighbor kids joined in; alliances were formed and boxes shared.

It was a lovely, spontaneous experience in an over-scheduled, media-saturated children's world.

Barring an arrival of big boxes on your lawn, what are some other ways to get satisfying and unstructured play into your kids' lives?

"What people remember about their childhoods is often the outdoor stuff," said Cindy Finch, director of the private Children's School in Boise. For little kids, it might be as simple as putting out a basin of water in the yard.

"You help children with an idea and then you give them some time and space," Finch said, advising that parents supervise without directing the play. "Once you provide the structure for them, there's very little effort on the adults' part."

South Carolina author Bobbi Conner, longtime host of The Parent's Journal radio show, has put such ideas for kids ages 1-10 in her "The Unplugged Play Book," due out June 30. One good idea in there for ages 6 to 9 is building an obstacle course.

"They can use everything from lawn chairs, hula-hoops, flower pots turned upside down" and compete against the clock on a miniature golf-type course said Conner, a mother of three, who noted having kids race the clock, rather than each other, can tame rivalries.

We road-tested another of Conner's ideas, which involved two kids tightly holding a beach towel and bouncing a ball high into the air on it. Two of them loved it, and it prompted them to work unusually hard on working together. The two others dropped the towel and started kicking the ball around the yard.

"Because personality comes so much into play, you need a rich assortment of play experiences for kids to grab hold of to see the ones that get them most excited," said Conner. "It takes a little bit of experimenting for parents to see which of those things delight their kids."

Parents of older kids will find some good ideas in Joe Kelly's book, "The Dads and Daughters Togetherness Guide," which came out in April.

Kelly, who runs workshops for fathers, suggests having your child teach you something, such as weaving a bracelet or mastering a complex jump rope routine, or making a podcast or setting up a Myspace page.

"It kind of changes the dynamic and makes the kid the expert," said Kelly, who has written four books about being a father. He's president of Dads and Daughters, a national nonprofit.

Overall, in summer, even if parents are working and a hectic social schedule beckons, find ways for the whole family to just be, said Finch, of the Children's School. On weekends, head out later rather than sooner; make time for everyone just to be at home.

"If things are too scheduled and structured externally, children never have the time to really exist and be in a different place," Finch said. "And that is what I think is so valuable about summer for kids and families."

MORE IDEAS

If you're going to help the kids stay occupied at home, get your plans in place the night before, set up the kids in the morning, supervise as needed, but mostly stand back and see what magic happens. Here are some ideas from current books:

TODDLERS

Make a "cave" by hanging a blanket over a card table. Tuck one side up to be a door and throw in supplies like toys and a snack. You've got "deluxe toddler accomodations," Roni Cohen Leiderman and Wendy Masi say in "Gymboree's 365 Activities You and Your Toddler Will Love" (Key Porter, 2007).

Divided into four sections from birth to 30 months, this book covers a lot of short, simple ideas. Some are obvious, but leafing through it on a rainy day and looking at its bright illustrations could provide the inspiration to keep the TV off.

YOUNGER ELEMENTARY KIDS

Sworn off long-range travel until the kids are older? Take them on a tour of their hometown instead. Get a map, pick up brochures from a local travel office and see the sights and sites like visitors do, says Joanne O'Sullivan in "101 Things You Gotta Do Before You're 12!" (Lark Books, 2007).

While her book is aimed at children, many activities could be fun for the whole family. Most call for parental partnering, travel or some cash (see a Shakespeare play, visit a tidal pool, etc.). Kids will have fun putting the accompanying stickers on activities as they check them off.

OLDER ELEMENTARY KIDS

Sure, lemonade is always a good seller on a hot day. But if you want to make a little more money, tap into current food trends and sell preservative-free, low-sugar lemonade or sweets made with natural and healthy ingredients, advise Arthur Bochner and Rose Bochner in "The New Totally Awesome Business Book for Kids" (Newmarket, 2007).

Written for older kids or young teens, the book covers the basics of how to run a business, including accounting and marketing, and offers some small business ideas.

TWEENS

Ask your daughter to teach you one of the crafts that's the rage among her friends, like how to make a friendship bracelet. "This activity has the added bonus of giving your daughter the pride of knowing that there's something she can do better than her hero," Joe Kelly says in "The Dads and Daughters Togetherness Guide" (Broadway Books, 2007). Kelly covers both spontaneous activities and larger projects, many of which sound like fun, even for mothers and sons.

Diane Davis of the Associated Press contributed to this report.