To you, it’s an empty cardboard box. To Captain Imagination, it’s a six-engine, triple-decker spaceship that runs on juice-box fuel.

See how playtime takes off with Makedo, an ingenious new connector system that helps you turn packaging into creative playthings. Best for ages 5 and up, the kit includes tools (saw, hole puncher, connectors, hinges) that join together cardboard, plastic, and fabric however your little builder’s heart desires.

Create robot costumes, tepees, cars, oversize balls, wall decorations, bulldozers, and just about anything else you can dream up using materials that would usually meet a recycling-bin fate. The play is refreshingly open-ended.

That means the sky’s the limit.

Available at mymakedo.com, $15-$145.

Photo: Courtesy of Makedo