Cardboard castles for a good cause

Patrick Knights and Kane Hansen with their cardboard mansion.

Thirty-two Aquinas College students slept in cardboard boxes - outside, on the ground - over the weekend.

As part of the Caritas Challenge to build solidarity with those living in poverty or injustice, the challenge offers hands-on experiences that are fun and informative for schools and youth groups.

Event organiser Christina Reymer said the children loved their experience.

The children flattened a cardboard box to sleep on, then built their own cardboard-box mansion to sleep inside in between a block of the school's classrooms on Saturday night, she said.

"Then the kids just cooked up plain steamed rice for dinner. They had to walk a few laps around the field beforehand to demonstrate what it could be like in developing nations and then had plain toast for breakfast."