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Drive through any neighborhood in December, and you’re sure to see brown cardboard boxes stacked up on doorsteps. But a kid might see a race car. Or a robot. Or a flying pirate ship. Because kids are creative geniuses.

See the #LetsSavePlay case video here.

At least they start off that way. NASA tested 4 and 5-year-olds and found that 98% scored at the “creative genius” level. By the end of middle school that number falls to 12%. It’s no wonder, when kids spend an average of 1200 hours a year in front of screens. That’s time not spent playing. And playing feeds creativity. Especially unstructured play.

As a business that thrives on creativity, Marcus Thomas wanted to do something about it. So we became reverse porch pirates. Instead of stealing packages from houses, we added another. One that reminded people that the boxes on their doorstep are more than just boxes. We asked people to save those boxes for a kid, and to help us save play.

And people answered the call, posting photos and videos of their imaginative kids driving, flying, exploring and dueling in their cardboard boxes. No rules. No instructions. No batteries included. But so much fun. For every post tagged with #letssaveplay, we made a $5 donation to the Emily Cooper Welty Expressive Therapy Center at Akron Chidren’s Hospital. (We made a donation for our clients and friends, too.)

So after all the holiday gifts are opened, don’t forget to save the boxes – and save play. Because a child’s imagination is one of the greatest gifts of all.