Thinking outside of the (cereal) box, this foster parent created a mural for a child in care

When foster parent Kathy saw the child she is caring for light up at the sight of his breakfast cereal — or cereal commercials on TV — she wanted him to experience that happiness all the time. 

"When he watches them, it just brought him so much joy. He'll sit there and his hands are going and he's all excited and his feet are going and he's all excited and [he gives] big belly laughs," said Kathy. 

The child has autism and has been in Kathy's care for about a month. 

CBC News is not naming the child or using the foster parent's last name in order to protect the identity of the child. 

Kathy said the idea just came to her all of a sudden: a cereal box mural in his bedroom. 

So she posted in a Kingsville, Ont., Facebook group and asked for empty cereal boxes. 

WATCH: Kathy describes the child's reaction to seeing the wall for the first time

"I thought that people would think I was a little off the wall doing something like that — no pun intended — but they didn't. They saw that it was something that could possibly bring joy to a child and gladly came alongside us," she said. 

"It's almost like a community wall in our home ... I would have never been able to do it myself without the help of the community." 

Two Greater Essex County District School Board schools collected boxes from their breakfast programs and Kathy said she'd come home to boxes on her doorstep from people in the community. 

One of those who helped out was Kingsville District High School Child and Youth worker Michelle Riess. 

She said she had students who help the school's breakfast program save the cereal boxes. 

"I thought it was going to be a tremendous way to make somebody's day," Riess said. 

"I think any time the community can come together and as simple as cereal boxes ... if it's going to make the young man happy, I'm feeling really good that we contributed toward that."