Currently Chuck and I have been reading books about the moon and space travel. He loves the Berenstein Bears "On the Moon" book and Eric Carle's "Papa, please get the moon for me."
So with that in mind, I made him a little cardboard spaceship climbing toy. I found some lovely examples online and one of the mommies in our toddler group made a very simple version out of paper. So, I based my design off of these.
- Cardboard box
- Scissors
- String
- Paint and paint brushes
- Mod Podge and brush (to protect your paint job)
- Packing tape
- Straw
Directions:
This was a really quick and simple toy to make.
1. Cut out your spaceship, moon, and two small rectangular stopper pieces out of cardboard.
2. Paint your spaceship and moon.
3. Once the paint dries, protect your paint job with Mod Podge.
4. Cut your straw in half. Tape it to the back of your spaceship.
5. Fold your long piece of string in half. Tape the middle of the string to the back of your moon. Then, string your two strands through the two straws. Tape the ends of string to your cardboard rectangles so that the spaceship doesn't fall off.
Here's a shot of the mechanics:
We went this route, and Chuck got a kick out of sending his cardboard rocket to the moon.
Cardboard Rocket Ship sent to the moon from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.
And then, since I was working with cardboard already.... I figured I'd make Chuck some cardboard food as well. All that flying sure gives an astronaut a hearty appetite.
Have a wonderful weekend! See you back on Monday.
Psst- If you've got a ton of cardboard lying around... check out these fun kids' crafts that use cardboard: