Cassie came home from her preschool the other day with a Great project----a car made of recycled boxes, containers, and lids. I knew that we had to do this again....so today we did! Here is one of our cars. We added in some of our recycled tube people that we made a while back----they seemed to fit right in! Cassie had such a fun time playing these cars-----as you'll see in the last pictures!
So we started out with all these boxes, tubes, containers, and lids. Where to begin??? We actually had more stuff under the table too! Yikes!
So we sorted out some the items. All items that could be used for wheels or movement:
To construct the car, we began with the main part of the car and began to glue. You could use tape, glue, or a supervised glue gun. The reason I say glue gun, is because I just saw a post at The Artful Parent blog interviewing Teacher Tom about "child led learning" and one of the topics was letting children use glue guns! He also discussed how the glue gun allowed children to build vertically. I felt inspired by this, so I thought (very nervously) I would let Cassie have a hand at using a glue gun (sigh). Here she is in action! This glue gun was difficult to use----the trigger kind would be much more user friendly. She did enjoy pushing the glue out though! Children do learn a lot when you let them be independent! Since this particular glue gun was difficult to use, I ended up putting the glue on and Cassie pushed the pieces down!
Cassie would choose a piece to add and then we would glue it. We went step by step with the glue gun until we had a finished piece! The glue gun made it easier to build quickly! You could have already torn pieces of tape for children to do this same process too. Most children Love tape so it would not be a problem.
Here is our first car, but later we did cut a hole in the blue styrofoam tray to make a seat for one of our recycled tube people. I'm sure there will be other modifications. Cassie named this the "Roomer Zoomer Airplane Car". Very Dr. Seussish!
So we started out with all these boxes, tubes, containers, and lids. Where to begin??? We actually had more stuff under the table too! Yikes!
So we sorted out some the items. All items that could be used for wheels or movement:
Items that could be used for the main parts of the car:
We used other items like: paper cups, straws,, yogurt containers, and bottle caps for details. Use your imagination!
More pictures----so serious!!
Cassie would choose a piece to add and then we would glue it. We went step by step with the glue gun until we had a finished piece! The glue gun made it easier to build quickly! You could have already torn pieces of tape for children to do this same process too. Most children Love tape so it would not be a problem.
Here is our first car, but later we did cut a hole in the blue styrofoam tray to make a seat for one of our recycled tube people. I'm sure there will be other modifications. Cassie named this the "Roomer Zoomer Airplane Car". Very Dr. Seussish!
Here is our other car: "The Roomer Zoomer Car".
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| Roomer Zoomer Car |
The Roomer Zoomer Car with recycled tube people:
Cassie spent a good half hour playing with these cars!
And then some....
In action!
One happy girl---- proud of her creations!
What are your feelings about painting these creations???
I think they are kind of cool left "as is".
This post is linked to:
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI love these creations, Cassie did a great job!
I would leave them as is, although painting them would be fun. (I find with the paint I've used that paint will chip off when my children play with a creation)
Brenda
Love these cars/ trucks...
ReplyDeleteRoopa
I love your recycled creations! And I would leave it unpainted, it looks great!
ReplyDeleteTalking about the glue gun - once I saw transparent shapes with beads in it and little figures made of the glue, it would be worth a try:)
OH MY WORD these are BRILLIANT! I love them!!!!! What fun! Love all the materials you used and the creations you made. My son would adore playing with them all. That super hero is rather cool too.
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking up to Kids Get Crafty :-)
Maggy
So you weren't making Easter bunnies!? Melissa, these cars are fabulous and Cassie is so happily invested in the process too. When we made recycled sculptures I also let my daughter use a glue gun, which she calls a "glue gunner", and it gave her so much confidence while helping her understand how objects can be assembled. The glue gun is so rewarding -- I'd recommend it to anyone. And ours is low-heat, which felt very safe for young hands.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! Love the seriousness too!
ReplyDeleteKerri
wonderful, now I know what to do with my piles of recyclables, thanks so much! And for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday!
ReplyDeleteHow fun is that! Thanks for the great easy idea, we will have to try it!
ReplyDeleteCarlee,
ladybirdln.blogspot.com
That is so cool! My kids love making things out of recyclables. This is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have you share this at my For the Kids Friday Link Party, going on now at SunScholars. Come join in on the fun!
http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/03/for-kids-friday-4.html
Great job!! I really love the little guy sitting on the top too!
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog and can't believe I wasn't aware until now! You have wonderful ideas and our daughter would love this as she loves to cut, paste and create! I need to start collecting. Been decluttering lately but may start collecting just for this. Thank you for sharing all your creative ideas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this post at For the Kids Friday at Sun Scholars. This week's party is now posted. I'd love to have you share with us again this week!
ReplyDeletehttp://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/03/for-kids-friday-5.html
Through these things, children will be able to enjoy more their childhood life. Developing their imagination by being resourceful will help them in the future.
ReplyDeleteWe made our recycled Monster Trucks last night and it was so much fun. The boys really love them. Here's where I posted about them.
ReplyDeletehttp://mymontessorimoments.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/handmade-monster-trucks/
Thanks for the great idea. You are full of them! :)