Recycled Junk Robots

Some of my favorite projects are done with recycled junk and this is a new one to add to the list. The idea comes from my daughter's kindergarten teacher. We've been making recycled robots at home too and I wanted to share how to make them.

Materials Needed:
recycled boxes (we mostly used food boxes)
recycled Lids and bottle caps for eyes and buttons
Cardboard tubes
glue or glue gun
aluminum foil
silvery pipe cleaners
anything else you choose

To create a robot, we first gathered some food boxes, cardboard tubes, bottle caps, and lids. We built the robot without gluing to see how it would look.

Next, we covered the boxes and cardboard tubes with aluminum foil to give the robot a cool metal look. We used a glue gun for fast dry time.

Then we glued the pieces and parts together. 

Lastly, we added more bottle caps for decoration and buttons.  For a finishing touch we added silver pipe cleaners and a foil tail to make a Robot Monkey.

This one is a Robot Doggie.

We'll be making more Robot Creatures soon! Such a fun project.


We made these Tin Can Magnetic Robots a couple years ago.  Find out how to make them here.

How to Make a Simple Kazoo

I love simple and easy projects made with recycled materials and here is one of them.  We made Kazoos. Find out how below.

All you need to create a simple kazoo is:

A cardboard tube

a small square of wax paper

rubber bands (or elastics)

paint or markers for decorating

First we painted and decorated our cardboard tubes and let them dry.

Next,  put a square of wax paper  over one end and attach it with a rubber band.

Then, hum or sing through the other end! So easy...and fun...

What musical instruments have you made with your kids?

Recycled Paper Tube Collage

Yes,  we are still excited about paper tube art here!  This project took a couple days and it was quite fun! Here is a close up preview of our Recycled Tube Collage:

We started out with gathering up tubes and cutting them into a variety of shapes:

You can see the variety of shapes. C could cut some and I helped her out.  With smaller children you could have them already pre-cut.

Then, as we did for our Recycled Tube Sculpture, we dipped the cardboard pieces in a puddle of white glue and put them on a recycled cardboard base (gift box, cereal box, etc.).  Make sure to shake off your excess glue before gluing down on the cardboard base/background. Arrange them any way you like.

This is how it looks before the paint.  It looks awesome.We let it dry for a day so we could paint it.

I gave Cassie one color at a time and tried painting it as carefully as she could.

C kept painting and painting and she worked really diligently.

We kept adding more colors....and then C was getting tired to paint the base/background. (quick thinking....)  So I said,  "Let's race your paintbrush like a little car around everything." .  She liked that idea and it  really was getting covered. I think it turned out like Modern Art. Almost like Modern Artist: Frank Stella.  Here is Cassie's Modern Art Masterpiece:

Here is a Frank Stella Masterpiece:

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

This post is linked up to:

CRAFT SCHOOLING SUNDAY
 NO TIME FOR FLASHCARDS
MADE BY YOU MONDAYS
 MADE BY LITTLE HANDS
 MAGIC ONIONS
WE PLAY
SHOW AND TELL
CHILDMADE
 SATURDAY'S ARTIST
PRESCHOOL CORNER
 MONKEYING AROUND
 TOT TUESDAY
MINI-MASTERPIECES
 GET CRAFTY
 THE PLAY ACADEMY,
RAISING MEMORIES/SHARING TIME
FOR THE KIDS FRIDAY
FUN FOR KIDS FRIDAY

Recycled Paper Tube Sculpture!

This is My Favorite Post from 2011,  I've included the blog hop at the end of this post to attach your own favorite post if you are a Blogger! Check out all the other Favorite/Best Posts too!

As I said before, we've been collecting a lot of paper tubes and trying out projects with them.  It is amazing how many tubes you can collect in just a month!  Recycled arts and crafts are really the way to go and inexpensive.  My daughter and I created a Tube Sculpture and it turned out really cool!  We could add other things to it,  but I think it will stay like this for a while until we think of something to add! Any ideas?

So the first thing we did was collect some tubes and lay them all out to see what we had.  Then I started cutting some into smaller sizes and my daughter enjoyed fringing out some of the tubes.  Tubes are too difficult to cut for preschoolers.  Older kids may be able to cut them! We used a piece of cardboard from a gift box for the base of the sculpture.  

Then we started gluing the tubes to the cardboard base.  I put white glue in a recycled jar lid and we dipped the ends of the tubes carefully making sure to shake off excess glue!!! 

I reminded my daughter that you need to let the tubes dry because they will not stick right away.  To stick tubes sideways or on top of other tubes I used some tape to hold them on and then removed the tape after the sculpture was dry. This part was a lot of fun!!!  We let this part dry for a day.

After we let it dry, we painted our sculpture.  Cassie wanted to paint it right away (that night), but she waited!  We painted one color at a time. I think this helped to focus her attention instead of giving her a million colors at a time! We really enjoyed building the sculpture the most!  Painting is always fun, but my daughter is a clean freak and has to wash her hands after any bit of paint on her!

FInished for now! Maybe we'll add some pipe cleaners??

This post is linked to:

WE PLAY

CHILD MADE

PRESCHOOL CORNER

NOT BAAAD SUNDAYS

GET CRAFTY

THE PLAY ACADEMY

NO TIME FOR FLASHCARDS

FUN FOR KIDS FRIDAY

MONKEY DOODLES

TRENDY TREEHOUSE

TOT TUESDAY

FUN FOR THE KIDS FRIDAY

Tiny Crowns For A Little Princess!

I've been working on some projects using paper tubes...since I have collected so many! I came across these Great little crowns on the blog: lilla a and thought they were  so simple and so sweet.  Also, on this blog, there is a great tutorial for them too.  All the ideas on this blog have a certain simplicity that I just love!!! So my daughter and I decided to try these!  I think they turned out so beautiful. Ours are taller, but that makes them unique!!!  So grab some paper towel or toilet tissue tubes and shorten them up a bit and cut a zig-zag edge on one side and then you are ready to paint them! The best part!  After they are dry,  add some stickers or spangles,  punch two holes and then add some elastic cord (in the beading or sewing section).  These would make great princess or king crowns for a party!

Our Crowns!

Little Princess!

Princess and possibly decorations?

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TOT SCHOOL