Making with Sonny: Cardboard Monster Truck

Since becoming a parent I’ve discovered you can make almost anything with cardboard, especially when your 3 year old doesn’t mind a bit of excessive sticky tape and rough cutting. That “kind of looks like it” is enough for little Sonny, and while he is happy with a cardboard guitar or cardboard oven it is good for the budget and I’m happy to oblige.

Recently we had Monster Trucks visit in town and they were parked in different locations to promote the big event. We went on a Monster Truck hunt (as did everyone else with kids) and found all four – which wasn’t hard because they are monsters after all.

spot

There was one called Spot, which was painted like a dog with a big pink tongue hanging from the front. I needed an activity and when I asked him if he wanted to make a Monster Truck he couldn’t be happier. So, Spot it was!

This was made out of a box (you know the ones you get small packs of chips in) and painted. Foil for the windscreen, big cardboard wheels and the tongue of course. That’s about it – I’m not going to say it looks amazing because as you can see it doesn’t…BUT, once teddy was inside it instantly came to life and started driving (and crashing) around our house.

spot

An easy activity which they can be really involved in (painting, sticking, decorating), followed by lots of imaginative play. Cars are the easiest projects to make out of cardboard, pop round wheels on and they instantly look like they are meant to be. I also like that this is a smaller size (we had a massive rocket out of an appliance box which he could go inside but took up way too much space) but can still fit things, like teddy, in.

What creative things have you done with cardboard?

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