Cardboard Barn and Fortress
Summer vacation is here! Along with the fun of having all the little ones home - whether for the whole summer or in-between school and camp - comes the question, "How will I keep them busy and happy?" Any mother knows it's not easy, but hopefully our next few articles will help ease the load a bit.
One of the things we can take advantage of during summer vacation is the opportunity to sit down and do activities with our children. Our next few articles will be dedicated to various crafts and sewing projects that are great for spending quality time together. If you work, an older child can do them together with a younger child. And if you don't need them for the days when it's too hot to play outside and all you want to do is relax with the air conditioner, then save them for the days when it'll be too cold and rainy to play outside, and all you want to do is sit in front of the fireplace!
Our first projects are easy, cut and paste activities. However, since you'll be dealing with heavy cardboard boxes, the cutting should either be done or be supervised by an adult, or a child age 12 and above.
Adorable Cardboard Barn
YOU WILL NEED:
One cardboard box (make sure it fits the size of your play animals)
One sheet of cardboard
Pen or pencil
Scissors or -
Poster paint
INSTRUCTIONS:
Turn the box so that the open side is on top. Trim off all four flaps.
With a pen or pencil (a marker will work fine, too), mark the top part of the box in the shape of a barn roof.
Starting on one side of the box, mark the roof-line of the barn. In other words, mark two slanted lines to form two sides of a triangle on one side, continue straight along the next side, and repeat for remaining two sides of box.
Cut the cardboard along the markings you just made.
Mark the barn doors by marking the midpoint of one side of the box. Draw a rectangle with that point at the exact middle, then draw a vertical line from that point to make the double doors.
Cut along all the lines except for the outer vertical ones (those will be the hinges). If you want, you can put doors on both sides of the barn so that more than one child can put animals in at a time.
Now you're ready to make the roof!
Cut a cardboard rectangle two inches longer and wider than the barn on all sides.
At the center of the rectangle, mark the fold line, then fold in half.
Place it on the barn to make sure that the fit is right; if not, then make adjustments as necessary.
Have your child decide where the windows will go. Draw the windows.
Paint the barn using red poster paint, and set aside to dry.
When the barn is dry, you can paint the inside of the windows black. Once that paint has dried, outline the windows in white trim, and paint a large, white "X" on the doors of the barn.
Paint the roof in whichever color your child chooses; white or gray will look the most realistic.
Place the roof on the barn, and voila! You and your child just made an adorable barn. Get all the animals - or buy some new ones - and start playing!
Formidable Fortress
This project also involves a cardboard box, but this time it's going to turn into a fortress/castle. Again, the cutting should be done either by an adult or a child 12 years old or above.
YOU WILL NEED:
One cardboard box
Heavy duty scissors
String
Coloring items - crayons, markers, paint, etc.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Position the box with the opening facing up.
Cut off the top flaps.
HINT: If the cardboard is really heavy-duty and tough to cut, try a craft knife instead of the scissors.
Cut a wide rectangle a few inches from the edge on all sides of the box. This will form a tower at each corner.
To form the battlements, cut out rectangles in the center of each tower, and at equal intervals between the towers.
Decide which side of the box will be the front of the castle.
At the center of the castle's front side, draw an arch to mark the drawbridge.
With a sharp point (like the point of the scissors, or even a seam-ripper), poke two small holes on each side of the drawbridge, and on each side of the wall next to it.
Cut out the drawbridge and let it fold open.
Attach the string to the two holes in the wall and the two holes on each side of the drawbridge. Leave enough extra string so that you'll be able to pull the drawbridge up when needed.
Paint or decorate your castle - and you're done!