Kids Crafts Thursday (a day late) - Cardboard City

The idea for this craft actually came from my little girl, Ryleigh. I asked her what she would like to do for a craft this week. She thought for a minute and then said 'How about we take a bunch of stuff that we don't need any more, like boxes, and make a city out of them?' Seriously? Wow...I wasn't expecting such a great suggestion! So, that's what we did...

Here is what you will need:

-A good sized cardboard box

-Some smaller boxes or pieces of cardboard (raid your recycling bin!)

-Construction Paper

-Whatever else you have for random crafting items - yarn, pipe cleaners, beads...whatever

-Paint

-Paintbrushes

-Glue

Pre-Project Prep:

-Gather all your supplies

-Line the table with newspapers and put a smock on your little one(s)

You're ready to go...

Really, anything goes here...create your city as you wish! But, here is what we did:

1. We lined the inside of the box with construction paper. Green for the bottom, blue for the remaining sides and top.

2. Have your child paint some details on the construction paper. Ryleigh chose to make a road, a pond with Canadian Geese in it, a sun in the sky, and a goose flying in the sky. She later added painted cars to the road.

3. Take your small cardboard boxes and/or pieces and make houses, buildings, and other structures out of them.

4. Have the child paint them.

We made trees by taking a toilet paper roll and cutting it in half. Ryleigh painted it brown and then I glued some green yarn to to tops. Here is our city:

Older kids would have a great time getting into more detail with this project. You'll notice that Isaac was missing for this project. As soon as Ryleigh told me her craft idea, I knew it would be too involved for Isaac, so we did it while he was napping. Ryleigh had a great time with this project and I think it would be great for pre-school and grade school children! You can easily adjust the project to the child's age and/or abilities. Have fun!