miadanDesigns: Up, Up, and Away! Kids Cardboard Rocketship Tutorial

It is AMAZING how imaginative kids are. Every week my children teach me to see life totally differently. Whether its pointing out the "turtle" they see in the clouds or sword-fighting to rescue the hidden treasure, they see the world through creative eyes.

It's no wonder why most education studies show that children thrive on pretend play. In fact, their development depends on it.

So I should not be surprised then, that my 5 year old envisioned a rocketship when he saw our last shipment of diapers arrive. His eyes grew wide in excitement when he thought of the possibility.

Easier said than done, but the look on his face was priceless when we were done. And I'm anticipating lots of fun pretend play with this new "toy"!

I will take you through step-by-step on how I made ours.

You will need:

1. one large appliance box or two smaller boxes (we used two diaper boxes)

2. paint

3. hot glue

4. strong clear tape

5. decorative tape (we used blue painters tape, but duct tape would work great too!)

6. exacto knife

7. foil paper

8. patience (hehe)

(1)

First, paint your boxes.

(2)

Next, stack the smaller box on top of the larger one. Make sure one side is totally taped and the other side (facing the back) is not. Then, hot glue the smaller box onto the larger one.
Reinforce the inside with strong tape.

(3)

Mark where you will cut any openings.
We decided on only one for the eyes, but you can do as many as you like.

(4)

Mark an "X" on the top of the box. Then cut with your exacto knife. If your box sides are tall enough, you can skip the next step. Ours was not, so we had to add length with aluminum foil.

You want each triangle side to meet to form your rocket ship peak.