get creative with cardboard boxes
Kids love playing in cardboard boxes! It ignites their creativity and gives them a place to call their own. The problem is, who buys something huge like a stove all the time?
I decided to make a cardboard train for my son’s birthday last year… yeah, it was probably too elaborate, but I had fun doing it. The kids would have had just as much fun if it was a plain brown box and they had the opportunity to draw on it!
How To Make the Cardboard Train
Get 4 used refrigerator boxes from a distribution warehouse. Usually the delivery people unpack the refrigerators and take the boxes with them to recycle, so the boxes are in pretty good shape. I used 2 boxes for the engine and 2 for the passenger car.Join the pieces with paper tape. You can find paper tape at Dick Blick or another art store. Paper tape is normally used to stretch watercolor paper, but is the best for this project because it’s thin and you can paint it. If you’ve never used it before all you have to do is cut it to the length you need, wet it (the back of the tape is like old fashioned stamps) and stick it. Then you let it dry for a little bit. It’s really strong and does not come apart unless you don’t let it dry all the way.
To make the passenger car stand both boxes upright and cut each one along one of the folds. This created two big flaps which can be opened and taped to the other box.
To make the engine (pictured above) stand one box upright for the back half and one box on it’s side for the rounded part. To round out cardboard you slice the top slide with shallow cuts the entire length of the box with a utility or mat knife. When you make these cuts, the top layer of the corrugated cardboard is cut but the bottom layer stays intact which keeps the shape. After making the cuts you will find that you can bend the box to make the curve. Cut a hole in the tall box and use that piece for the front of the engine to form the box.
Finally, make the wheels using leftover boxes or cardboard. Again, use a utility knife to cut them out. To make the wheels perfect circles use this little trick… make a long cardboard strip, put a push pin on one side and made a hole on the opposite end big enough to poke a marker through. Then stick the push pin in the center of the cardboard and move the marker around to make the shape. Basically a huge homemade compass!
Paint the train with latex house paint. I thought about spray paint but that gets really expensive because of the size. It seems like regular paint is going to be too wet and make the cardboard wrinkle and get all wavy, but it didn’t- I used the cheapest stuff I could find at our local home improvement store. I ended up getting red, yellow and black and mixed the colors to save money.
You can of course paint the train however you would like… You can paint it to look like Thomas the Train made from cardboard boxes or a cardboard box Polar Express. Good luck and have fun!
Have you and your kids created something out of cardboard boxes? Inspire all of us by posting your pictures on the {kidlist} facebook page! Click here to join!!
Want more ideas for cardboard?
Thank you so much for this, I needed a train for VBS for my church and had no idea where to start and this is perfect, thanks for sharing.
This is awesome!! I’m going to make for my son’s choo choo party. Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful project
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Thank you so much for this fun idea! I have been searching all over the internet for how to build a train out of cardboard boxes. I am doing the Polar Express them for my son’s 1st Birthday in December and had no idea where to start! If you have any other pointers for me when making this that would be much appreciated! Thanks so much for your fun and creative idea!!!
I’m glad you found my cardboard train and I appreciate your comments! If you have any questions about making it or you get stuck, feel free to email me at annie@mykidlist.com.
Emily, I would love to see pictures of your Polar Express Train made out of cardboard.
This is awesome, i am gonna build this with my niece today, gotta enjoy time with her while she is visiting us here in Belize .
Great! I hope you had a wonderful day creating.
I am going to try this for my sons birthday in April! Got my refrigerator boxes today! I may be emailing you with questions!
Absolutely Love it. I will try it but my question will be how to use it at the party. I created a simple pirate ship for my son’s birthday but it was small and easy to take pictures with. This seems large and wondering how to utilize it.
The kids at the party were pretending to take train rides, set up chairs inside and served water to each other, ate in the train and we took a group picture with all the kids peeking out of the windows!
Trying this for my nephew’s birthday party this month but nervous about doing the rounded part of the train and how to cut it correctly! Any tips??
I’m excited for you to make the train! It’s a fun project. To make the rounded part you have to cut through only one layer of the corrugated cardboard along the grooves with a utility knife. You don’t have to cut along every single groove; skip a few in between. The more cuts you make along the radius, the more smooth the curve will be, but you don’t have to overdo it. I did a little sample for you and took a picture so you can get a better idea (http://www.mykidlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2127.jpg). You could use paper tape to cover the slits after you are done putting it together, but it’s not necessary. If you have any other questions or need me to clarify, let me know!
Annie
Annie,
Thank you so much for responding! The visual was really helpful!! Again thanks for sharing your wonderful idea!!
How long did it take you to make it? Also, how long did you let the paint set before adding details? Love your ideas. Thanks, Shirley
It took a few days… I can’t remember exactly how many because I mostly did it while my son napped, so it was an hour here and there. He liked helping towards the beginning when I was putting the boxes together, but I didn’t want to tackle painting with non-washable paint while he was running around the backyard! Anyway, the paint dried really fast since I was working on it outside and by the time I painted the base color it was already dry and ready for the details.
Thank you! I think I had better get started to have it ready by June!