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recycled

Explore engineering with this simple cardboard elevator. Then use your imagination to turn it into a parking structure lift, a dollhouse feature, or anything you like!

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Cut the lid off your crate. We'll use both the base and the lid in our lift construction.

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Cut a strip of cardboard from the lid, making it slightly narrower than the interior depth of the crate. If you're using a crate, this would be about 3 inches. Next, place the cardboard strip next to the box. Note where the sides of the box end, and mark the placement, going a little narrower than the width of the box. If you're using a crate, this would be just under 6 inches. You'll use this portion to create the inside of your lift. Score and fold the edges of the strip up. Make sure that both of your tabs are even in length. This piece will be the base of your lift.

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Next cut a thin strip from the remaining cardboard lid, about 1 or 2 inches. Place this strip next to the first wider strip and mark just inside the fold lines of the last strip you cut. Score and fold the flaps of this thinner strip down. This thinner strip will be the top of your lift.

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On the thin strip of cardboard, measure roughly a half inch from each side and punch a hole.

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Place the wider strip of cardboard on a flat surface with its tabs folded upward. Then, put the thinner strip on top and fold its flaps downward. The thin strip should fit just along the inside flaps of the wider base strip, creating a rectangular shape. Use hot glue to attach them together.

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Measure out and cut a length of string that is about twice the height of your crate when it's standing upright. Loop the string through the holes and tie your string together in a simple overhand knot.

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Now that all of your pieces are made, It's time to decorate! Use assorted cardstock and patterned tape to design your lift any way you would like!

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With the base of your crate upright, mark two holes along the sides of the box, about an inch from the top. Use a craft knife to cut these holes out, cutting them wide enough to fit the wooden dowel.

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Insert your dowel into the two holes. Your dowel should be level.

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Place the lift at the base of the crate, with the string and holes on top. Find the center of the looped string and tape it to the center of the dowel rod. It is important to get this centered or else your lift will not operate correctly.

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You now have a working lift! To make your lift go up, twist the dowel so the string wraps around the dowel, pulling up the lift. What fun objects can you find to put on your lift? What are some everyday machines that use a similar mechanism?

Want to make your elevator less work to use? Try cutting a cardboard circle and attach it to one end of the dowel. With the wheel added, you’ve turned plain old dowel into a wheel and axle mechanism. A wheel and axle is a super-handy simple machine used in everything from doorknobs to vehicles to — you guessed it — elevators. Together, the wheel and axle allows you to lift heavier loads than without it. If you’re only lifting pom-poms and cardboard, of course, it doesn’t make much difference. But if you were building a real elevator lifting thousands of pounds, you’d want all the help you could get!

crate or box

dowel

string / twine

tape

hot glue

scissors

craft knife

cardstock

hole punch

Cardboard Elevator

construction

building

game

indoor game

game design

Try making this mini bow and arrow out of a craft stick, a cotton swab, and dental floss. It really works!

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Start by cutting two notches into your craft sticks on each end.  You'll want them close to the end of the stick, and fairly deep. (I ended up going back and cutting them a little deeper than I have in this photo.)

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Then pop your sticks in a glass of water to soften the wood.  You'll need at least an hour for this step (and a little longer didn't seem to hurt it).

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When you're ready to bend your bow, start by wrapping the dental floss around one end.  I just wrapped it around 3-4 times, securing it in the notch.  Then holding the stick in one hand, stretch the dental floss to the notch on the other end, but take care to keep the floss on the same side.  Note: The popsicle stick is not especially bendy, so you will need to bend it to shape with one hand, as you stretch the floss tightly across.

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Then just wrap the floss around the other end of the stick, again pulling it taut and tightly into the notch.  I just wrapped it a few times again, and then cut it off.

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Your bow is ready to go! Your knights can decorate it with markers if they'd like to personalize them. Remember to snip the ends off your cotton swabs. It takes a bit of practice to get the motion down for shooting this teeny bow and arrow, but once you do, it's great fun! We found we could shoot those little arrows 10 feet or more! You could set up targets (using bowls or waste baskets to shoot into, or make bulls-eyes with cardboard &amp; paper) for extra fun. Then it's Ready...

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To take the fun a step further, we decided to create a quiver to hold all of our arrows! Get started by cutting a toilet paper tube about the length of the cotton swabs.

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Use a small piece of craft paper to cover the bottom of your toilet paper tube. Tape it down to secure it closed.

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 (Optional) Use another piece of craft paper, and cut it down to the same size as your tube. If you like, draw or decorate your tube with drawings and patterns. Tape down craft paper to cover the sides of the tube. 

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Use a hole puncher to make two holes on each side of the tube. Feed the ribbon ends through each hole and tie a knot on the inside to secure the ribbon. 

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Now your quiver is ready to hold all of your cotton swab arrows!

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To create targets, cut out circles from a paper plate. Decorate them with circles or point values to complete the targets.

craft sticks / popsicle sticks

floss

cotton swabs

scissors (for the grownup to notch the stick and cut one end off the cotton swab)

Archery

printable

learning game

family activity

learning activity

Looking for a fun way to fuel your kids' creativity and communication skills? These 30 story starters will stretch their imaginations and help them spin yarns worth weaving! Use the images to inspire plot twists and turns in a storytelling session that's fun for the whole family! <a href="http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.kiwicrate.com/printables/BTS_KiwiCrate_storycards.pdf" target="_blank">Download the printable here.</a>Help your little one build their creative confidence with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/rainbow-air-dry-clay-project-kit/5612" target="_self">Rainbow Air-Dry Clay</a>. This kid-friendly clay is soft, not sticky, so it’s easy to handle and shape into anything you can imagine.

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Cut the printables along the dotted lines. 

If you print the cards on heavy paper and keep the cards together with a rubber band, you can throw the bundle in your bag as an on-the-go game.

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Lay the cards face-up. Let someone draw one (or several) of the cards as inspiration for the start of a story.

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Give everyone a chance to add on to the story, using the cards as inspiration. As the story is being told, have each narrator line up the card(s) in chronological order so that everyone can remember the sequence of events. 

As your kids play with these cards, they'll learn about sequencing 
and teamwork skills that will definitely come in handy as they develop 
their reading abilities and return to school. Plus, storytelling from an
 early age helps kids express thoughts and feelings, consider new ideas,
 and understand cause and effect.&nbsp;

Here are some other ways to use these cards:&nbsp;
Instead of spreading out all the cards face-up, choose just a handful at random and rearrange those cards to tell a story.&nbsp;
Stack up the cards. Draw one card at a time and take turns adding on to a story.&nbsp;
Think of and sort the cards by different categories (e.g., things that are alive, things that we saw this summer, things that are green).

printable story cards

Scissors

Printable Story Cards

puppets

craft

3 material crafts

animals

homemade craft

Create a puppet out of a single sheet of paper! Decorate it to become any character or animal that you want. The possibilities are endless with this simple craft!Encourage your little one to build their creative confidence with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/rainbow-air-dry-clay-project-kit/5612" target="_self">Rainbow Air-Dry Clay</a>. This kid-friendly clay is soft, not sticky, so it’s easy to handle and shape into anything you can imagine.

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Start with one rectangular sheet of construction paper. 

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Fold it into thirds by folding the bottom third up toward the middle and the top third down. 

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This is what your paper will look like folded into thirds. 

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Now fold it in half by taking the left edge over to the right edge. 

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Almost done! Take the top flap and fold it in half, back toward the folded crease. 

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Flip it over and fold that edge back toward the folded crease. 

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Now your fingers and your child's fingers fit perfectly into the openings of the puppet. It seems a lot more complicated than it really is. If you follow the steps once or twice to get the hang of it, you will be able to fold a puppet in seconds! Time to decorate. 

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You can turn these paper puppets into anything - characters, animals, etc. We used markers to decorate the faces and glued construction paper strips as the tongue and ears. You can also use cotton balls, pom poms, pipe cleaners, or anything you can dream up to add details to your puppet.  

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My 6-year-old wanted to make a zebra (not very decorative, but he was proud of his puppet). 

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My 3 year old chased her brother around with this dragon. Use these puppets to tell a story. Have a puppet show or make a zoo. Get creative and have fun! 

Construction Paper

Markers

Paper Puppets

Halloween

Halloween crafts

bugs

costumes

easy craft

reused craft materials

Release your child’s inner nature-lover this Halloween with this darling &amp; simple snail costume!Looking for more creative costumes for your little one? <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/motorized-wings-costume-project-kit/4547" target="_self">Motorized Wings</a> let their imagination take flight with a set of flapping wings!

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Cut 6 feet (1.8 meters) of kraft paper and crumple it up.

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Uncrumple and roll the kraft paper lengthwise. Then twist it up.

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Tightly roll the twisted kraft paper into a spiral and use hot glue to secure the roll as you go. Hold the roll in place for a couple minutes each time you add glue.

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Repeat Steps 1-4 to make a second spiral.

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Cut two 1 foot (30.5 cm) pieces of kraft paper. Then roll and twist them. These will be the tentacles for the snail’s eyes!

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Glue the pom-poms to the top of the tentacles and add on googly eyes if you have them. Then glue the tentacles to the headband. It works best if you wrap the ends around the bottom of the headband. Be sure to hold them in place to secure the glue for several minutes!

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Cut a piece of cardboard so the length is slightly larger than the kraft paper spirals and the width is slightly smaller than your child’s back.

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Poke holes in the corners of the cardboard. Measure around your child’s arms (like your fitting a backpack) and adjust the length of the rope or ribbon. Tie the rope or ribbon onto the cardboard.

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Glue the kraft paper spirals together. Once the glue has dried, turn them on their side and glue the snail shell onto the cardboard. You’ll need a lot of glue to secure the shell so be sure to hold it in place for several minutes!

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Most land snails are pretty small, but did you know certain species can grow to be much bigger? The African Giant Snail is about 8 inches long (20 cm) on average. That’s longer than a brand new pencil!<img data-image="34qzt9fb9txn" src="https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt5d966d0d1776691c/blt483895d299b2ed82/615b86b615005a5ff8fbcdb4/shutterstock_1257388279.jpg" data-sys-asset-uid="blt483895d299b2ed82" alt="shutterstock_1257388279.jpg">

kraft packing paper

Cardboard Rectangle

rope or ribbon

headband

hot glue gun

large pom poms

googly eyes (optional)

Snail Costume

space crafts

space

Become a rocket scientist by building your own clay rocket with air dry clay and an old toilet paper tube!

88 best pretend play projects for kids

Screen-free fun!