Latest news, food, business, travel, sport, Tips and Tricks...

A Patri-botic Centerpiece | 4th of July Crafts for Kids

A Patri-botic Centerpiece

Total Time Needed: 1-2 Hours

Do U need a GR8 helper 4 your picnic on the 4th? Well, this is one can-do robot. His recycled-can head holds a hair-raising array of utensils, and a clear container belly keeps cookies safe from eager little hands until it's time for dessert.

Materials

  • 2 cardboard tubes (toilet paper tubes, or wrapping paper tubes trimmed to about 5-1/2 inches)
  • 1 roll each of red, white, and blue duct tape
  • Clear 1-gallon, food-safe plastic pail (we got ours from stampendous.com)
  • 2 (15-ounce) unopened cans of food, with labels removed (for weight)
  • Clean, empty metal can or plastic bucket (ours is a 12-ounce peanut can)
  • Parchment paper (optional)
  • 2 metal bottle caps

Instructions

  1. Wrap the cardboard tubes with red and white duct tape. Affix an arm to each side of the pail with a loop of tape.
  2. Wrap the bottom of the canned goods with red tape. (Tip: Write the contents on the top of each can so that you'll know what's in them.) Place loops of tape on their lids, then press the pail into place on top.
  3. To make the robot's head, wrap the empty can or bucket with blue duct tape. Cut eyes from white duct tape and a mouth from red. (Tip: The eyes and mouth are easier to make if you first attach the duct tape to a piece of parchment paper. Cut out the shapes, then peel them off the parchment backing.) Attach the bottle caps to the white circles with loops of tape. Stack the head on top of the pail.

//