Games for kids: DIY Race Car

Welcome back to the third installment of the DIY cardboard box series for kids! It’s been a lot of fun making changing rooms, shop fronts and now a race car! My house is now filled with cardboard and lots of imaginative play! Why not give this one a go! It’ll take you 15 minutes with a craft knife and some tape! Easy peasy!

You’ll Need:
One medium-large box

Packing Tape

Craft Knife

Any additional decorations you can come up with (how about extra wheels, lights on the front, seat belts or traffic lights!? Let your imagination go wild!).

ONE
Tape up the box so it is complete and sealed.

TWO
On the top cut out 3/4 sides of a rectangle, leaving about 1/3 of the box uncut. This will leave you with a big flap so fold it under to create a dashboard / windscreen and tape it under neath the box to secure it and give it a 3D element. Now that your box has an opening, tape down the bottom of it from the inside as well.

THREE
On one side cut straight down to create a door that can open. I recommend only doing this on one side because it definitely weakens the boxes strength. Add a handle of some sort, or cut a thin rectangle out to make a gap for little fingers to grip the door.

FOUR
Add your steering wheel! I cut a little slit in the middle of a plastic plate and put some elastic through it and through the dashboard, this means my steering wheel can turn around!

FIVE
Decorate! I simply drew mine on with a marker pen, I believe in the “less is more” (and also more convenient!) approach when it comes to imaginative play! But, if you’re the inspired kind, you could make headlights out of paper cups, make a proper windscreen with cellophane, or a traffic light stand!

My two year old loves hers! If she was any older it would probably be a good idea to cut the base out and attach some shoulder straps so she can run around with it, but for now she sits in it and sings “wheels on the ~~bus~~ car” and drives her matchbox cars all over it while she sits in side.