DIY Cardboard Time Machine
Time travel to the past and the future with just a cardboard box and a big imagination! Once you and your child have finished crafting the Time Machine box, look for dress-up items in your house to help bring your time travel to life.
Materials
Directions
Cut a large opening for a door in your box using a box cutter.
Label the box "Time Machine" using paint or markers and let your child begin decorating the box! Let his imagination guide him.
Create a time travel dial out of construction paper. Cut it out and glue it to the box. Attach a paper towel roll to the inside of the door using hot glue, so that your little time traveler can close the door.
Using construction paper, create buttons for the time machine. Make one button that reads "Past" and one that reads "Future." Make number buttons so that your child can punch in the date of travel and add imaginary years to his time travel.
Once all the time travel buttons have been created, glue them onto the box! Set the desired time and hop inside. Shake the box and make sound effects with your child inside. When he walks outside, pretend he is in a different era! Where will he travel next?
Caroline Gravino Urdaneta, a PBS Parents resident crafter, is a designer of creative family projects, tinkering painter and mother of four children. She writes about project ideas for the whole family and how to encourage creativity in kids.
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