Mars Rover

10Getting Started

Always use your imagination and be creative when building these kids crafts or any others. It's your creation, so be inventive when looking for building supplies — you just might be surprised! When building your project, experiment with new and different ways of putting it together. The most important thing is to have fun!


 

1Find these or similar supplies!

  • 1/2 gallon juice or milk container
  • Cereal box or some cardboard
  • Foil Tape
  • 2 straws
  • 4 container lids
  • Any additional items you wish to use for customization

21. Tape up your milk carton!

Start out by taping your juice or milk container up completely. I used foil tape for my Mars Rover body, but you could use regular masking tape instead, and color it with markers to make your own designs.

42. Make the axles!

Next make four holes on each side of your container that are just a little bigger than the straw thickness. Insert your straws all the way through so that they stick out both sides. These will be your wheel axles. If they do not turn easily, then pull the straws out and make the holes bigger.

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3. Make the wheels!

You can make wheels out of a piece of cardboard. Simply draw four circles and cut them out. You can do this by taking any circular object and tracing around the edges on your cardboard before cutting them out.

I used four old instant coffee container lids that I had saved for my wheels. If you'd like to use container lids for your wheels, just save four of the same kind, then you can build your own crazy wheeled vehicle.

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64. Add the wheels!

I attached my wheels using a hot glue gun. Glue guns are great for crafts like this. If you don’t have access to a glue gun then you can carefully tape your wheels on to the axle with small pieces of tape instead.

5. Repeat on the other side!

Now repeat step four on the other wheels. Make sure to try your best to keep each wheel centered on its axle.

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6.Finished!

VOILÀ! A four wheeled Mars Rover! You can start rolling it around or dress it up. This is my favorite part of any project. I looked through my recycling bin and found a detergent push button top. I attached it to the top of my Rover and now it's a futuristic piece of equipment! For my windows I cut out small pieces of cardboard from a popcicle box, then covered them with some black tape and attached them. Have fun and see what you can come up with.

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