Prize your eyes on this Recycled Robot, it’s completely made out of junk!
This is a super way to re-use your throw-outs and know exactly what you have used!
Regard this as your naked Recycled Robot, which I think looks quite cool!
Your Rubbish, your Recycled Robot!
There is no guessing here what this is, such a brilliant way to get your kids enthusiastic about creating their very own Recycled Robot for kids!
CHECK YOUR RUBBISH!
This is an opportunity to get them involved in collecting everything they can find in the recycling bag to convert into a ‘Rubbish’ or ‘Junk’ Robot!
WHAT KIND?
This would include items like, a cereal box, a cake box, an Easter box, a cheese triangle box, cardboard inner tubes, empty tin cans, empty rice pots, bottle tops of all kinds, a large straw and a cake plastic packaging, all to make a super Recycled Robot for kids!
WHAT THIS ACTIVITY ADDRESSES!
Kids have an amazing imagination and can magically pull together all these odd shapes and sizes.
This activity will address an opportunity to talk about the items’ shape, form and size and what else these shapes look like that resembles something else around the house.
WHAT SHAPES ARE SIMILAR?
Put it out there…. is this shape a …….(whilst they are handling them), rectangle, square, triangle, circle, sphere and so on.
Here are some shapes that you can refer to, there are circles, ovals, triangles, rectangles, and squares, all fall within each family, remember to cover how many sides these shapes have and have your kids point them out.
LET’S TALK MATHS!
For example, a square has 4 equal straight sides, a rectangle also has 4 sides 2 long sides and 2 shorter sides, and opposite sides are equal and parallel to each other, a circle has only 1 side and a triangle has 3 straight equal sides.
Phew! This is a bit lengthy, but here’s a much more fun way to explain this in two short videos.
Check out this super kids site:- BBC bite-size information for kids.
Here is another way of looking at triangles as there are different types and this might be useful for your kids to know when they move up in year groups.
I refer to BBC Bite Size for kids, as it explains quite difficult aspects of this post in a more simplified way just for kids.
Watch out later when I show you something unusual when making your Recycled Robot for kids!
This time we will be landing on Kidskiddle. co which demonstrates this in a very cool way. It’s a kid’s version of Wikipedia.
HERE ARE DIFFERENT SHAPES.
Kids love to build, put Lego pieces in front of them and straight away they would start to compile little structures, stacking them layer by layer until they achieve some awesome-looking creation.
When you want a bit of peace just hand your kids some lego and this is their escapism!
HOW KIDS THINK!
I have often sat with little ones from 2-4 years old and whilst playing with Lego they would be clicking piece by piece until they have completed their little creation, whether it’s a tower, house, school, car park or a robot, but they would be guiding me, I would be their apprentice!
When you think about it, stacking up small boxes and then adding them on top of larger boxes is almost the same procedure as with Lego building, but in this instance using up your junk and sticking them together to hold their shape, until you have created a Recycled Robot!
ROBOTS ALWAYS INCLUDED!
Ask a kid what they would like to make out of boxes and I am sure the answer would be:-
- A house
- Train/Lorry/Car
- Superheroes
- -Robots-
- Rockets
- Monsters
- Dinosaurs
- Car-park
- Their homes.
HOLD ON TO YOUR RECYCLING!
This post aims to show how we can use our throw-outs and up-cycle them as best as possible.
Dive into your recycling bag and see what you can pull out, better still keep in mind what you need and get your kids to remember to hold on to odd tin cans, and boxes of different shapes and sizes putting them to one side and when you have gathered enough you can proceed with your robotic project.
In the next section, we shall craft a Recycled Robot for Kids!
SO ARE YOU READY?
WHAT YOU NEED TO CRAFT A RECYCLED ROBOT!
Easter egg box (head)
Cereal box (body)
Smaller boxes (body)
2 tin cans (legs)
Empty rice pots (feet)
Plastic cake holder (eyes)
Large plastic straw (antennae)
9 coloured bottle tops (eyeballs/buttons/plugs)
7 cardboard inner tubes (arms/neck)
4 tubes to slide inside 2 larger tubes.
Hot glue gun 4-5 wax sticks.
Large scissors/Black pen.
Double-sided tape/glue stick.
BEFORE WE START!
Let me bring to your attention, something I came across while attempting to shape a cardboard inner tube into a spring-like arm!
HOW TO MAKE A SPRING ARM!
My purpose was to make the tube look like a spring so that I could curl it and make it appear like a robotic arm.
WHAT IS IT?
In my research to see that I was on the right track, I was looking for something that resembles a spring, and came across an odd name for this procedure that might interest you.
AN UNUSUAL MOVING SHAPE!
Have you ever heard of a Torus? This would be more for the adults as it’s a bit advanced for the little ones, but well worth a look at and your kids might like the moving graphics. So this is a ‘Torus’
Whilst looking for information on the ‘Torus’, I came across this neat short video that mirrors exactly what I have been talking about, as shown in the image carousel above.
Check it out, it’s a simple technique with a WOW factor.
I found it very intriguing, I never thought there would be so much information about a simple cut-and-bend technique with a toilet roll inner tube!
It’s quite inspiring and it may trigger more ideas for you as a challenge to try out with your kids.
I might do something more in the future using this technique it’s been around a long time and can be used for many projects, so watch this space!
Update! Check the link below to take you there!
LET’S CRAFT A RECYCLED ROBOT!
SOME TIPS!
BEFORE YOU START.
- First of all, lay all your packaging flat onto a table or floor and work out how your robot will look, that way you will be designing it from scratch and seeing what you need for different parts of its body. Then you can start to glue it together as you go along.
USE A RULER.
- When sticking down the flaps of your boxes, using double-sided tape, they are somewhat hollow and pressing down on the flaps will cave in, so I found that using the ruler to slide under the flaps gave me a firm base to apply pressure on so the flaps would glue firmly together.
TUBE SIZES.
- When making the arms, the very first tubes you use are the slimmer ones, they would be inserted into the body, then the second tubes are larger, and slide easily over the first tubes would be the spring part of the arms ‘torus’ then the third tube would be another slimmer one, the hand. So you have the first tube slim, the second tube bigger in diameter and the last tube slimmer again.
AN ALTERNATIVE.
- You can Instead of sticking the head onto the body, use another tube to attach the head to the body, then you can rotate the head around.
HOW TO DO THIS.
- First, you need to make a hole at the bottom of the headpiece and a hole on the top of the body box and push the tube into the body box and the head box, making holes a bit smaller so the tube has a tight fit.
SAME WITH THE ARMS.
- When attaching the arms, there is no need to apply glue as these are better left free so you can rotate them around too.
HEAVIER PART, MORE GLUE.
- As some pieces are quite large, when you layer them they will become heavy, so you will need a lot more glue to hold them together, considering that some items are made from different materials you may need to apply glue in areas for them to stick firmly.
MOVING ROBOT ARMS.
- This project is more of a model than a moving robot, although this is possible to accomplish if you use tubes to connect body parts and legs.
- Instead of tin cans for the legs, you can have smaller boxes attaching them to the body with tubes as connectors, thus allowing them to twist and rotate when you want to turn the legs to the right, left or all the way around giving the legs the freedom to do this!
I hope you enjoyed crafting this activity, I think the ‘Naked’ recycled robot, looks great just as it is!
The best part is that you can see what material you have used to create your robot, and how each shape whether a tube, square, rectangle or oval represents different parts of the robots body.
This is an opportunity for your kids to find out the names of shapes and what they look like, and you have up-cycled your throw-outs into an incredible recycled robot for kids!
But…………………
If it’s fun Robotic Kits that your are after, where your kids can create little robots, with everything within each kit…….
Then Baker Ross, can offer you just that!
As well as some super Robotic kits available at Baker Ross, they also stock an array of art supplies that would complement your kids’ robotic activities!
You can find what you need at Baker Ross!
Whether it’s a dab of paint, a sprinkle of glitter, or the glitz of some gemstones Baker Ross is the place to find all this and more!
So jump in and check them out!
Hey there, when you click on links in this post and you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission that l can use towards resources (other than throw-outs) for project making within my website😀
Are you looking for Robotic toys at affordable prices?
Pound Fun, have not only Robotic toys, but fun ‘BRANDED’ toys that might just fit the bill!
These fun toys get snapped up really quick, so pay them a visit soon!
See for yourself, Robotic toys and and more at great sale prices!!!
TO CONCLUDE!
In this post, I have shown you how to make a ‘Recycled Robot for kids’ with any odd boxes, pots, tin cans plastics and bottle tops, which looks super cool just as it is your naked robot, with no silver or typical metallic finish.
DRESS YOUR ROBOT UP!
Although you can dress your robot up and spray, cover or tape it up in a metallic coating if you like, I found doing it this way shows a genius way to use up your packaging and it looks fun!
KIDS PLAY!
Kids can play a guessing game like, oh yes there is a cereal box for the body, an Easter egg box for the head and so on.
You would make it as interesting and fun as you like and it would be your unique robot.
CHECK OUT YOUR RUBBISH!
Start by looking in your recycling bags and show some respect for your throw-outs giving them another purpose and up-cycle them into a robot for kids!
A perfect time to come across this post for my daughter.
Thanks for sharing!
We’ll get working on this tomorrow as its nighttime here now. Thanks again!
Mel & MJ
How wonderful! I am so pleased you like this post, I had a lot of interest, especially when using all your throw-outs combined and then to create a fabulous Robot! So don’t forget to hold on to all your junk, as everything you will use will play a special part in the making of your Robot!
Thanks for your super comment, and happy crafting!
Julia.😊
Hi Julia,
I love this article as children need to learn more about recycling, and the reasons why we recycle.
This is a great way to teach them and also make it fun for them.
Gtreta Thunberg would love this article too, you should send it on to her 🙂
I’m going to share this with friends and family who have small children so they can use it to help them teach about recycling and again have fun.
Thank you for sharing and keep up the amazing work.
All the best,
Tom
Hi Tom, thanks for your positive feedback. I enjoyed doing this activity too, and actually seeing what material you can use to represent parts of the robot! Still till this day, I cannot believe the amount of rubbish that litters our streets, and the disrepect for our land, and the streets we walk along each day! A good way to educate children is while looking for items to make their robot is to talk about recycling throw-outs in the appropriate way, in that way children will grow up with the right attitude and understanding an in-hand protecting our planet.
Once again thanks for your super comment, and maybe I will reach out to Greta Thunberg!
I would love to see any results at your end, and I could then post them as updates showing each childs creation!
Happy Crafting!
Julia.😊