This post contains affiliate links which means, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In other words, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using any of these links. This allows me to continue to create quality content for all of you awesome mommies out there!
Create a simple cardboard box spaceship for your child’s stuffed friend
I created this simple cardboard box spaceship for my daughter’s stuffed animal for three reasons.
- We get a bunch of small boxes from our Amazon Prime deliveries.
- I would rather make a small cardboard spaceship than a HUGE cardboard spaceship that takes up an entire corner of a room.
- My toddler asked me very nicely. How could you resist, honestly?
My toddler’s favorite stuffed animal is Curious George. She sleeps with him every night and loves all his movies, show, and books. In one of the movies, George goes to space to retrieve a small device to help stop the flooding in Africa.
While watching the movie one day, my toddler, “Peanut”, informed me that her monkey needs a spaceship just like the monkey on the TV. I was making dinner, so I told her I would think about it and we would make a spaceship for her monkey later. She was very excited about the spaceship and so was her “Monkey George”.
The next day I received a box from Amazon which was the perfect size for George. So, the brainstorming began on how to make a small spaceship out of this cardboard box. It also needed to be a simple enough craft for my toddler to join in the fun.
Supplies for your cardboard spaceship
- A cardboard box that will fit your child’s stuffed animal
- 2 Empty water bottles
- Construction paper – 1 Yellow, 1 Orange, and 1 Red
- Gift wrap tape
- Silver duct tape
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Permanent marker
- A circle to trace (I used the inside of the duct tape)
Directions to build a spaceship fit for a... stuffed animal
Directions for cardboard wings of the spaceship
- Use a ruler and a permanent marker to make a line for the wings from the front inside corner to the outside edge of the flap.
- Cut the small piece of wings off the box flap and set it to the side for the tail.
Directions for the tail of the spaceship
- Using the parts of the wings you cut off, stand them up on the back flap of the spaceship.
- Trace the space the wings take-up
- Cut the sides of the tail off. This will leave a small piece to connect everything.
- Tape the extra tail parts together.
- Next, tape the square tail parts under the small tailpiece.
- Tape the extra wing parts together
- To complete the tail, tape the extra wing parts to the top of the tailpiece.
Directions for the rocket boosters
- Fold the construction paper in half like a book
- Cut along the fold
- Fold one set of the page sets again in half like a book
- Cut along the fold
- Cut small triangles out of one end of the pages
- Have your child make small rips into the end where you just cut.
- Place the paper at different heights on top of each other (you will have 2 sets of a red, orange, and yellow)
- Roll the 3 colors together starting at a non-ripped corner
- Tape the roll so it doesn’t come apart
- Help your child to cover each of the bottles in duct tape
- Have your child placed the tube into the end of the water bottles
- Tape the fire to the end of the water bottle so it doesn’t come out
- Next, tape on rocket boosters for your rocket ship. Tip: Use tape in different directions to hold the rocket boosters as much as possible.
Directions for the little extras
- Using a leftover piece of the red construction paper and your circle template, trace a circle onto your red construction paper.
- Cut Out Your Circle write the words “Big Red Button” on it.
- Using the double-sided tape, tape the big red button to the front flap of the spaceship
- Use the Caps from the water bottles as buttons on next to your big red button.
- If you are brave, you can also have your child decorate the outside of the ship with markers, stickers, or paint.
How did my toddler like the cardboard spaceship we made for monkey? She immediately asked if we could make a car instead of a spaceship! All of that work and she wants a car? She did start to play with it after a few minutes and is REALLY enjoying it.
Be sure to keep an eye out for more cardboard box crafts in the future. We will also be making a cardboard car for monkey and my toddler to ride in together. My toddler would also like it to go, but I told her she would have to use her imagination. After all, cardboard is not powered!
I hope you have an amazing time making memories with your toddler and this spaceship craft. Please let me know if there are any other cardboard box crafts you and your child would like to see.
