DIY Cardboard Rocket Ships

Raid your recycling bin and grab your favorite Kid Made Modern craft supplies to make these simple and fun cardboard rocket ships! Read below for the full tutorial.

Materials Needed: 

• Cardboard

• Cardboard tube (like a toilet paper tube)

• Scissors

• Hot glue gun (always have an adult help with a hot glue gun!)

• Washable paint

• Paint brush

• Fuzzy sticks

• Felt pieces

• Beads

• Craft sticks

Step 1: Build your rocket!

To build your rocket, begin by cutting a triangle shape out of a piece of cardboard. The triangle should be slightly longer than the cardboard tube you plan to use. Next, use your scissors to round the corners of the triangle. 
Carefully cut a hole in the top of the cardboard tube. This will create a little compartment where you can put an astronaut toy, if you want! Use your hot glue gun to glue the cardboard tube down the center of your cardboard triangle keeping the hole facing up.
Finally, cut two small cardboard triangles and glue them to the bottom of your rocket on the back side. Leave the base of each triangle sticking out. This is where you will attach your rocket flames!

Step 2: Decorate your rocket!

To decorate our rockets, we started by painting them with washable paint. You can make your rocket any color you want!

Once the paint dries, look through your Arts and Crafts Library to find craft supplies you want to use to decorate your rocket ship. We chose fuzzy sticks, beads, felt pieces, and craft sticks.

Use your scissors to cut your felt into shapes. You can use it to make stripes, or wrap pieces around the cardboard tube. Use hot glue to attach the felt to your rocket. You can also glue beads and craft sticks to your rockets to decorate them! Fuzzy sticks are a great way to decorate the edges of your cardboard. Run a bead of hot glue along the edge of your cardboard and stick on your fuzzy sticks. 

The final touch for our rockets were the flames. We cut flame shapes from red, orange and yellow felt and glue them to the back of the small triangles at the bottom of our rockets. Leave some of the flames sticking out and your ship will be ready to fly!

What can you make next?

Think up creative ways to make other toys to go with your rocket ship! Can you create a spaceman from the items in your Arts and Crafts Library? What about a little alien? How could you create a planet for your rocket to land on? We can’t wait to see what you make!