JUNK ROBOTS

Today we went treasure hunting in our local op shop and found lots of fun small parts to build these cool junk robots. Encouraging kids to re-purpose old toys and other bits and bobs is not only great for our planet, it also requires creative thinking to see new possibilities beyond the original purpose, helping our children become the resourceful inventors our future will need.

We love making JUNK ROBOTS and it is a project we come back to time and time again, most recently inspired by the fantastic book MAKER CAMP by Delaine Holton-Fessler. The book includes a fantastic selection of heritage crafts and skill-building projects for children. The book weaves a story of human creativity and modern tinkering, from the very beginnings of building shelters in the woods to utilizing recycled materials. From weaving and knot tying to building toy cars and junk robots, this book links techniques of the past with the present while offering the fun of making things with your own hands.

MATERIALS:

• Wooden blocks and scraps of wood
• Old wooden building blocks (optional)
• Various screws, nuts, bolts and washers
• Old toys like dominoes, lotto tokens or large plastic screws (optional)
• Multi purpose craft glue
• Hammer and nails
• Screw driver
• Saw
• Sandpaper

HOW TO:

If you are using ready cut wooden blocks (like old building blocks) your can go straight ahead and begin assembling your robot. For these happy robots we used a selection of old toy parts, screws and wooden blocks, all assembled with glue and a few screws.

If you want to get into a little wood working fun, you can cut your scrap wood to size, sand the edges and assemble your robots with nails, screws and glue. The book MAKER CAMP (which we love) has and awesome guide about woodworking with kids and setting up a creative workshop space.

Happy crafting friends!

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