Home Craft Activities JUNK ROBOTS

ABOUT US

Mini Mad Things is created by Mum, designer and craft enthusiast,

Eleanor Ford.

If I had to introduce myself in one word, I would say I am a maker.

I grew up in a house where we made things. We learnt to sew and to knit; to saw, hammer and build. My Mum baked bread every day and we grew vegetables. We learnt to fix broken things. We were resourceful. All of these skills made me who I am and ignited my love for craft. This passion for making is something I would like to pass on to my children and to others; it is the reason for creating

MINI MAD THINGS.

As well as creating all the fun kids craft project ideas here on our blog, we also sell a range of CRAFT BOXES, BOOKS and ECO ART SUPPLIES. Head this way to BROWSE our SHOP!

Thank you for visiting.

Eleanor X

Take an ADVENTURE IN CARDBOARD with our fun kids craft book.

Introducing Adventures in cardboard, our first children's craft book. The book is full of fun activity ideas you can make with cardboard boxes, household recycling and a few simple art supplies.

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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.

Head to our mini online book shop to purchase MAKER CAMP and lots of other fun KIDS ART & CRAFT BOOKS >>>

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.

Junk robots made from recycled materials, children's crafts by Mini Mad Things

Junk robots made from small parts and old toys Junk robots kids craft activity

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.

Maker camp kids activty book and wooden robots

SHOP OUR RANGE OF BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN'S ART & CRAFT BOOKS

On our website, we stock a small range of hand selected kids art and craft activity books. Each book has been tried and tested by myself and my little ones. We only stock books which are beautiful quality and I highly recommend.

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Art Workshop For Children

Drawing Workshop For Kids

Adventures In Cardboard

Art Starts by Tinkerlab kids art and craft activity book

Tinkerlab Art Starts Book

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