Earth Day inspired pirate ship made of recycled construction and packing materials

Every time someone renovates their house the weeks pass by with chaos. Kids especially seem to not cooperate during these times, unless of course you promise them a reward. Think about it; what will you do with all those left over cardboard, paints, paper and tapes from the construction project? These items have bundles of fun for kids stored inside.

Alair Homes Victoria has proven that such a project could be done and could ease the mood in the family. It’s said that with a cardboard box and some imagination, any toy can come to life: a spaceship, a cooking stove and fridge, a house, lemonade stand, and in this case we have made a pirate ship. This is how it was made:

For the base, tape a rectangular cardboard box (refrigerator, closet moving box) and a square box together. Cut one side open using a box opener or exacta knife. Duct tape is pretty handy for this. We had spare wallpaper so we used that to cover the boat, although paint would do just fine.

For the sail we used a flat cardboard, drew a design, cut the outlets to be attached to boat, cut it, and reinforced it using paper mache.

A simple paper mache recipe is: 1/2 cup water + 2 tbsp. of school glue + 2 tbsp. of flower. Make paper strips, (moving wrapping paper, magazines and junk mail are perfect), dip them in the paper mache liquid, and attach them to cardboard. Repeat this technique on the other side once the first side has dried (takes about 12-24 hours).

We went the extra step and made a cardboard and paper mache anchor, and painted it. Then we fastened the plastic chain using electrical wire fasteners.

Once all your paper mache has dried, paint the sail and attach to the boat. Decorate with items from your house: old curtain rings, rope, seashells, and such from bathroom décor. Have fun and ask your little ones to help. Personalize it and have fun!