How to Build Cardboard Rocket Ships

Large Rocket Ship

• 1

  Open a large rectangular cardboard box so it is flat with four sides, leaving the seam that held the box together intact. Use a craft knife to remove the top flaps. The cardboard piece should have four large rectangular panels, with smaller rectangular flaps on the bottom and a narrow seam of cardboard along one long edge.

• 2

  Use a yardstick to find the center of the top of each large rectangular section. Mark the center of each with a pencil. Use the yardstick to help draw diagonal lines from the center marks to the sides of each panel, making points. Use a craft knife to cut along these lines on the first and third panels.

• 3

  Draw diagonal lines 2 inches from the point lines on the second and fourth panels, making points with blunted tips. Cut along these lines with a craft knife. Cut halfway through the original lines on the backside of the cardboard, scoring them. Fold the cardboard back at the scored lines. Score across the bottoms of each pair of diagonal lines on the inside of the box so that the points can be folded inward later, forming the roof of the rocket ship.

• 4

  Decorate the box so that it resembles a rocket ship. Cut windows and a door with the craft knife. Use paint or markers to draw symbols, color in the box or decorate it as desired.

• 5

  Refold the box so that the bottom flaps form the floor of the rocket ship. Use duct tape to secure the side seam and the bottom flaps. Fold the top points together and use duct tape to secure them. Details, such as tail fins, can be cut from additional cardboard, decorated and taped into place.

Small Rocket Ship

• 6

  Cover the outside of an empty cardboard cylindrical container, such as an oatmeal box, with construction paper. Use a glue stick or hot glue to hold the paper in place.

• 7

  Cut a circle of construction paper that is 1 inch larger in diameter than the top of the cylinder. Cut a straight line from the edge of the circle to its center. Wrap the paper circle into a cone shape. The bottom of the cone should be the same diameter as the top of the cylinder. Use a glue stick to secure the cone's edges.

• 8

  Cut two equally-sized triangles of construction paper with bottoms that are 1 inch longer than the diameter of the cylinder's top. Cut a slit from the top point to the center of one triangle, and from the center of the base to the center of the other. Fit the slits together, forming a three-dimensional triangle.

• 9

  Cut four equally-spaced slits, each 2.5 inches long, around the top of the cylinder. Turn the cylinder upside down and fit the slits over the four sides of the triangle. The edges of the triangle will show, making the rocket ship's fins. Glue the cone to the top of the rocket ship. Let your child decorate it as desired.