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How to Make Cardboard Scenery

Cardboard scenery can be easily made from recycled boxes and tissue tubes. Children will enjoy creating their very own cardboard city to complement a train set or dollhouse. Young children can help an adult make the scenery by coloring construction paper that will be glued to the cardboard. Older children can use their painting skills to paint leaves and bark on cardboard trees and by putting windows, doors and roofs on cardboard stores, libraries and post office buildings.

Things You'll Need

Cardboard shoe and cereal boxes
Toilet paper and paper towel tubes
Cardstock paper
Construction paper
Paint
Crayons
Flower punches
Small sponges
Masking tape
White glue
Scissors

Instructions

- 1
  Cover an empty toilet paper or paper towel tube with brown construction paper for a tree trunk. Draw a cloud-shape on the cardstock and paint or color it shades of green for the tree leaf canopy. Cut the leaf canopy out and glue it to the tree trunk.
- 2
  Reinforce the edges of the cereal and shoeboxes with the masking tape. Cut off the backs of the cereal boxes for easy access. Paint or glue construction paper to the boxes. Draw on windows and doors and cut them out with the scissors. Make roofs by painting or coloring the cardstock, folding it in half and gluing it to the tops of the boxes. Use tissue tube sections for chimneys, gluing them to the roofs.
- 3
  Create flower boxes for the buildings with the construction paper, by cutting the cardstock into short strips and bending it into a three-sided rectangular tube. Use the flower punches to punch out different colored flowers from the construction paper and glue them to the flower boxes.
- 4
  Add additional details to the buildings like bricks and signs with the sponges, paint, crayons and cardstock.

Construction Toys