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How to Build a Toy Car for Children

You can make a toy car for a child or arrange a project for a group of children that involves making their own toy car. Toy cars can be constructed out of many things that you would probably end up throwing out anyway, so use your imagination. You could even try to think up a way to get your car to move on its own with the help of a "sail" so that it will take off with a good gust of wind.

Things You'll Need

1 liter plastic bottle
4 pencils
Duct tape
1 nail
8 bottle caps
Glue
Scissors
Plastic bag
Rocks

Instructions

- 1
  Get either an empty 1 liter plastic bottle with the lid still on it or a large water bottle. The brand of water bottle that comes in a square bottle would be easier to work with but this isn't necessary.
- 2
  Lay the bottle on its side and use duct tape to tape a pencil to the side of the bottle near the cap. Tape another pencil to the same side of the bottle but closer to the bottom. Make sure that the two pencils cross the bottle and are parallel to each other. These are going to be your wheel axles, so make sure you tape them securely to the bottle.
- 3
  Poke a hole in the center of eight bottle caps with a large nail, or use a drill bit the that is one or two millimeters larger in diameter than the width of the pencils. Tape two bottle caps together with duct tape so that the insides are facing each other and both of the outsides are facing out. Now you will have four wheels. Slip your wheels on the end of each pencil so that a about a quarter inch of the tips of the pencils are showing.
- 4
  Place the bottle car on its wheels. Tape a pencil securely to each side of the bottle with some duct tape. These two pencils need to be parallel to each other in the middle of the bottle without dragging the ground under the bottle. Make sure that over half of the pencil is sticking up from the bottle.
- 5
  Cut a rectangular piece of out of a plastic shopping bag or trash bag so that it is slightly longer than the space between the two pencils. Use your duct tape again to attach each end of the piece of plastic to the pencils. This will be the sail to catch the gusts of winds that will move your car along.
- 6
  Put a few small rocks inside the car to give it some weight. If your car has nothing to keep it rolling along the ground, it will flip over with a strong gust of wind. When the wind isn't blowing the child can still play with it by racing it along a smooth, solid surface.
- 7
  Decorate your toy car any way you want and make it look more like a real car by painting it with acrylic paints. Use felt tip markers to give your car details such as doors and windows or have the child write his name on the side.

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