Ways To Make a Toy Car

Pinewood Derby Cars

• The Pinewood Derby car is a staple of young men's craft activities in organizations like Boy Scouts. It involves a simple kit you can buy at most model and toy stores. The car is formed from a small, light block of pine wood, hence the name. The block is prescored to accept nails that hold the wheels in place. Using a small hacksaw, or better, a powered jigsaw, you can cut the car into any shape you please. Some simple sanding and painting before applying the wheels creates a fine-looking, simple, sturdy little race car.

LEGO Cars

• LEGO makes building blocks that help children create toy cars a snap! The best part about using LEGO bricks is that they can be used to build different and new cars as often as you like. While LEGO offers instructions on many different cars, building a custom LEGO car is simple and straightforward. LEGO has many car components, including wheels, tires, windshields and doors, that can be used for any kind of car your imagination can conceive. LEGO's Web site lets you download instructions for building LEGO cars.

Trash Cars

• Building a car from scratch with your own ingenuity and some scraps from around the home can be very rewarding. The most important thing is that the wheels turn smoothly. Once you manage that, practically anything can function as a car. For example, wheels can be made out of pencils and jar lids. Punch a small hole in two lids with an awl, sand down the sharp edges, slide the lids over the pencil and you have two wheels and an axle. The body of the car can be made from a milk carton, a soda can or a tissue box. Alternatives for wheels include the bottoms of soda cans and thread spools. Let your imagination run wild as you assemble and decorate your own custom cars. Building cars with material around the home can be a great activity for kids, but some materials can involve sharp edges, so children should not do this unsupervised.