Mountain Road
The other day Henry and I were sitting on the floor playing with a motley collection of matchbox cars. It suddenly dawned on us that these cars had been cooped up for far too long. What they really needed was to go for a trip on an open road, get of town, take a road trip, see the country and drive over some hills. It was then that our next creations was born……
What you need: One big cardboard box, one cereal box, scissors, paint (black, green, white), glue, sticky tape, black pen/ marker
Step one: Flatten out the cardboard box and draw your mountain (ours is approx 20cm from the centre base to the mountain top and 38cm edge to edge at the base). Cut out this shape which will form the mountain side. Trace and cut a second mountain side . They should be the exactly the same in size. With the remaining cardboard, cut out some road panels. We used the lid/flaps of the box (approx 12cm in width and long enough to provide a little bit of road on either side of the mountain – our road is 100 cm long).
Step two: With all the bits cut out, it’s ready to paint and Henry doesn’t need to be asked twice! He was there eagerly waiting with paint brush in hand and oodles of black paint. He took off painting the road pieces. We placed these out in the sun for a quick dry and then, using white paint, Henry added a white dotted line down the middle to make the lanes. Then, using clear tape we pieced the sections together. The road is now complete.
Step three: Paint the mountain side. We didn’t have any green paint so we mixed blue and yellow and got ourselves a lovely mossy green. We placed these pieces out in the sun to dry.
Step four: When all the pieces are dry, find the centre of the road (if the length of the road was folded in half) and attach it to the top middle of one mountain side, taping on the inside. Attach the rest of the road to this side of the mountain.
Do the same for the other side – starting in the top centre then working down each side.
Some notes….
The finished product really looks fantastic and money can’t buy the quiet satisfaction you get from making your own toy, avoiding the toy shop isles and all that plastic. Guaranteed, your little munchkin will love it just as much.
Fixing it all together was the most tricky part and you may think of a better way. Although it was finicky, it’s held together really well after weeks of play and Henry still enjoys taking his cars out on the open road after kindergarten.