How to Make a River on Cardboard

Cardboard, crayons, glue, sand and an afternoon of fun.

Making a story come alive is as simple as giving a child a piece of cardboard, crayons and a few easy directions to create a landscape. Perhaps the story your child loves is one with a raging river, a peaceful stream or a bubbling brook. Whatever it may be, nothing is quite as exciting for a child as actually sharing his imagination with you through his latest creation. So save that old cardboard box for an afternoon of fun with your child.

Things You'll Need

• 14-by-16-inch piece of blank cardboard
• Box of crayons (with at least one blue crayon)
• White glue
• 1 cup of playground sand

Instructions

1. Start drawing a long, winding blue line from one side of the cardboard surface to the other. Return to the end where you started and move over about 2 inches. Draw another blue line that follows the same curves as the original one.

2. Add a couple of smaller, winding lines in between the lines just drawn. These will form the waves of your river.

3. Make two parallel lines of glue next to the two long blue lines. Smear the glue up to but not over the long blue lines with your finger.

4. Pick up a handful of sand and let it drain out of your hand over the glue-covered surface. Make sure plenty of sand covers the glue surface. Tilt the cardboard up and let the excess sand slide off the cardboard.

5. Let the glue dry. Use the other crayons to add in other landscape elements such as trees, grass and rocks.

Tips & Warnings

• Collect pebbles, grass or leaves. Glue these to your landscape for a more natural landscape creation. Place pebbles in the river and draw a blue "V" with the pebble at that point to make the river look even more realistic.

• Do not leave small children unattended with pebbles since they are a choking hazard.