How do I Build a Robot for Kids for Free?

Robots have captured our imaginations for nearly a century.

Ever since playwright Karel Capek coined the term "robot" in 1920, these personified machines have captured the imaginations of the young and old. In science fiction classics, like Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" or movies like George Lucas's "Star Wars," they often forget that they are machines. They develop colorful personalities which create all sorts of problems, even if their creators give them simple rules, such as Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. Today, robots are used in heavy industry: in automobile plants, for example.



You can make your own robot for free by using these parts easily found around your house.

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper
• 4 toilet paper rolls
• Paper cup, 8 oz.
• Empty cardboard snack box
• Aluminum foil
• Safety scissors
• Glue
• Construction paper, assorted colors
• 5 Toothpicks

Instructions

1. Cover your work area with newspaper sheets. Wrap the toilet paper rolls, paper cup and snack box with aluminum foil. Use a thin, even coat of glue to attach the foil. The cup is the robot's head. The rolls are the arms and legs. The snack box is the body.

2. Cut basic geometric shapes out of construction paper: semicircles, triangles, circles and squares. The shapes will be used to form the face as well as buttons and dials for the body.

3. Glue some shapes to the robot's head, creating the face. Decorate the body, arms and legs with the rest of the shapes to suggest dials and buttons.

4. Push the toothpicks into the robot's body where you want to attach the head and limbs. Hold onto the toothpicks while you push the arms, legs and head onto them.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also use colorful plastic beads, yarn or parts of magazine photos to decorate your robot.

• Any project involving scissors and toothpicks requires close adult supervision.

References

• "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)"; Karel Capek; 1921
• "I, Robot"; Isaac Asimov; 1950
• "Star Wars"; 20th Century Fox; 1977