How to Build a Bear Car

A car for make-believe driving isn't expensive if you make it yourself.

Young children love to act like they are doing grown-up things, including pretending to drive Mom's or Dad's car. You can purchase child-size cars at department stores, which are quite expensive, or you can make your own child-size car for a lot less money and customize it for your child, too. Building a bear car takes about one day, requires only a few supplies and can provide hours of fun for your little son or daughter.

Things You'll Need

• Large cardboard box
• Packing tape
• Acrylic paints
• Paintbrush
• ½-inch thick dowel rods
• Measuring tape
• Hacksaw
• Wood glue
• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Craft glue
• Toilet paper roll

Instructions

Car Bottom

1. Push the top and bottom flaps of a large cardboard box down inside the box. The box should be large enough for your child to comfortably sit inside; it also needs enough space for a steering wheel. Tape the flaps down with packing tape.

2. Paint the inside and outside of the box with acrylic paints and a paintbrush. Paint on doors, headlights and any other exterior features you want on your car. Allow the paint to dry completely.

3. Connect four ½-inch thick dowel rods, 2 ½-feet long, to each inside corner of the box with packing tape. Slide each dowel rod about 6 inches down into the corner, then apply the tape over the dowel rod and secure it to the box. The other end of each dowel rod should stand up above the box.

4. Measure the length and width of the spaces between the standing dowel rods, then cut four sections of ½ -inch-thick dowel rods to match your measurements with a hacksaw. You will need two pieces for length and two for width.

5. Connect the length and width pieces of dowel rods to the ends and sides of the standing dowel rods with wood glue, making a square frame for your roof.

Bear

1. Measure the width of the back end of the box, then use your measurements to draw a straight line on a large sheet of cardboard with a pencil.

2. Draw another line on the same sheet of cardboard 3 feet above the first line. Between the two lines draw the torso of a bear, including the head, shoulders, arm sockets and chest. Give your bear whimsical features, such as a huge smile, sad eyes or a bow in her hair.

3. Cut the bear torso out of the cardboard with scissors and paint it with acrylic paints and a paintbrush.

4. Attach the bear torso to the back of the car, sliding the bottom of the torso down inside the back of the car bottom about half an inch, then taping it into place.

Bear Arms

1. Measure the length of the arm sockets that you have drawn on the bear torso. Draw two lines on a sheet of cardboard as tall as your measurements.

2. Measure the length of your bear car body, as well as the width of the body. Add the length of the body and half of the width plus 4 inches to get the length for the bear's arms.

3. Draw two arms based on your measurements, starting them off of the two lines for the arm sockets that you made on the cardboard. Be sure to draw the paws for your bear at the end of the arms. The top edge of each arm should be straight.

4. Paint the bear arms with acrylic paints and a paintbrush and allow them to dry.

Roof

1. Connect the ends of the bear arms to the arm sockets on the bear torso with craft glue. Allow the glue to completely dry.

2. Stretch each arm out around the dowel rod roof frame and attach it to the frame sides with packing tape, allowing the arms and paws to come around the front of the frame. The paws should overlap on the front of the dowel rod frame. Connect the paws with packing tape.

3. Measure the space inside the bear's arms, width and length, then cut out a piece of cardboard to match your measurements.

4. Paint the cardboard panel with acrylic paints and a paintbrush and allow it to dry.

5. Attach the cardboard panel on top of the dowel rod frame, inside the bear's arms, with craft glue.

Complete

1. Attach a cardboard toilet paper roll inside the car body on the driver's side of the car with glue, then paint it. This is your steering column.

2. Cut five circles out of cardboard for your tires and steering wheel with scissors, then paint them.

3. Glue the steering wheel to the steering column on the inside of the car.

4. Glue the tires to the front and back outside of the car body on both sides of the car.

References

• Parents Connect: Cardboard Race Car

Resources

• Parenting Humor: Box Cars