Recycled Materials Robot Building Project

Small cardboard boxes (cereal boxes, tissue boxes, shoe boxes)

Cardboard tubes (paper towel and toilet paper rolls)

Bottle caps in various sizes

Yogurt cups or small containers

Aluminum foil

Tape and glue

Paint and brushes

Markers

Collect clean recyclables over a few days. Gather small boxes, tubes, bottle caps, yogurt cups, foil, and any other interesting shapes.

Lay everything out and let your child choose a box for the body and a smaller one for the head.

Attach the head to the body with strong tape or glue. Hold in place until secure.

Add cardboard tube arms and legs. Tape them to the sides and bottom of the body box.

Now the fun part — details. Glue on bottle cap eyes, twist foil into antennae, draw a control panel on the chest with markers, add a yogurt cup jet pack on the back.

Paint the whole robot or wrap sections in aluminum foil for a metallic, mechanical look.

Name the robot. Ask your child: "What is this robot's name? What can it do? Where does it live?" The backstory brings the sculpture to life.

The engineering challenge here is real. Connecting different-shaped objects requires problem-solving — figuring out how to make a round tube stick to a flat box.

Use masking tape for construction — it sticks to cardboard better than clear tape and can be painted over.

Save the robot and revisit it. Children love adding new features over days — a new arm, a weapon upgrade, a friend robot.

This is a brilliant way to reframe recyclables as building materials rather than trash. It teaches resourcefulness.

Make a robot alongside your child. Having two robots opens up storytelling possibilities and makes the building process more social.