Pencil Box

Find out how to turn a simple pencil box into a fun fire truck. For more craft projects visit www.activitytv.com

Wood pencil box
White sticky foam
Three gold pipe cleaners
Silver pipe cleaner
Scissors
Two LED lights
Two wood skewers
X-acto knife
Glue
Four furniture pads with sticky backs
Black foam board
Red paint
Paint brush
Bowl
Tin foil
Blue glittery letters and numbers

REMEMBER THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS WORK UNDER ADULT SUPERVISION. SOMETIMES WE USE THINGS THAT CAN BE HARMFUL, LIKE SCISSORS, SO DON'T EVER ATTEMPT TO MAKE THESE CRAFT PROJECTS ALONE.

1. Paint your wood pencil box red. Set it aside to dry for 1 hour after you’re finished.
2. Bend your silver pipe cleaner into a ‘Z’ shape about as wide as the end of the pencil box, and cut off any excess. This will become the front grill of your fire truck.
3. Cut off four 1 ½” pieces of gold pipe cleaners and twist each one into a circle. These will be the front and back headlights.
4. Trace the front of the pencil box/fire truck onto the back of your white sticky foam to make the pattern for the windshield. Cut out your windshield to be a little smaller than the front so that it will fit inside of it. Peel off the backing and attach it to the front. Then, cut out two smaller side windows and attach them on each side adjacent to the windshield.
5. Time to build a ladder. Take two wooden skewers and cut them so that they each stick out about an inch past the back of the truck. To make the rungs, cut out several 2” pieces of gold pipe cleaner. To attach each rung, wrap the ends each skewer.
6. Draw a pattern for a long hose with a nozzle onto your sticky foam. Cut it out.
7. Cut a 1”x ½” piece of tin foil for the hose’s water tank.
8. Cut a small piece of black foam board the same width as the truck. This is the brace for the lights that will go on top of the truck.
9. Glue all of the pieces you’ve made onto the truck in the appropriate places. The hose and water tank should go on one side of the truck, with the hose overlapping the tank, and the ladder should go on the other side.
10. While all of the pieces are drying, decorate the top of your truck with some glittery letters and numbers. For example, you can spell out “Ladder 13” or something similar.
11. Time for the wheels. Peel half of the backing off of each furniture pad and attach the pads in the appropriate spots.
12. Finally, it’s time for the lights. Use your X-acto knife to cut two small ‘X’s into the piece of black foam board you cut for the top of the truck. Glue the piece onto the top above the windshield and insert an LED light into each X. Twist on your lights and now your former pencil box is ready to put out fires!