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DIY: Cardboard Road Way Play!

November 15, 2010 by Anna Ranson

Make a simple, free homemade road-way toy from recycled cardboard, for hours of creative play!

I was determined to get another use out of the pieces of cardboard that I used in our latest Discovery Box, so I made some road way pieces out of it for playing with. Great for packing up in a bag with a few toy cars and taking on a trip to the doctor or when visiting Granny!
It was so quick and easy that I did it while the girls were taking a nap. This is what I did….

 I painted three thin sheets of cardboard using black paint and a kiddie sponge roller.

 I cut each sheet into different pieces. Out of the first I cut some short roads.

 Out of the second I cut some long roads.

 And out of the last one I cut four semi-circular roads for making into roundabouts and curved corners.

 Then I cut a stack of small rectangles from white card. I needed twice this many in the end.

I stuck the rectangles at regular intervals along each piece of road way to look like road markings.

 I then cut two of the semi-circular pieces in half to make four smaller pieces, as the big ones didn’t make tight enough bends. I kept two the original size for making into a roundabout.

And here it is set up in one combination with a few of Cakie’s cars and tractors ready for some imaginative play! She will be able to set it up in endless different ways and we may add some buildings from boxes and other play-scence items using Duplo and Playmobil 123 in order to increase the possibilities.

This was done quickly and without measuring, rulers and accuracy. If you wanted to do this *properly* it would make a really lovely low budget Christmas gift. Just package it beautifully in a shiny, black gift box with a packet of colourful cars for playing with!

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Filed Under: Activities, DIY, Recycled Crafts, Toddler, Toys, Toys & Games

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Comments

  1. alison says

    November 15, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    oh I am in love!!! this is such a wonderful idea!

  2. JDaniel4's Mom says

    November 15, 2010 at 8:27 pm

    This would be perfect to take when visiting a relative that doesn’t have toys!

  3. Michelle says

    November 15, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Love it! And althoug I have a girl, I know she would love it too! 🙂 She loves playing with cars in all shapes! 🙂

  4. Caz says

    November 16, 2010 at 5:53 am

    Awesome idea! Love it, need to find some big sheets of cardboard now. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  5. Anna @ The Imagination Tree says

    November 16, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    Oh yes JD4Mom, I love the idea of taking it as a portable toy! Brilliant.

  6. Heather J. says

    November 16, 2010 at 5:10 pm

    Great idea!

  7. Michelle says

    November 16, 2010 at 8:50 pm

    I LOve it! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂

  8. RedTedArt says

    November 17, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    Oh what a perfect road! And you clever. I love it. Great bit of recyclin too!

    Thank you for linking up to Kids Get Crafty! Lovely to see you there!

    Maggy

  9. Christie - Childhood 101 says

    November 22, 2010 at 12:28 pm

    What a great idea, I love your resourcefulness 🙂

  10. Kebeni says

    November 25, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    this is just fantastic, I am definitely going to bookmark this one

  11. Cathy at NurtureStore says

    November 25, 2010 at 7:16 pm

    I really love this – I love that it’s recycled, can be put together in lots of different ways and gives lots of play. Thanks for sharing with us at the Play Academy.

  12. Marie {Make and Takes} says

    December 16, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    Such a great road! Soooo fun. I’ve added it to the M&T Spotlight! http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight

  13. Jaime says

    December 16, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    Sooooo fun! I love that idea. plus easy clean up. 🙂 I have about a million boxes from moving also–I think this will be a fun craft the kids would enjoy doing with me. 🙂

  14. maggy, red ted art says

    January 1, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    Just to let you know, I featured you today on “Recycled Get Crafty” – http://www.redtedart.com/2011/01/01/recycled-get-crafty/. Thank you for a fabulous craft idea!

    If you like you can grab a Featured button here: http://www.redtedart.com/get-crafty-badges/

    Many thanks

    Maggy

  15. Kaci says

    January 7, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    I am envisioning packing something like this up into a little bag for my son when he has to sit through his sisters dance class. Very cool.

  16. Rachele says

    February 28, 2011 at 4:40 am

    I am going to have to give this a try. Bet my son will like it better then the play matt somebody bought him. Kids are funny that way 🙂

  17. toy shops online says

    September 16, 2011 at 2:50 am

    Creativeness, resourcefulness and cost-saving. That’s best describes you and your craft.

  18. Emily says

    September 28, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    I’ve got to try this for my car-crazy kid!

  19. Anonymous says

    October 8, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    I am thinking of making this for the 5 yr old I nanny for Christmas. I love this!

  20. Patti says

    February 13, 2012 at 3:38 am

    Thanks .. I love this idea for my 5 yo son and all my preschoolers and it looks so doable!

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About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

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