If your little one is as imaginative as mine is, then you absolutely have to do this project. Not only will it spark your child’s imagination, but it will get them moving, too. Perfect for indoors or out, this jet pack will have your kids soaring!
All you will need are 2 empty chip cans, 4 full pieces of construction paper in any color, 1 piece of red or orange paper, glue, tape, decorations (stickers or glitter), and an old back pack.
This can easily be modified by omitting the back pack and using yarn. First thing you will want to do is have your child decorate 2 sheets of construction paper any way they want. I let my son have at the glue and glitter. For a much less messy version, you can use markers and stickers.
While your child is decorating, you can take the other two sheets of construction paper and trace circles on them. I used a salad bowl and it worked just fine. Grab anything about 7-9 inches in diameter. Trace the circle and cut. You will then want to cut a slit in the circle that reaches the center. Now turn the paper onto itself to make a cone. Use glue or tape to hold the cone shape.
Now cut strips of the red or orange paper. Cut a piece of tape long enough to fit completely around the circumference of the chip cans (an estimation will be just fine, no need to measure). Lay the strip of tape down sticky side up and place the strips of paper on them. Be careful to only put the strips on the lower half of the tape. You want there to be enough tape to still attach to the can. Now place the tape inside the open end of the cans just along the edge. You can affix on the outside or on the inside.
Your child’s artwork is about to become the decoration of the rockets. Glue or tape their embellished construction paper around the chip can. Carefully run a bead of glue around the rim of the closed end of the cans. Now just place your cones onto the glue. I strongly recommend using glue instead of tape for this part, I know from experience. If you want this instant, you can always use hot glue and not have the long drying time. I tend to not use hot glue since I have four little hands “helping” me with projects. I am worried my two hands aren’t going to cover all four from reaching for a hot glue gun.
Lastly, glue your rockets to the back pack. We got this back pack at our thrift store. If you do not have a back pack you can easily use a pencil to poke 4 holes into each can. Two holes near the top (parallel, but closer to one side so they easily lay against your child’s back) and two holes near the bottom. String one piece of yarn or twine through the holes at the top and another through the bottom holes. Now you can tie the rockets to your child’s chest area and waist.
I created the back pack version because I did not want to be asked a hundred times a day to tie the rockets on. A back pack can easily be put on and taken off by my 3 year old. Now the only problem is I have to make another one, because my youngest wants one too.
This could be your child running off to explore strange new worlds.
More fun and fabulous craft ideas by Expert Mommy, Kim Young can be found at MommyManual.com.
