Rubber Band Powered Cardboard Car

If you want to do something with those pesky cardboard shipping boxes, try making a toy car. You need rubber bands, cardboard, tape, glue, scissors and two pencils.

Start with a box, the smaller the better.

Cut the box in half. Tape all loose flaps, inside and out.

Poke holes, front and rear in the box. You can use scissors to make the holes (of course, an electric drill will also work). The holes should be a little larger than the pencils so that the pencils will turn freely.

Cut four wheels out of cardboard. My wheels are about four inches in diameter. Larger wheels will help the car to travel a greater distance (though it will start more slowly). If you have a budding engineer in the family, make two or three cars with different size wheels.

Insert pencils through the holes and make sure that the pencils can turn freely.

Cut two "V" shaped notches in the front of the car. The square in the middle needs to be fairly large and strong, since it will support one end of the rubber band.

Push a wheel onto one pencil, then push the pencil/wheel assembly through the back of the car.

Push a cardboard wheel onto the other end of the rear axle (pencil).

Do the same for the front of the car. Now, place glue on the pencils (next to the cardboard wheels). Slide the cardboard wheels over the glue and wait until the glue dries.

Add one or more rubber bands to the car. Loop one end around the notches at the front of the car. Hold the other end on the rear pencil and turn the pencil to wind up the band. After one or two turns, the rubber band will be secured to the pencil by the following turns. Winding the axle this way allows the wheel to turn freely after the rubber band is unwound.

Release the rear wheel and the car will take off!