Homemade Tunnels and Animal Rocks
We have quite a collection of recycled materials that have been just waiting for a project. I grabbed a bunch of them and used brads to attach them to a cardboard box with brass fasteners. Vioila! We had animal tunnels.
Creating Underground Tunnels
What did we use:
- 1 Crystal Light container
- 1 Plastic berry container
- 1 Plastic salad container
- 3 Paper towel tube
- 1 Toilet paper tube
- 6 Brass fasteners
- Scissors
- Exacto knife
- Narrow cardboard box
How did we put it together?
- We explored various ways to use the tubes and containers on the cardboard before deciding on the one we liked best.
- I cut holes in the top of the box for the tubes to come through using an Exacto knife. They would be the entrances to the underground tunnels.
- We pull the tubes through the holes and left only a short length of the tube above the hole. The remaining length of each tube was attached to box with brass fasteners.
- We cut away part of one of the tubes so, we would later be able to see the animal rocks pass through it.
- The tunnel on the left was connected to a second tube through a cut we made in the second tube. This tube also had a lower section cut out so we could we could see the animal rock pass through this tube. Once everything was placed where we wanted it, we attached it to the box with a brass fastener.
- The tunnel on the right was connected to a Crystal Light container that I had cut the bottom out of. Once the plastic container was in place, it was attached to the box with a brass fastener.
- Next, we attached the bowl and the berry container at the base of the tubes with brass fasteners.
Making Animal Rocks
What did we use?
- 4 flat rocks
- glue
- water
- paintbrush
How did we create the animal rocks?
- We select some underground animal clip art picture and printed them out.
- I created a mixture of glue and water.
- JDaniel painted the pictures onto the flat rocks with a paint brush.
Exploring the Tunnels
Once everything had been created, we had a wonderful time watching the animals cascade into their dens. We talked about how some of the animals would not want to share a home. The fox and the rabbit would definitely need to be kept apart. After playing with them for awhile, JDaniel decided we need to cushion the animals fall a little and he added some weeds from our yard to the bowl and berry container. This science project becomes more and more customized.
Dig Into Exploring Underground Animals was a blast at my house. I hope you will try making your own underground tunnels.
If you are looking for a wonderful book for your children, you may want to check out underGROUND
What are your children’s favorite science projects?
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this looks like so much fun! My boys would love this:-)
What a clever idea and i love the concept of exploring underground animals!
Such a creative and fun activity!
I love the idea of sending “animals” through the tunnels you made! What a great hands-on way to explore the idea.
What a great way to recycle items. Love the hands on approach to learning about animals.
what a fun activity for the summer!
I just signed my three up for the reading program. I love your tunnel activity.
How cool and I love the step by step directions!! My kids love activities like this, but I am so not crafty and need a lot of hand holding! This looks great for us to do this summer! Thanks!
You guys have a lot of fun over here, don’t you? 🙂
This is super cool! I totally love it.
That is unique. It looks cool and like something my boys would love to do. Great tutorial. Thanks!
what an awesome idea! would be great to play with little plastic animals too! pinning.
What a fun activity! Got to try that!
What fun!
This is great! I’ve pinned it, and I also featured it at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow
This is just so cool! I’m featuring it on The Sunday Showcase this weekend.
I love these underground tunnels and it will be so helpful as a resource for summer reading programs. I just wanted to mention that I featured it in my round up from Mom’s Library last week. If you get a chance, stop by Mom’s Library again this week. We have an iPad mini giveaway!! http://www.ready-set-read.com/2013/06/ipad-mini-giveaway-on-moms-library.html
What a wonderful idea! We are participating in our summer reading programs and this would be a great extension activity for the Dig into Reading theme. Thanks for sharing.
What a wonderful idea! We are participating in our summer reading programs and this would be a great extension activity for the Dig into Reading theme. Thanks for sharing.