How to Make a Horse Out of Cardboard

Young children love to play with and in empty boxes. Here's a quick and easy project that you can do with your kids, which will give them just one more reason to enjoy boxes. They'll create their very own horses for playtime or even for costumes. A great plus is that the craft will probably cost you nothing. Most likely you've already got all the materials you'll need in your home.

Use a hobby knife or scissors to cut the flaps from the top and the bottom of the cardboard box. This will be the horse's body.

Draw a horse's head and tail on the flaps of cardboard that you removed from the box. Cut the head and tail out and have the kids decorate both sides of the shapes.

Spread several layers of old newspapers over a flat working surface. Ask the kids to decorate the box as the outside of a horse's body with paints, markers or crayons. Draw and paint a saddle onto the horse, if you wish. Allow the decorated areas to dry completely.

Use the masking tape to attach the horse's head and tail to opposite ends of the body.

Staple the end of a piece of wide ribbon to an inside corner of the box. Staple the other end to the inside corner of the box diagonally opposite to the first stapled end. Repeat this with another piece of ribbon on the remaining corners, creating a pair of suspenders with one crossing over the other.

Have the child step into the horse's box body, or pull it on over the child's head and shoulders so that the suspenders rest on the shoulders. Tally ho!

Tips

If you're not comfortable with your drawing skills, coloring books are great for locating a picture of a horse's head to use for a pattern.