How to Make a Toy Castle from Recycled Materials

To make this neat castle, you will need one strong cardboard box in any size you choose, two or four empty cylindrical cardboard oatmeal containers, reinforced brown paper packing tape, acrylic paint, a small rectangular piece of sponge, shoestring or yarn, two large beads (optional), hot glue or heavy duty glue, an Xacto knife, a sharp steak knife or knife from a pumpkin carving kit, and paperboard from a large cereal box.

Fig 1. First, glue the bottom flaps of the box securely closed. Remove the top flaps from the box. Cut the corners off of the box two inches deep on each side as seen in the image. Fold the sides down and use a cutting tool to cut squares from the tops of the castle walls. Use an Xacto blade to cut a drawbridge from the front of the castle, but do not cut across the bottom. The drawbridge should be able to fold up to close or down to open.

Fig 2. Next, fold the walls of the castle up and measure the distance between them at the corners. Cut doors into the bottom side of each oatmeal container that match the width of the distance between walls. If you have four oatmeal containers, place one at each corner of the castle. If you only have two, place them on the front two corners and leave the corners in the back of the box intact. Securely glue the bottom of each oatmeal container to the corner of the bottom of the cardboard box using lots of hot glue or other heavy duty glue. Use the same glue to glue the sides of the castle to the sides of the oatmeal containers. Use reinforced brown paper packing tape over the glue to securely attach the sides of the castle to the sides of the oatmeal container on the outside AND on the inside for added strength.

Fig 3. Punch two small holes just above and to either side of the drawbridge door. From paperboard, cut out the shapes to go around the top of the tower battlements. Glue them around the top of each oatmeal can. Let the castle dry thoroughly before painting.

Fig 4. Paint your castle any color you wish. Gray is traditional, but some girls may want a pink castle. Glitter paint is optional. Use a rectangular piece of sponge dipped into a lighter color gray paint to create a brick or stone print on your castle walls. You can also paint heraldry onto your castle or windows if you like.

To make the drawbridge work, fold it down - open - and lay a piece of shoestring or yarn under the door. Tape it securely across the door using a piece of brown paper packing tape. Take the two ends of the string and thread each through a hole in the castle wall. Secure the end of each piece to the inside of the castle by tying on a large wooden bead. These can be pulled to draw the drawbridge back up. If you have no beads, you can simply tie the ends of the string together. Paint the door brown to look like wood.

Now your toy castle is ready for knights, dragons, fairy princesses or grand balls - whatever your heart desires!