Sprout makes : jumping robots!

This is the first in a new series of tutorials on my blog called Sprout makes! I wanted to write some tutorials for lovely things that you can make with your little one. This tutorial will show you how to make a jumping robot from card, which little hands can decorate however they like. When you pull the string, the robots arms and legs move and he jumps!

This tutorial will show you how to make a jumping robot, which requires colouring/painting, cutting, using a hole punch and tying knots. The materials you will need include a template, which you can print here, card to print it on, colouring pencils or paint, scissors, a hole punch, paper fasteners, wool or string and a darning needle.

The first step is to print out your template onto card. There are two templates on each A4 sheet, there is one body, two arms and two legs per robot.

Let your little one decorate their robot using colouring pencils or paint. They can also add eyes and features to the head and dials and buttons to the control panel! Once all the parts are decorated, it’s time to cut them all out. Then use the hole punch to make four holes in your robot body – one for each joint – and then one hole in the top of each arm and leg.

Using the paper fasteners, fix each arm and leg into place, behind the body. Don’t make the fasteners too flat as this will stop the robot jumping! If you like you can trim off the ends of the fasteners with scissors so that they don’t poke out as your robot jumps.

Next you need to make small holes in the end of each arm and leg with your darning needle. Loop a short length of wool through the holes between the arms and tie in place. Do the same for the legs.

Then tie a longer piece of wool to the piece that links the arms, then tie this piece to the wool that links the legs and leave it long so that you can pull it to make the robot jump!

Now your robot is finished! By pulling gently on the wool at the bottom you will make his arms and legs jump about! Your little one can continue to decorate the front if they like.

Happy making!

If you fancy making your own jumping robot then you can buy some useful supplies from Amazon. If you purchase anything through the links in my post you are helping to support my blog as I get a small referral fee from Amazon. Thank you!

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