Cardboard Fire trucks

I loved this project.
The best part about it was all the children's reactions to the trucks. 

I went to Home Depot and purchased three large cardboard boxes.
I was not about to ask my friend's kids to sit in old garage boxes. Eww.
So I bought some. 

I had to enlist the hubs for this one as a box-cutter was needed, and he is far more proficient with a box-cutter than I am. Or I have a tendency to cut myself, could go either way.

I love when he helps because he always adds a little something
extra, above and beyond what I asked for.
I asked him to cut the tops off of the boxes.
He gave me that, plus as an added bonus windshields AND doors.
I used painters tape on the edges of the boxes for stability. 

I spray painted all of the boxes red.
I will spare you all of the pictures of me in the backyard cursing the wind, the boxes, the neighbor's dog, the spray paint, etc...
I ran into a few speed bumps, most of which were self-inflicted bumps. I neglected to buy a red with a primer. What was I thinking?

I used random thick card stock to make the window templates,
and cut out black and white windows of the two sizes.

I used Modge-Podge to put the windows on as well as the head lights.
The headlights are made out of a yellow construction paper circle.

I put the Modge-Podge on and let it sit. 

 I made the ladders out of tongue depressors.
I glued them in a ladder-like pattern and spray painted those white. 

I wanted to make sure some part of the truck was jazzy in the sun.
My original thought was to use black glitter paper on the windows but that seemed excessive, so I opted for glitter on the hub caps instead.
The hub caps are caps of Gatorade bottlecaps spray painted gray.
Modge-Podge on the tops and sprinkle with a fine glitter.
Press the glitter down...

And Ta-Da!
Twinkle twinkle. 

The "wheels" are little foam circles from the dollar store.
Two circles for a dollar. 

I just glued the caps onto the foam circles.

  

I used a large stencil to paint the word fire on the back of each truck.
The steering wheels are made from green foam wreaths.
I wrapped a black ribbon around the wreaths and
glued them to the inside of the boxes. 

 

These were a hit.
The kids were all using their imaginations and having so much fun.