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Making corrugated cardboard arrows

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Create corrugated cardboard arrows with the children.

Here's an easy-to-make item that could be used to illustrate classroom work on the subject of Native Americans: and if you replace the arrowhead with a heart… a lovely idea for a Mother's or Father's Day gift!

 

Materials:

 

  • Canson® corrugated cardboard in brown, yellow and white
  • Canson® kraft paper in an assortment of colours of your own choosing
  • Scissors
  • Glue

Cutting out the feathers

To make the feathers, first cut almond shaped pieces out of the different coloured pieces of kraft paper. Next, cut a series of small triangular slits into their edges to make them look like feathers.

Vary the sizes and colours, but don't make your feathers too big as they will need to be coiled around the rear end of the arrow shaft later.

Attaching the feathers

Using the white corrugated cardboard, cut out strips measuring 8 cm long by around 2 cm wide (pay attention to the direction of the corrugations: you will need to be able to wrap each strip around an arrow shaft).

Glue the feathers into one long edge of each strip and leave to dry.

Making the arrow shaft

Use corrugated cardboard for the arrow shaft.

Cut out a rectangle measuring approximately 15 cm x 6 cm (once again, pay attention to the direction of the corrugations, as this rectangle is going to be used to form a tube).

Roll the rectangle into a tube and glue it together.

Use elastic bands to hold the tube in place while it dries if necessary.

Final assembly

Flatten and glue down one end of the arrow shaft.

Cut out two equally sized triangles to glue to both sides of the flat end of the shaft.

Apply glue to your feathered strip and wrap it around the opposite end of the shaft. Use an elastic band to help hold it in place while it dries if necessary.

Your arrow is now complete. One additional thing you can do is add a piece of string to hang it up by, or you can even string all the children's creations together and make a garland out of them.