Step 1- Wrap all three soap boxes in construction paper
Steam Engine Train
Thomas Rogers is one of the most celebrated builders of locomotives. He originally made cotton looms under his company Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor located in Paterson, but after witnessing the assembly of an English made Locomotive, he went on to create his own— the Sandusky. Renamed Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works, his company’s locomotive No. 119 was used in the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Activity
Build a train that moves using simple household materials inspired by the locomotive industry in Paterson
Duration: 45-60 min | Difficulty: Medium | Cost: Low
Supplies
- 3 empty bar soap boxes
- Construction paper
- 3 Wooden skewer(s)
- Bare tissue roll
- School glue
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- Glue gun
- Cotton ball
- 3 plastic straws
Instructions
Step 2- Using a different color construction paper, cut ten small squares and two squares slightly larger to represent the windows
Step 3- Position one soap box vertically and glue the larger squares on the two large sides of the box
Step 4- Then glue a small square on the upper portion of the two next largest sides of the same box
Step 5- With the other two soap boxes horizontal, glue two small squares on both of the large sides of each of the two soap boxes
Step 6- Keeping the three boxes in the positions noted above, cut two rectangular pieces of cardboard slightly larger than the top of each box, cover them in construction paper, then glue them to the top and bottom of each box forming the train cars
Step 7- Cut nine pieces of straw that stretch across the bottom of the train cars
Step 8- Flip the train cars upside down and glue three pieces of straw to each box
Step 9- Cut the wooden skewer into nine pieces that extend slightly wider than the bottom of the train cars and stick one piece inside each straw
Step 10- Cut 18 small cardboard circles for the wheels
Step 11- Cut 18 small circles of the same size using construction paper and glue them to the cardboard wheels
Step 12- Hot glue the wheels to the end of the skewers on each train and let dry
Step 13- Cut the tissue roll down to 3″ and wrap the sides in construction paper
Step 14- Cut a 3″ circle of construction paper and make a slit halfway through the circle
Step 15- Then, place one end of the slit over the other and glue it down forming a shallow cone shape
Step 16- Next, glue it to one hallow side of the tissue roll
Step 17- Hot glue the other side of the tissue roll to the front of the vertical train car (locomotive)
Step 18- With the vertical train car (locomotive) being first, hot glue two 1.5″ long pieces of cardboard covered in construction paper to connect the three train cars
Step 19- Roll a piece of construction paper into a tube about 2 inches tall and hot glue it to the top of the tissue roll
Step 20- Stretch out a cotton ball and stick it in the tube to represent steam
Push the train gently and enjoy!