Recycled Water Bottle Pull Toy Dog

Origami Mommy recycled a milk carton into a toy dump truck a little while back. She also posted a few pictures from the Japanese craft book, that she was inspired by. All of the instructions with the crafts were in Japanese, which unfortunately I don't read. But, a picture is a picture, and I knew as soon as I saw the little pull toy dog, made out of a recycled water bottle, I was going to have to make one too.

I substituted a thin wooden skewer, for the chop sticks, on the wheel axles, but other than that, the supplies are pretty internationally available. I used a water bottle, construction paper, clear tape, two bendy straws, one wood skewer, four milk bottle caps, that I punched holes in the middle of with a nail, and a piece of twine (yarn would work just as well).

It rolls, and corners, surprisingly well. I actually worried a little as I was making it, that it might be a bit babyish, even for my three year old. Once I gave it a trial run around the kitchen, all of my fears vanished. It was difficult not to keep playing with it myself.

My three year old loves it, and I have orders from all of the other children for one of their own. Of course, I told the older three, that they are perfectly welcome to make one for themselves. Maybe I'll get brave, and order the craft book from Amazon's Japanese site (here's the link to it on Amazon, if your interested), and we can craft, recycle, and learn a new language, all at the same time.

It's great to be a homeschooler.