Once my son wanted a new truck, so I made him a new truck. He got to decorate it, and decide what sort of truck it would be. Here's how to do it too.

Step 1: Materials

Materials: Soda box, newspaper, tape, paper bag (or other large strong paper), scissors, pens or other means of decoration (paint, crayons, stickers, etc). Advanced materials include toilet paper and paper towel rolls (not pictured).

Step 2: Stuff the Box and Tape It Shut

Crumple up the newspaper and stuff the box to give it some strength. You don't need to tape it a lot, just enough to hold it together.

Step 3: Wrap in Paper Bag

Cut open the paper bag on the seam and cut off the bottom. Cut off the handles if your bag has them. Try to find a large bag, or you may need to add bits to the places that aren't covered. Wrap the box like a present.

Step 4: Decorate!

My favorite decorating option is to hand it over to a child and let him or her decorate it as a truck, bus, fire engine, etc.

Other decorating options include: drawing a windshield and a driver and headlights on the front; drawing wheels and windows with a passenger on the side; cutting rounds from a toilet paper tube and taping them on as wheels, either using tape as a contrast color or just taping the insides and coloring the outsides; cutting a ladder from a paper towel tube and taping it onto the top of the fire engine.