Low Tech Cardboard TV Toy

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This is a toy that I made as a child.  It is a tv that requires assembly and imagination.

I love this toy because the possibilities are endless.  Children can keep adding content to your "film reel" and learn so much.  

The learning objective of this is two parts:
1. Constructing this will help with students with their hand eye coordination and simple construction skills.
2. After this project is created students can add their own film reel explaining a science cycle  (ie, life cycle of a butterfly, water cycle, mitosis, etc) this will help with students conceptualizing the steps within the cycle involved.  By drawing out these things in an interactive way they are able to present this to other students and show what they learned thereby strengthening their presentation skills.

Kids can write their own stories, draw out situations, or even use it to draw out the "water cycle",  life cycle of a butterfly or if they are older maybe a reel on mitosis for a science.  I put pictures in the reel to make it a side show, I also am planning on adding an "alphabet reel" for my daughter (who is only 2).  Maybe when shes older I can have her make her own reels to teach some of her younger cousins something.


Materials:

1 small cardboard box
2 cardboard toilet paper/paper towel tubes (needs to be longer than the width of small cardboard box
1 plastic cover from a toy box (optional - see red toy box "stainless steel play cookware"  image below for example)
Tape
Glue
Scissors or utility knife

This is a video of the final product:

Step 1

Cut 4 circles on the sides of the box the same diameter as the toilet paper roll.  Cut out a rectangle from the center of the box between the 4 circles

Comments

[Cephus]

I used to make these as a child out of pencils for the spindles and a shoebox with cutout for the screen. Yours is a super deluxe version. What fun!

[ChrysN]

Love this! What a fun toy.

[jonnyd55]

Brillo :) this reminds me of making cool stuff at primary school...........perhaps you could mod this to be a Sky+ version ;)

[mikeasaurus]

Very creative!

[susanrm]

Love it!! I remember making or having things like this as a child too.