Many many years ago when my now teenager was a baby, I was part of a book club called Baby’s First Book Club where we had books mailed to us each month.  One of the books from that short endeavor became a favorite of all little people (ok maybe the big people too) in our house…Rattletrap Car

“Poppa turned the key, brum brum, brum brum.
Clickety clankety bing bang pop!
They were off to the lake in their rattletrap car.
They didn’t go fast and they didn’t go far when…..”

Rattletrap Car Craft

Craft Supplies:

• paint & brushes
• 1 paper towel tube (cut in half)
• 1 cereal box (or other thin cardboard)
• 3 container tops (we used milk jug tops)
• template for surf board and paddle wheel boat
• 1 craft ball (styrofoam or other)
• 3 tooth picks
• paper clips
• straw
• glue, scissors

How To Make a Rattletrap Car:

1. After gathering supplies, cut paper towel tube in half.  In one half cut out a hole for “people” to sit in the car.
2. Cut out the templates and trace them onto cardboard.  Then cut out the shapes from the cardboard.
3. Paint the car body, surfboard, paddle-wheel boat, and beach ball.
4. After all painted pieces are dry:  Use a hole punch (or if you can’t find yours like me you can use a pencil) to punch four holes near the bottom of the tube to hold the “axle.” Cut the straw into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Slide one toothpick into each straw piece and insert it through the punched holes.
5. Use a thumb tack to punch holes in each of the 3 bottle caps, two paddle-wheel boat wheels and the craft ball.
6. Attach the 3 container caps and one beach ball to the toothpicks (I suggest using a dab of craft or hot glue to hold each one in place on the toothpick).
7. Attach a toothpick to the bottom of the paddle-wheel boat, then affix the paddle-wheels to the ends of the toothpick with a dab of glue.
8. Use paperclips to attach the surfboard at the front and back of the bottom of your car, and your paddle-wheel boat to the top front. (That way your child can remove and play with as desired)

Rattletrap Car Snack

After reading the book, and making your very own Rattletrap Car with your child, how about making  a Rattletrap Car snack to go with the fun!

To Make Razzleberry Dassleberry Snazzleberry Fizz

Mix some type of carbonated beverage (ie., ginger ale, carbonate water) with a berry juice (ie., fruit punch, cherry, raspberry)to make razzleberry dazzleberry snazzleberry fizz.

To Make Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge Delight

Spread Nutella on graham crackers and place mini marshmallows on top.

Rattletrap Car Word Search

I took words from the book and created a fun word search.  This is a FREE PRINTABLE WORD SEARCH. Simply click below to download the pdf for your child to enjoy!

Rattletrap Car Word Search