Printable STEM activity: 18 mechanical toys kids build from a cereal box
Ordinary carton board becomes a wonderful mechanical toy.
Let’s print the blueprints at home or school, glue them onto a cereal box or any thin carton board, and build working mechanical toys. We can make eighteen of them, at six levels of difficulty. Chances are, everything we need is already at hand. See you in the assembly videos!
One .zip download. Best for Grades 4 to 8 (ages 9 to 14). Grown-ups also love toymaking.
Here’s everything we need:
No kit to order and nothing to wait for. Buy the blueprints and start building.
- Printer and paperLetter or A4, printed at 100%
- A cereal boxor any other thin carton
- Glueto assemble a durable toy
- Scissorsto cut the black lines
- A rulerto fold the red lines
From cereal box to mechanical toy
- 1
Print the blueprints
Image to comeimages/steps/1-print.webp · 4:3Print on regular paper at 100% scale. Every blueprint page has a 100 mm bar so we can check the size.
- 2
Glue them to a carton
Image to comeimages/steps/2-glue.webp · 4:3Glue each blueprint onto the printed side of a cereal box or other carton.
- 3
Cut the black lines
Image to comeimages/steps/3-cut.webp · 4:3Solid black lines are cut lines.
- 4
Fold the red lines
Image to comeimages/steps/4-fold.webp · 4:3Lay a ruler along each red dashed line and fold against its edge.
- 5
Assemble our toy
Image to comeimages/steps/5-manual.webp · 4:3We can use the manual, printed or on screen.
Image to comeimages/steps/5-video.webp · 4:3We can watch the YouTube video.
- 6
Then, imagination takes over...
Image to comeimages/steps/6-decorate.webp · 8:3When we're done, the toy is blank and ready to be painted and decorated however we want. Salvage carton board scraps to add horns, tails, ears, hats, clothes, anything that we think is fun!
Made by real toymakers
Children at Tom Bast’s weekly workshops, with the toys they built.
Wake Up Dragon, Crafting Tier 6
Bird Bus, Crafting Tier 3
Magic Box, Crafting Tier 6
Turtle Taxi and Boing Beast, Crafting Tiers 2 and 3
Slipwing, Crafting Tier 6
Real machines, real words, real engineering.
The blueprints and assembly manuals use the words engineers use.
- Actuator
- Alignment Guide
- Barrel
- Bolt
- Brace
- Bracket
- Channel
- Chassis
- Connecting Rod
- Cover Plate
- Double Slider-Rocker
- Driver
- Flexure Hinge
- Follower
- Fulcrum
- Gantry
- Hinge
- Housing
- Lamination
- Lever
- Mechanical Stop
- Mounting Flange
- Pivot Point
- Push Rod
- Rocker
- Slider
- Spacing Block
- Spiral Reinforcement
- Standoff
- Swivel Guide
- Transition Fit
- Viewport
- Web
All 18 toys, ready to build today.
One .zip download holds the blueprints for all eighteen toys and a fully illustrated assembly manual for each, and every toy has its own step-by-step video right here on our site. Make the pages yours with a name or title (a family, a classroom, a young engineer), and every set carries its own license number.
The easiest toys, Vanisher and Gotcha Box, take a first-timer around an hour each. Every other toy takes about 90 minutes to complete, if we build the crafting tiers in order so our skills increase as we go along. We can make as many toys as we want, because they are great for storytelling, film making and gifting. We can even sell finished toys at art fairs and school events. They’re meant to be played with!
Terms & Conditions apply.
Price to be set
To make one of each:
- 18
- self-paced, engrossing sessions
- 26
- hours of engineering & craftsmanship
- 6
- crafting tiers, from beginner to expert
- 105
- parts to cut, fold and assemble
For parents, teachers, and enrichment coordinators
Hands-on mechanics and engineering that any educator can lead, including educators who are not science teachers. Designed for easy implementation and high learner success.
Learn More from Tom BastQuestions
What is Toyineer?
A .zip download of blueprints and illustrated assembly manuals for 18 working mechanical toys. We print the blueprints at home, glue them to a cereal box, then cut, fold and assemble.
What do I need to build a Toyineer toy?
A printer and paper, a cereal box or other thin carton, glue, scissors and a ruler.
What ages is it for?
Best for Grades 4 to 8 (ages 9 to 14). Grown-ups also love toymaking.
How long does it take?
The easiest toys, Vanisher and Gotcha Box, take a first-timer around an hour each. Every other toy, Anglewing included, is about one 90-minute sitting when we build the tiers in order, and each sitting ends with a finished toy. By Crafting Tiers 5 and 6, an experienced builder still finishes in about 90 minutes; newer builders may want a second sitting. All 18 add up to about 26 hours of building, before any painting and decorating. These times come from Tom Bast’s weekly 90-minute workshops. Some builders are quicker, and some like to take their time.
Which paper size should I print on?
The blueprints come in Letter and A4. Print at 100% (no “fit to page”), then measure the 100 mm bar on the page to check the scale.
Which toy should I build first?
Start with a Crafting Tier 1 toy: Vanisher, Gotcha Box or Anglewing. The tiers go up to Crafting Tier 6.
What is carton board?
The thin board that cereal boxes and other food cartons are made of. Glued to a printed blueprint, it is stiff enough to make working hinges, sliders and levers.
Is carton board the same as cardboard?
“Cardboard” is the everyday word for any stiff paper board. Carton board is the correct name for the thin, single-layer board that cereal boxes are made of, and it is what these toys are designed for. Corrugated cardboard, the thick board used for shipping boxes, is a different material.