Recommended for lower elementary school students! A collection of plastic bottle craft ideas made with everyday materials.
Crafts with plastic bottles packed with amazing potential! Here you’ll find heart-thumping ideas that make you think, “I want to make this!”—like a Bubble Maker you can enjoy with lower-grade elementary school kids, and a Rolling Engine that older kids will get totally absorbed in.
The materials are all easy to find around the house, so it’s great for getting started right away.
Nurture imagination through making, and enjoy the fun of playing with the finished creations.
Let’s dive into a variety of plastic-bottle crafts!
- Plastic bottles transformed! A collection of simple yet amazing craft ideas
- Craft ideas using plastic bottle caps [for boys]
- Fun for elementary school kids! A collection of craft ideas using plastic bottle caps!
- Stylish plastic bottle crafts. Packed with surprising ideas!
- Fun crafts using straws
- For summer vacation homework! Simple and amazing crafts for elementary school students that you’ll want to make after seeing them
- Paper cup crafts that elementary school kids will love! A collection of fun project ideas
- Handmade instruments with plastic bottles: try making flutes, percussion, and traditional ethnic instruments.
- Elementary School Students: Simple One-Day Science Project and Craft Ideas
- DIY science projects that elementary school boys will love: ideas you can make with everyday materials
- Handmade games: DIY craft ideas you can make and play
- [For Kids] Today’s Handmade Craft Ideas
- Simple yet amazing crafts: craft ideas that elementary school students will want to make
Recommended for lower elementary school kids! A collection of plastic bottle craft ideas using everyday materials (41–50)
Target-throwing game with disposable chopsticks and clothespins
Let me introduce a target-shooting game that launches with a burst of energy using chopsticks and a clothespin.
Prepare two chopsticks, a clothespin, tape, and a plastic bottle cap to make it.
For the launcher, clip the clothespin’s metal spring onto a chopstick, then tape the clothespin’s handle and the chopstick together to form the base.
Cut a slit in the plastic bottle cap and fasten it to the chopstick with a rubber band.
Make a target out of a milk carton and draw point values on it.
Set a marble-sized ball on the finished launcher and try aiming at the target.
Have fun seeing how many points you can score!
Chopstick grabber
Let me introduce a chopstick grabber that’s fun to make and fun to play with.
Prepare eight wooden chopsticks, double-sided tape, plastic bottle caps, and rubber bands.
Stack four chopsticks in a crisscross pattern and secure the center with a rubber band.
Make another set the same way.
Combine the two finished sets and bind them with rubber bands where the chopsticks overlap to hold them together.
Finally, attach two plastic bottle caps to the tip, and it’s done.
Try moving the handle and have fun playing with it!
Handmade maracas
This craft is inspired by maracas made with paper cups that produce a cheerful rattling sound when lightly shaken.
The steps are simple: put beads or finely cut pieces of straw into a paper cup, then cover it with another paper cup as a lid.
What you put inside is important—consider how different fillings change the sound as you make it.
Decorating the outside is also a key point; aim for fun decorations that match the light, lively sound of the maracas.
“Wankoppu,” which sounds like a dog’s bark
This is a craft project: a dog mascot made from a paper cup that emits a sound like a real dog when you pull a chopstick attached to its tail.
The key is how to attach the pipe cleaner tail.
Attach a clip to the end of the pipe cleaner, thread it through a hole made in the paper cup, and secure it so that impacts resonate through the cup.
Once this part is complete, decorate the rest using a small paper cup, origami paper, and so on to create the dog’s appearance.
Then, by pinching the pipe cleaner in the gap between the chopsticks and pulling, the pipe cleaner’s vibrations are transmitted to the paper cup, producing a sound that resembles a dog’s bark.
How to make a paper-cup kendama
This is a paper-cup kendama made with a paper cup and plastic bottle caps.
First, poke a hole in the center of the bottom of the paper cup and thread a 60 cm piece of yarn through it.
Be careful not to hurt yourself when making the hole.
Tie a knot at the end of the yarn so it won’t slip out, and secure it to the outside bottom with cloth tape.
Tie a knot in the other end of the yarn as well, place it between two plastic bottle caps facing each other, and fasten them together with cloth tape.
That’s all it takes to complete the main body! After that, customize it with stickers or markers in any design you like.
It’s great because even kids who struggle with a real kendama can have fun and play together!
paper cup trumpet
This is a craft using a paper cup that can produce a trumpet-like sound when you pull the string sharply.
First, make a hole in the bottom of the paper cup, thread a string through it, and secure it with a short, folded toothpick so the string doesn’t slip out.
Then, when you pull the string vigorously, the impact on the string is transmitted to the paper cup, creating a trumpet-like sound.
You can pull the string with your hand, but using chopsticks is also recommended—try it out and see how the sound changes.
Since just building the mechanism can look simple, it’s also important to add your own decorations to the paper cup.
Rocket
This is a craft project for long vacations.
There’s something romantic about launching a “rocket” you made yourself, isn’t there? You’ll make it with a plastic bottle, but it requires more precision than you might expect, so if it’s your first time, please get help from your mom or dad.
The nozzle and launch port, in particular, can be tricky even if you listen to the instructions.
When you actually launch it using a bicycle pump, always do it with an adult! And be careful about where you launch it.