For upper-grade boys! Simple yet awesome craft project [Don’t call it lazy]
I want to make something for my summer break craft project that makes people say “Wow!” but I’d like to avoid anything too difficult.
Great news for upper-elementary school boys! In this article, we introduce intriguing craft projects with clever mechanisms you can build using everyday materials.
Even creations that look complex—like a fountain where water seems to flow upward or a spinning top that floats in midair—are actually surprisingly easy to make.
Once you finish, you can submit your project with an explanation of how it works and use it as a science project, too.
Go ahead and try these fun crafts that apply principles of physics!
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Crafts to learn how things work (1–10)
Lantern
Many families probably take advantage of summer vacation to go camping.
Here’s a DIY lantern that will shine on those fun camp nights.
You can easily get the jars and oil for the lantern at 100-yen shops.
Regular cooking oil like vegetable oil or olive oil works fine.
For the wick, you can use oil-lantern wicks sold at 100-yen shops.
It’s a hands-on project with plenty of steps that use your fingers—bending wire with pliers, preparing the wick, and more—so it’s perfect for enjoying the craft of making.
After you build it as a summer vacation homework project, you can actually use it and have fun with it.
Making a moving slime
How about making slime that you can enjoy as a summer vacation craft? By adding a twist to regular slime—mixing in iron sand—you can make slime that moves with a magnet.
You can enjoy the tactile feel of the slime by touching it, and there are also games you can play with slime.
This time, let’s add iron sand during the slime-making process.
That way, you’ll get a jet-black slime that looks like it’s being pulled and moving when you bring a magnet close.
It also sounds fun to try embedding a magnet inside the slime.
You can get all the materials at 100-yen shops and the like, so definitely give it a try!
Heron’s fountain
A Heron’s fountain is a curious device in which water flows from a lower level to a higher level without using any external power.
Invented by the ancient Greek engineer Heron, versions of it are used in physics classes to demonstrate the principles of water pressure and air pressure.
It may look complicated at first glance, but the mechanism itself can be reproduced with just three containers and three tubes.
In other words, you can even make one with plastic bottles and straws.
Enjoy the moment when a tiny fountain springs to life inside a plastic bottle!
Crafts to learn how things work (11–20)
Water You Can Grab
Don’t you think of water as something that always flows? In fact, if you mix in certain substances, water can turn into something you can hold.
Those substances are sodium alginate and calcium lactate! If you gently lower a ladle filled with water dissolved with sodium alginate into water dissolved with calcium lactate and let it sit for a while, the water in the ladle will set into a jiggly shape! At this point, moving the ladle will prevent it from forming properly, so the key is to place it in gently and let it sit undisturbed for a bit.
If it doesn’t work, try adjusting the concentration of sodium alginate or the resting time.
Guitar
Isn’t it amazing that you can build a guitar using only items from a 100-yen shop? Guitars used in actual rock bands typically have six strings, but this time, to keep it simple, let’s try making one with just two strings.
The materials are a piece of wood about 45 cm long, screw-in hooks called eye hooks, disposable chopsticks, and fishing line (monofilament).
There are many ways to make it, but if you attach parts to the neck to serve as the saddle and bridge, then drill holes and thread the fishing line through, you’re almost done.
If you use the eye hooks to allow for adjusting the string tension, you’re all set.
Since it involves cutting wood and drilling holes, this will be a project suited to older elementary school children who are ready for a bit of a challenge.
Marble Kaleidoscope
Let’s make a beautiful kaleidoscope using an empty cylindrical snack container, some marbles, and acrylic mirrors! Cut the mirrors into 26 mm-wide strips and connect them with cellophane tape to form a triangular prism, making sure the reflective sides face inward.
Punch holes in the bottom and lid of the snack container, place the marbles inside, and insert the triangular prism made of mirrors.
Finally, close the lid to complete your handmade kaleidoscope.
Why not enjoy the magical world created by the mirrors and marbles?
aircraft launch pad
Many of you have probably seen videos on social media where a paper airplane is placed on a launcher-like device, and when the ends of the launcher are pulled, the airplane shoots off with great speed.
In fact, that launcher can be easily made using a milk carton! All you need are a milk carton and a rubber band.
Cut the milk carton into a rectangle, fold it into an M shape, and use a stapler to secure a rubber band to the tip of the center fold—that’s it.
Along with making this launcher, look up how to fold a plane that flies well and try to create one that can soar farther than anyone else’s!