Looking for a project to do with your children? A birthday party activity for children who are a little older?  This craft is fun, simple and ends up being quite useful to boot. For younger children they’re fun to have in the car, doctor’s office , airplane , church or even a restaurant.

If you’re a crafty or even a just a “dabbler”  you may  have all the supplies you need at home.   This Car Caddy is made from a simple cracker or cereal box.

What you’ll need:

• cereal or cracker box
• sticky backed Velcro
• scrapbook paper, cute wrapping paper or magazines
• Mod Podge and brush
• embellishments (if desired)

Choose your box.  with the box in front of you, decide how tall you’d like your kit to be.  Using an X-Acto knife cut a straight line all the way across the front of the box ONLY. NOT the sides or back, just the front of the box. Once the box is cut, fold the back of the box across to the front making a crease in the flap so it will bend and close.  There should be two bends in the flap.  One lined up with the back of the box and another for the front.  Fold each flap several times so it will make a solid closure.  After you have the flap ready, cut the side panels of the box down so they are even with the front of the box.  They can be folded inside the box or you can cut them off.

Now the fun begins.  Find scrapbook paper or wrapping paper.  There are so many great papers and fun prints out there it’s easy to make them specific to a theme or to a gender.  You can simply wrap the box like a present. Fold the paper over edges and flaps and glue them down with the Mod Podge. It doesn’t have to be perfect because Mod Podge will cover a multitude of bloopers.  You can even cut up squares of paper and Mod Podge them all over the box overlapping each other.  You can’t mess this one up.  Another fun option is to cut pictures from a magazine or even photos of family members.  The kids will LOVE them because they made it themselves and they’ll all be unique.

Mod Podge your box with several coats to make the box more sturdy.  When the box is completely dry, glue some Velcro tabs to the flap then line up the lid and put more Velcro on the box so it will stay closed.  Add embellishments if you want.

Fill your box with stickers, paper, markers, treats, photo albums, books….anything that would be fun to have in the car or other “I’m bored” places.  If you make them for an activity day or an older child’s birthday party, they could be filled with a party favor or turned into a pencil box.  You could even add a strap.  Go nuts!