How to Make a Chariot Craft for Children

Things You'll Need

8 to 12 oz. foam cup
Scissors
Pencil
Plastic drinking straw
Vegetable can
Black construction paper
Glue
Brown marker

Look at models of chariots to guide your craft-making.

Interest children in ancient history by making crafts that reflect old inventions. According to "Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History" by Sarah B. Pomeroy, et al., the chariot was a vehicle of antiquity that people used for both military and peaceful purposes. It was important in ancient Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt, Syria and Greece. Two horses pulled chariots, which consisted of small platforms placed atop two spoked wheels. Learn how to make a chariot craft to show children the basic structure of the vehicle.

Step 1

Cut an 8 to 12 oz. foam cup in half vertically using scissors and discard one half of the cup.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Stand the remaining half of a cup upright on a table.

Step 3

Poke a hole using a pencil on the cup's side near its open center. Center the hole near the bottom edge of the cup.

Step 4

Poke a hole on the other side of the cup near the cup's bottom edge using a pencil. The two holes should be directly opposite one another.

Step 5

Cut a plastic drinking straw in half using scissors to make the chariot's axle and insert the axle through the cup's two holes. The ends of the straw should stick out of the sides of the cup and the center of the straw should be visible near the bottom of the open area of the cup.

Step 6

Place a vegetable can on top of black construction paper and trace four individual circles around the can using a pencil.

Step 7

Cut out the circles using scissors.

Step 8

Glue two circles together to make a sturdy wheel. Glue the remaining two circles together to form a second wheel.

Step 9

Poke a hole in the center of each wheel using a pencil.

Step 10

Place each wheel on an end of the straw sticking out from the cup's side.

Step 11

Add glue to one end of the remaining straw half that you did not use for the axle. Glue the straw near the bottom center of the front of the cup to form the chariot's yoke, or the part of the chariot that attaches to horses. The front of the cup is the outer part of the cup that does not show the cup's open center.

Tip

Before you glue the yoke to the cup, color the yoke with a brown marker.

Video of the Day