Make your own carnival stilts! These are great outdoors on a grassy area, or indoors on carpet.
With the help of an adult, you’ll need:
- Two 28 oz tin cans – oversized cans of crushed tomatoes or ground coffee work best
- Strong string or twine.
- Can Tapper (or hammer and large nail)
- Scissors
Optional:
- Paper
- Markers
- Tape
- Electrical Tape
Instructions:
- Remove labels from cans. Wash in warm soapy water and dry. An adult should check for and remove any sharp edges.
- If you’d like, cut paper to fit around the side of each cans and decorate with markers, or whatever you have around the house!
- Turn cans over, bottom side up. Wrap your decorated paper around each can and tape to secure.
- Using your can tapper, have an adult punch holes on either side of each can, near the top. The holes should be on opposite sides, and at the same height. (You can also use a hammer and large nail to punch these holes).
- Thread your string or twine through both holes and tie loose ends together to create a loop. The knot should be inside the can to avoid fraying. Leave as much length as needed depending on the height of your child. Have your child stand on one of the cans and trim the twine so that the handles will be placed roughly at the height of their outstretched arm.
- For slip resistance, especially if you’ll be using your stilts indoors, add electrical tape along the bottom edge.
- Stand on your stilts, hold the strings tight and walk!