STEP 1

Prepare for prototyping!

Lay out all of your materials, plug in your hot glue gun, and sharpen your pencils!

STEP 2

Sketch your idea

Choose an item to make a box for. We chose a stack of Post-It notes because it was nice and square. After looking at your item, do a quick sketch on of what you want your box to look like.

STEP 3

Trace your object on the cardboard

Place the object onto your cardboard and trace its footprint. Add a little bit of space around each side to make sure the object will fit inside after you fold up the sides (Step 4).

STEP 4

Add sides

Draw walls for each side of the box based on your sketch. Then, cut out the whole thing!

STEP 5

Build your box

Fold up the sides and that’s it! Your box prototype is complete!

STEP 6

Fit your items

Put your item into your prototype. How does it fit? Too loose or too tight? If it’s not quite right, add or subtract space around the traced foot print in Step 3 and repeat the process until your object fits! Once you have the right fit, you can take the cardboard dimensions and use them to design your final box using different materials. Or hot glue the sides of your cardboard box and use it as is.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Once you’ve constructed a basic box that fits Spider-Man’s needs, enhance the box with a lid, a latch, a handle — whatever your imagination chooses. Be sure to decorate it, too.

Project Author - Willy Nicholas

Please Note

Your safety is your own responsibility, including proper use of equipment and safety gear, and determining whether you have adequate skill and experience. Power tools, electricity, and other resources used for these projects are dangerous, unless used properly and with adequate precautions, including safety gear and adult supervision. Some illustrative photos do not depict safety precautions or equipment, in order to show the project steps more clearly. Use of the instructions and suggestions found in Maker Camp is at your own risk. Maker Media, Inc., disclaims all responsibility for any resulting damage, injury, or expense.

Create

Cardboard Prototypes

15 minutes

TO COMPLETE

WHAT WILL YOU MAKE?

Learn how to build a cardboard prototype for a Spider-Man-themed box. It’s fun to figure out the fixes and challenges for creating simple items with cardboard instead of using 3D printing or other expensive and time-consuming processes. What will you use your box for? We’ve created one to hold our Post-It notes, but you could build a prototype box for your IoT Telegraph that will send secret Spider-Man messages. (Or you could just use it to hold Post-It notes.)

WHAT WILL YOU NEED?

Scrap cardboard
Paper
Pencil
Ruler
Box cutter or scissors
Hot glue gun and glue