All Abord...

My daughter's homework assignment was to make a Polar Express train car to be used in the school's annual Polar Express Ride.  I wanted my daughter to be the one supplying the ideas and doing as much of the work as she could.  When I was a teacher I always enjoyed seeing projects that the parents had a hand in but overall were made by the student.  I think we accomplished that.  I stuck on boxes and used the hot glue gun.  She handed me the pieces and helped me decide where we should place things.  I found a sample photo on line and we looked at it while we assembled her train.

This is the basic shape all hot glued and taped together.

I made the front of the train by taping two pieces of card stock together.  Then I rolled them up and taped them into a cylinder.  I clipped the end so I could attach it to the main box.  This wasn't something my daughter could do by herself.

We hot glued a left over paper plate on the front and it was complete.

We decided it would be easier for her to carry if we added handles to the sides.  We were planning to add straps later.  I just had to figure out how to accomplish that.

All three kids got in on the priming.  They loved this part.

I sprayed the entire thing gold and my daughter drew the wheels on paper plates.  She also painted stripes inside the lines that I taped for her.  She wanted  to add princess wrapping paper and the number 4 to it as well.  Since our last name is Thomas she decided this would be a "girl Thomas train".

Girl Thomas needed a face of course.

It was totally her idea to add the "smoke".  Clever, if I do say so myself.

I added straps with scrap fabric. I just stapled them on and taped them down to really hold them in place.  The day of the Polar Express ride all of the kids wore their P.J.s.  

She walked all the way to school wearing her train.

Her teacher let her have a bell to ring.  I think she was more excited about the bell than the train.

There were lots of trains and no two were alike!  One of them even lit up!

There she goes, ringing her bell.  

There were six Kindergarten classes with 23 kids per class.  All of the other grades came outside and watched as the cute little Kinders paraded around the entire school.  

As a mom I was really glad she was able to do something so fun at school.  As a former teacher I appreciate that the teachers at her school value this kind of activity.  It makes for a long and wild school day but it is so important for our little ones to experience good old fashioned fun like this.

When I go back to teaching I think I'll add this to my own lesson plans!  

And just think, next year we get to do this all over again for my son!