After our success at making a miniature paper Trojan Horse model a few weeks ago, we thought it was time for something a little more challenging. I really want to try out papier-mâché Greek vases, but H insisted we stick with what we know – so we raided the recycling, adapted a few instructions from the fantastic Hands on History: Ancient Greeks by Joe Fullman, and made an EVEN BIGGER Trojan Horse.
To make your very own crafty Trojan Horse, you will need:
- 4 x toilet roll tubes
- 1 x small rectangular box
- 1 x (roughly) A4 card / cardboard
- Black marker pen
- Brown paint
- Googly eyes
- Wool / twine
- PVA glue
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
Step 1
Tape all the sides of your cardboard box shut – we like using paper tape as it is easy to paint over, but any tape will do!
Step 2
Draw a square in the middle of your box, and cut out three of its sides to make a flap. This will be the door for those sneaky soldiers!
Step 3
Next, it is time to make some legs! Take a toilet roll tube and cut two small lines downwards, directly opposite each other. Then cut along from the bottom of one line to the other until a little rectangle falls out. Repeat for all four tubes!
Step 4
Place the box on top of the four tubes – it should slot nicely into the spaces you cut out in Step 3. Once you have it all lined up, it is time to attach the four legs to the box: we went a little overboard with tape for extra sturdiness, but gluing them on is fine too!
Step 5
Fold the A4 card in half, and draw the outline of a horse’s head. Make sure the nose lies on the fold of the paper, and carefully cut it out so that it the two sides stay joined together.
Step 6
Time to paint! We mixed half brown paint and half PVA glue together to help the colour stick better to the box we used as it was quite glossy. Don’t forget to paint the head you cut out in Step 5, too – then leave it all to dry!
Step 7
Once the paint is dry (we were too impatient and things got messy!), stick the head to the body: we used a little bit of double-sided sticky tape this time but glue is fine too. Make sure you attach it on both sides!
Step 8
Time for the best part: decorating! Stick or draw an eye on each side of the head – you can even add in details for a nose or mouth. Don’t forget to decorate the body too: draw on patterns to make it look like wood, or splosh on more paint. You can even add a tail by gathering different lengths of wool or twine, tying together with a simple knot, and gluing to the back of the box. We went for the extra suspicious look, with added Mysterious Texture.
Step 9
Fill your crafty horse with sneaky Greek soldiers, and finally break through the walls of Troy!
Bonus Stage: Wings?
While we were playing with our horse, H suddenly asked “Can we make a PEGASUS TROJAN HORSE???” The answer was, of course, a very enthusiastic yes.
wee classics 