Make a Bike with Barry

What you need

• Two paper cups (3-inch diameter bottom)
• Two straws (one with a bendy part) or pipe cleaners
• Two coffee stirrers, straw pieces or cotton swabs for the axles
• Markers, crayons or colored pencils
• Scissors, and a grown-up with a craft knife
• The printable bike parts (in the PDF)
• Craft glue, glue sticks or tape
• Optional: a bottle cap to use as the seat

Grown-up prep

Before sharing the activity with kids, cut the bottoms off the two paper cups and carefully poke a small hole in the center of each. These become the wheels.

How to build it

1. Make the wheels

   Glue a colored circle from the printable onto the bottom of each cup to make wheel covers. Decorate the cups if you like.

2. Add the axles

   Trim the fuzzy ends off the cotton swabs. Make two small slits on opposite sides of each cup's open top and push the swabs through so they cross like an X.

3. Build the frame

   Run a long straw or pipe cleaner through the crossed axles of both wheels. Add handlebars with a short bendy straw.

4. Add the seat

   Fold the tab on the printable seat and glue or tape it behind the handlebars, or use a bottle cap.

5. Decorate

   Draw pedals, logos, team numbers or racing stripes. Write your initials on the bike plate.

6. Display and play

   Once the glue is dry, give your bike a gentle push on a smooth surface and watch the wheels spin.