These funny looking martians are always hungry.

They're a great game which you can made from kitchen roll tubes.
The body of each martian is made from a third of a kitchen roll tube.

So, one tube should be enough to make three martians!
To make the mouth of the first kind of martian, cut two eggcups from an eggbox. Stick one on the top of the tube...
...and the other just leaning against the first.
The eyes are made from polystyrene balls (available from craft shops).

Just stick them in place like this.
Now you can decorate. Exactly how is up to you - you can paint if you like - like the one on the left - or cover with a layer of paper maché and then paint - like the one on the right.
The second type of martians are also made from thirds of kitchen roll tubes.
Cut this section out of an eggbox.
Then carefully cut off the pointy bit...
...and stick it onto the kitchen roll tube with some sticky tape.

You'll probably need a few pieces.
And again, you can either paint straight away or cover with paper maché first and then paint.
The food firer is made from a margarine tub, an elastic band, three wooden lolly sticks and an offcut from an eggbox.
Stick two of the lolly sticks into a V shape.

Where they join, stick the eggbox offcut. This will be the shelf that holds the food for the martians!
Now take the margarine tub and make a snip like this...
...and another one like this.
Take a lolly stick and put it through the horizontal slit so that half of it is inside, and half outside.
Stick it in place with tape on the inside of the margarine tub.
Now pop a piece of tape on each end of the lolly sticks that make the firing mechanism.
Stick the rest of the tape onto the base of the tub, to create a hinge.
Get the elastic band and stretch it between the two lolly sticks.

It's now ready to load and fire.
If you like, you can leave the food firer as it is, or you could paint it...
...like this one, which has a space age design!
Now you can fill the tub with food to fire.

We used scrunched-up paper - the martians just love it!
Why not make a martian landscape like this?

It's been made from a fruit box with one side cut off.
The craters are made from pulp paper.

Check out the Gruesome Goblin for more details on how to make pulp paper.
The whole base has been covered with PVA glue and sprinkled with sand to get a great textured effect.
The boulders are made from pieces of kitchen roll, scrunched up...
...dipped in PVA glue...
...and rolled in sand!
To catch any misfires, get a piece of card and stick it in place on the back of the box, like this.
This one has the base painted a nice martian red...
...and the backdrop has been made to look like the depths of space with stars, planets and shooting comets.
So to play, just add the hungry martians to the landscape and start firing!



© The Foundation TV Productions Limited 2003. All Rights Reserved.


Terms & Conditions