Activities & Days Out / 2 May, 2020 / Nanny Anita

DIY Tin Can Monster Feet Stilts

Did you ever use stilts in your PE classes at school? I have really vivid memories of using them when I was in primary school, we had both proper wooden ones and the plastic ones with strings. Instead of buying a pair for YC and EC to use I thought it would be more fun to make our own DIY tin can stilts.

Make sure you follow my outside activity board on Pinterest for more ideas.  Don’t forget to save the pin for later. 

You will need:

• Tin cans*
• String
• Something to make a hole in the cans
• Paint
• Paintbrushes

*we used baked bean cans; make sure they are tin ones and not aluminium, as you will crush them otherwise.

To make the holes in the cans you will either need a drill or a sharp screwdriver and a hammer. You need to put them just under the top of the can.

Thread the string through and secure them with knots. It is important to make sure that the length of string is the same for both cans.

Decorate you cans, we did them as monster feet, and then let them dry. I would recommend using acrylic paints on them as they are easier to apply to the surface. Poster paints generally don’t work as well.

I would also recommend using them on either a carpeted room or grass (and with shoes on so that the rim of the can doesn’t dig into their feet).  They are actually harder to balance on than you would think.  Therefore the carpet or grass will be gentler on knees and hands than hard surfaces.

EC was really determined to get the hang of using these and spent a while really practicing with them. He also thought it would be a wonderful time to practice his stunt falls of them as well. In the end he managed to walk the whole length of the room before he decided that he wanted to swan dive off. YC on the other hand, found them really tough to stand on them, let alone walk on them. But she is such a determined little girl that she kept getting back up and trying again. She eventually managed to stand up on them with no help and then take a few steps with me there to steady her.

They are easy to put in your bag to take to the park.

As they aren’t overly big and very light I have taken to throwing them into my bag to take to the park and letting them use them there.

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