Rocky Railway VBS: DIY Cardboard Box Train Prop

Want a simple cardboard box train for stage decor at Rocky Railway VBS? Read on for step-by-step instructions…

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Before I get started on the instructions, let me say this: the single BEST decision we’ve made for our VBS was to find a church to partner with on decorations! A few years ago, we started intentionally planning our VBS 1-2 weeks after another church in our county. Every year, they share their decorations with us when they’re finished with VBS. Our partner church (which is where my sister-in-law attends) made this cardboard box train, then passed it on to us. Below are the step-by-step instructions for how they made the train:

Supplies:

• Cardboard boxes
• Cardboard knife
• Black matte paint
• Paint roller & tray
• Black duct tape
• Silver duct tape
• Yellow, black & white poster board
• White cardstock paper
• Scissors
• School glue
• Large black sharpie
• Clear packing tape
• Red plastic coffee cans
• Optional: white tissue paper
• Large rolls of colored paper

Instructions:

Use black duct tape to seal all the boxes closed.

Use a paint roller to roll black matte paint on all of the cardboard boxes. (We tried spray paint and it was a mess. The roll-on paint looked much better and was easier to apply.)

Once all the boxes are dry: Sit a smaller box on top of a larger box to create the train engine. (We also put a 6″ tall box under the engine to hold it off the ground.)

Cut several circles from one of your black boxes (these will be your train wheels).

Cut the sheet of white posterboard in half (if needed to fit on your top box of the train engine). Use a large black Sharpie to draw a silhouette of a train engineer. Glue the silhouette of the train engineer to the side of the top box on the train engine.

Glue yellow posterboard to one of your circles (this will be the headlight of your train). Cut a smaller circle of white paper (from white posterboard or cardstock paper). Glue it in the center of the headlight. Use duct tape circles to attach the headlight to the train engine.

Stack 2 red coffee cans on top of each other to be your train’s smoke stack. Optional: Stuff white tissue paper in the top of the coffee can to be smoke.

Cover your train cars with large colored paper. Use clear packing tape to attach the colored paper to your train cars. Add black rectangle pieces of posterboard with smaller squares of white cardstock (these are your train windows).

Apply silver duct tape to the wheels (like slices of pizza). We tore the duct tape in half so it was skinnier before applying. Use rolls of duct tape to attach the wheels to the train.

Note: We did not permanently attach the boxes together because it was easier to transport them to the next church without them being taped/glued together. We didn’t have any issues with them coming apart or falling over during VBS.

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