Make a Cardboard Taco Truck

What would you serve if you ran a food truck?

Food trucks are always on the move, serving up your favorite meal on four wheels. If you could design and drive a food truck, what type of food would you serve?

Burgers, curry, pretzels, barbeque, empanadas? The choice is yours! 

We invite you to design and build a model of your dream food truck, ready to move and groove down the street and feed hungry customers.  

Gather the Following Materials:

• Paper  
• Pencil 
• Cardboard  
• Two plastic straws  
• Two small wooden dowels or skewers (thin enough to fit inside a plastic straw) 
• Markers  
• Scissors  
• Packaging tape and/or hot glue 
• Four plastic bottle caps of the same size  
• Extra materials you would like to use for decoration (construction paper, yarn, foam, your choice!) 

Let’s Get Started:

1. With paper and pencil, design your food truck. Here are some guiding questions to help you with the process:
   1. What type of food will your truck serve?
   2. What shape will your truck be? 
   3. How many windows will your truck have? 
   4. What decorations will you add?
   5. Where will your menu be displayed?
2. Construct the body of your car with cardboard. One way to do this is by building each side separately, and then piecing everything together with tape or glue. To add more stability, construct triangle-shaped braces from cardboard and secure them to the inner corners of your car. 
3. Time to decorate, add any extra details you would like. 
4. Now, add the wheels! Cut two straws a little longer than the width of your car. Then, using tape or hot glue, secure them (width-wise) to either side of the bottom, or undercarriage, of the car.
5. Next, slide a wooden dowel or skewer through one of the straws. The dowel should stick out just a bit farther than the straws on either side. Trim as needed (a trusted adult may need to help you with this step!) Repeat on the other end of the car.  
6. Secure your plastic bottle caps on each end of the dowels or skewers. Now it’s time to get moving! Test your truck, see how it moves, and adjust as needed.

Share Your Creation

We’d love to see your food truck. Stop in and show us your creation. Or, share it digitally by tagging us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and use #playalongsd.

About the Book

“Little Taco Truck” by Tanya Valentine and Jorge Martin can be found in our gift shop, Play Central Toys & Books.

Here’s an excerpt from the inner cover: “Little Taco Truck has no place to park. Miss Falafel, Annie’s Arepas, Jumbo Gumbo, and their friends are crowding the whole street! Look inside to find out how Little Taco Truck makes new friends and finds a space of his own.”