Make some magnetic tin can robots with the kids this week. There’s a reason they’re classic art projects for kids to make.
The tin can robot art is very much an open-ended art opportunity. Kids can use a wide variety of materials to create robot art with magnets. The possibilities of what they can create are almost endless.
Transient art is one of the concepts explored as part of this tin can robot art project. Children also practice important early learning skills as they assemble their magnetic art robots. Along with fine motor skills practice, children learn more about math and science as they create.
Related: Robot Activities
This robot art activity is perfect during your next robot or science theme, especially if you’re learning about magnets. Of course, you can also create them just because your students love all things robots!
Tin Can Robots
Read below for some prepping tips, as well as a look into how my preschool students interacted with the magnetic robot art. Please keep in mind that you can change things up as you see fit! I love that this concept is easily adjusted based on materials you have on-hand, your students’ interests, the kids’ needs, etc.
Materials for Your Tin Can Robot Art
Start off by gathering the supplies you’ll need for your tin can robots. Here are some of the items we’ve used for it (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
As you can see, we started with clean and dry tin cans. Then I went through my craft supplies stash, pulling out a variety of items that seemed interesting. I let my students help choose some of the items, as well. And then I made sure we had magnets and glue. You can definitely use more or less than we did, or aim for completely different materials.
How to Prep the Tin Can Robots
After you have all your materials, ensure you have clean and dry tin cans ready to go. Mine had been opened with a smooth edge can opener, so there were no sharp edges. But I placed duct tape around the edges just to be on the safe side. I highly recommend you do so, too.
Next, it’s time to ensure all of the materials are magnetized. I just used a glue gun to attach magnets or magnetic strips to the supplies. You could use different types of glue or glue dots if you prefer.
Finally, set the materials out for your students! I placed the items out on one of our center tables. The tin cans were placed around the edge of the table, spaced out. And then I put the homemade magnets in a couple of baskets on the same table.
Now that you have everything prepped and ready to go, it’s time to let the kids explore the tin can robots!
How the Kids Created Their Magnetic Robot Art
As I mentioned earlier, this robot art project is really open-ended. This means that the children can use the materials in a variety of ways (within your classroom expectations, of course). I love observing how different children create and play!
As expected, many of my students chose to create robot faces with all of the materials. We had some very interesting creations! Some robots had 2 eyes, while others had 7. A few of the robots had puffy noses and no mouths. Any and all combinations were fair game for the kids.
Not all of the children wanted to make robots, though, and that was fine by me. These children just enjoyed the process of adding as many magnets as possible to the tin cans. They were caught up in the different textures, and a few spent some time counting all of the bits and bobs on the cans.
The tin can robots were left out as a center choice for a week. Each day, the kiddos spent some time exploring and creating. I put the items away at the end of the week, and some children continued to bring them out during centers. It was interesting to see who was really drawn to these creative robots!
What Skills are Kids Practicing with Tin Can Robots?
As we all know, young children are always learning. Even when they’re “just” playing or creating, they’re learning. And the tin can robot art invitation is no exception.
Here are some of the skills kids can practice and explore with this activity:
- Magnets and their properties
- Sensory exploration
- Fine motor skills
- Counting
- Sorting
- Color identification
- Shape identification
- Problem solving
- Creativity
- Vocabulary development
- Cause and effect
And that’s not even an exhaustive list! Not too bad for a simple robot idea, right? Be sure to save this post for future reference. If you have a Robot Theme Pinterest board, that’s a good place to start.
More Robot Activities for Kids
If the tin can robots are a hit with your students, here are a few more robot ideas to try out:
Robot Lesson Plans
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Click on the image below for our robot lesson plans:
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You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Originally published June 2014.
This is so cool!! I would have just as much fun as the kids with this:)
I know what you mean, Jaime! It’s so fun to join in during their play. 🙂 Thanks, hon!
Brilliant idea. I love how you nurture creativity of kiddos in your preschool. We have to do this magnet art at home one of these days!
Thanks, Natalie! They did so much with this easy activity, and I loved hearing their conversations. 🙂
What a great way to use a tin can! Pinned and stumbled.
Thanks so much, Vicky! I was pretty entertained with all of their great creations. 🙂
These are adorable! My kids would love them, especially since their uncle works in robotics. What an easy and fun project.
Thanks so much, Jenny! YES, I bet your kids would get an extra kick out of the tin can robots because of their uncle’s work!