Cape Henry Lighthouses

Make these fun lighthouses out of bottle caps and paper towel tubes.

These lighthouses are modeled after the Cape Henry Lighthouses in Virginia which are featured in my children’s book, Olly Explores 7 Wonders of the Chesapeake Bay. The link to the book trailer is below.

According to US-Lighthouses.com there are about 680 lighthouses in the United States. The original Cape Henry lighthouse is made out of bricks. A new lighthouse was built in 1882 when the older one developed cracks and became unsafe. The old lighthouse has historical significance because it was the first lighthouse built by our new government after the Revolutionary war (1792). The new lighthouse is the tallest cast-iron lighthouse in the U.S. It still shines at night guiding ships into the Chesapeake Bay.–These are just a few interesting tidbits for lighthouse trivia buffs:)

Supplies you will need:

2 Paper towel tubes

2 Bottle caps 1 1/2″– (I used black and white, but any color will do)

4 Plastic lids 3″ (these were from Pringles cans)

Construction paper–black, white, red, yellow

Pencil or grey marker

Tape

Glue

Directions:

Brick lighthouse

Wrap the red paper around the tube and tape it down. Using a pencil or a grey marker, draw horizontal lines about an inch apart all the way down the tube, then go back and draw the vertical lines to form the bricks. Alternatively,  you can draw the lines before you wrap the paper around the tube. Then using the red paper again, trace around each plastic lid and cut out the circle. Glue the circle to the inside of each lid. Next, use the yellow paper to cut out a piece about 5 inches by 1 inch. Wrap it in a circle and fit one end into the bottle cap. Then tape the ends together once you see what size the circle needs to be. Finally, assemble your pieces together to form the lighthouse and glue in place.

Cast-iron lighthouse

Use the white paper as the base for the new lighthouse. You will need 3 stripes for the top and 3 stripes for the bottom–each stripe should be 1 inch wide by 5 1/2 inches long. Glue the stripes in an alternating pattern. The top half of the lighthouse has the opposite pattern to the bottom half. Then using the black paper again, trace around each plastic lid and cut out the circles. Glue the circles to the inside of each lid. Next, use the yellow paper to cut out a piece about 5 inches by 1 inch. Wrap it in a circle and fit one end into the bottle cap. Then tape the ends together once you see what size the circle needs to be. Finally, assemble your pieces together to form the lighthouse and glue in place.

I hope you enjoy making these fun lighthouses with your kids!

Here is the book trailer for Olly Explores 7 Wonders of the Chesapeake Bay.