How to Make a Prize Punch Box for a Birthday Party

Maggie’s birthday was way back in September, but with all of the holiday content we wanted to share I never got a chance to create a tutorial on how to make a prize bunch box for a birthday party! We had an insane amount of fun with her banana-themed third birthday party. And as soon as she said she wanted a banana party we pretty much knew we had to make a banana stand. So here’s how we put it all together.

How to Make a Prize Punch Box

Materials

• Wardrobe box
• Dremel tool
• Smal cup for tracing
• Sharpie pen
• Yard stick
• Masking tape
• To-go soup containers
• Tissue paper
• Paint
• Painter’s tape
• Paint brushes or rollers
• Glue gun
• Small prizes
• Scissors
• Optional: alphabet stickers
• Optional: Cricut machine, vinyl, transfer tape

Make Time: 4 Hours

Step 1: To begin, I recommend having your wardrobe box shipped from Amazon if possible (there’s a link above). If you have it shipped, it comes inside another box, which we actually will be using as part of the tutorial. And it’s free if you have Prime! Once you have your wardrobe box, tape up the sides and tape over any slits or holes. Also tape the bottom closed.

Step 2: Next, measure a line to create an angled top for your box. Leave the front as-is. On the back side, measure 6 inches down on either side and draw a line with Sharpie. Then use the yard stick to draw a line on the two sides of the box, from the top of the front side to the line that you drew on the back. Then you’ll need to cut on each of those lines.

Step 3: Construct the top for the box. This is where the extra cardboard comes in handy! Lay an extra piece of cardboard across the top of your box and you should have a slanted roof. Fold the front and the back of the piece of cardboard downward so that the roof has a little overhang at the front and back.

Step 4: Use a cup to trace scallops on the overhang of the roof on both the front and the back. Cut the scalloped edge.

Step 5: Use another cup to trace circles on the box for the kids to punch through. Make sure you use a cup that has a smaller opening than your soup containers, but large enough that a kid can put his fist through it. Trace circles on you box in the places you’d like to have them punch. You can use a yard stick to measure and make them all even. If you’re planning on having punch areas on all four sides like we did, make sure that you don’t put holes that are even with each other on either side of a corner. If you do, you’ll find that you won’t be able to get the containers inside to hold the prizes because there won’t be room for them.

Step 6: Paint the outside of your box! You can paint it any way you like, but if you want to create stripes like ours, here’s how to do it. Start by painting it completely white. Let the white dry, then add strips of painter’s tape where you want it to remain white. Paint the untaped areas with your second color, and then remove the painter’s tape. Also paint the roof however you like.

Step 7: Next, fill your soup containers with prizes.

Step 8: Cut a square of tissue paper large enough to cover the mouth of the container, and use hot glue to glue it on top of each container.

Step 9: Now place another line of hot glue around the mouth of the container, on top of the tissue paper. Then affix the container to the inside of the box over a hole. Continue until all of the holes are covered with containers. Now if you punch through the tissue paper, you’ll be able to reach inside and get the prizes!

Step 10: Affix the roof to the top of the box with hot glue.

Step 11: If you want words on your box, you can add alphabet stickers or use a Cricut machine to cut out words and apply them. If you use the Cricut, cut your words out of adhesive vinyl, weed the excess, and apply a transfer tape over the top of the words. Peel the words up so they remain on the transfer tape and apply them to the front of your box. Burnish them with a tool (or an old credit card like we did) so that the letters stick thoroughly, then remove the transfer tape.

Phewph! We did it! It’s such a fun project to make and I LOVE that it’s a more interesting alternative to a pinata. We gave each kid two “Banana Bucks,” and they could use one Banana Buck to have a chance at punching the box. So they each punched twice. A couple of the containers had extra Banana Bucks in them, so those kids got to punch again. They loved it, and it was so fun to watch!

See this post for the rest of our Banana Bash details. And check out our other party ideas! xoxo