CANstruction- Food Drive Fun!

This post is for you, Patty!

Today I had lunch with my best blog friend, Patty from 2nd in Line.  After a rocky start to the day, {think below zero temperatures = my car would not start.  Then, while rushing out to greet my dad who came to give me a jump, I fell on the ice on my deck and landed on my arm and then my butt (which both still hurt, btw)!  Then had to go buy a new car battery for over $100... UGH!} she treated me to a tasty lunch and we even ran into some of my co-workers at the restaurant for extra fun!

During lunch, I was telling Patty about CANstruction, which is what we call our December food drive at school.  We collect canned and boxed foods just like a normal food drive... but on the last day of the collection, we combine our cans with those from another class (the teams are pre-decided) and work together to build a structure using the cans and boxes... or a CANstruction!

We're pretty competitive over in my neck of the woods so there are some typed out rules and guidelines about what you can and can't use for your structures... we can use things like tape, paper, string, pipe cleaners, paper towel rolls, etc... and this year, our principal gave us a twist.  We were allowed to use ONE item not on the list.

So... one of my sweeties came up with the idea of building the Mackinac Bridge.  We worked in secret all morning in my room... I took pictures and printed them so our friends from our partner class could help us build it for the real competition.

Here is what we came up with...

We used one of our little benches from the hallway as our one item not on the list.

We built up cans on both sides of the table...

Then we had to create the pillars of the bridge...

We added a road and the suspension cables...

We used the boxes and bags of food to make boats and cars...

Here's our totally finished product after the contest...

At the end of the day, my principal came on the announcements to reveal the winner... which he said was the local food bank.  All the kiddos wanted to know who the REAL winner was... and it was us!  Whoo hoo!

My school sent over 1,500 items to the local food bank.  We had fun.  We worked together in an amazing display of teamwork.  And won... which was just a sweet little bonus!