Make a cardboard celestial gacha box with decorated capsules and surprise star tokens; assemble, decorate, and test dispensing to explore creativity and simple mechanics.


Step-by-step guide to Create a Celestial Gacha
Step 1
Gather all the materials from the list and set them on a clear workspace.
Step 2
Use the ruler and pencil to mark a narrow rectangular dispensing slot near the bottom center of one side of the box.
Step 3
Cut out the dispensing slot with scissors and ask an adult to help with the craft knife for neater edges.
Step 4
Draw a round viewing window above the slot that is big enough to show a spinning wheel.
Step 5
Carefully cut out the viewing window with the craft knife while an adult watches and helps.
Step 6
Cut a cardboard circle slightly smaller than the inside width of the box to make the gacha wheel.
Step 7
Cut a small notch in the rim of the wheel that is sized to hold one capsule at a time.
Step 8
Push a pencil through the center of the wheel to create an axle.
Step 9
Slide the wheel into the box behind the viewing window and tape the pencil ends to the inside walls so the wheel can spin freely.
Step 10
Cut a small flap or hole in the top of the box to act as a hopper for loading capsules.
Step 11
Decorate bottle caps or small paper capsules with colouring materials and shiny stickers to make them look like celestial pods.
Step 12
Cut many tiny star tokens from shiny paper or draw stars on plain paper and cut them out.
Step 13
Place one star token inside each decorated capsule and drop the filled capsules into the hopper.
Step 14
Turn the pencil axle to spin the wheel and watch a capsule dispense through the slot to test your Celestial Gacha.
Step 15
Share your finished Celestial Gacha creation on DIY.org.
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!

Help!?
What can I use instead of a craft knife or bottle caps if I don't have them?
If you don't have a craft knife, ask an adult to use a utility knife or carefully cut the viewing window and dispensing slot with strong scissors, and replace bottle caps with folded paper capsules or large beads when decorating your celestial pods.
Why won't the wheel spin freely or capsules get stuck, and how do I fix it?
If the wheel won't spin or capsules jam, check that the pencil axle isn't taped too tightly to the inside walls, loosen or reposition the tape so the wheel rotates freely, and widen the wheel notch or dispensing slot slightly so only one decorated capsule passes through at a time.
How can I adapt this Celestial Gacha for younger children or older kids?
For younger children, have an adult cut the slot and window and use large decorated bottle caps and oversized star tokens for easy handling, while older kids can cut the cardboard wheel themselves, make a precise notch and experiment with multiple notches or finer decorations like painted constellations.
What are simple ways to enhance or personalize our Celestial Gacha?
Enhance your gacha by painting galaxy patterns on the box, adding glow-in-the-dark stickers to the star tokens, swapping the viewing window for clear plastic for a cleaner look, or creating themed prize tiers inside the decorated capsules.
Watch videos on how to Create a Celestial Gacha
Facts about cardboard crafts and simple mechanics
✨ Making a simple dispenser teaches basic mechanics (ramps, levers, and spin-and-drop motion) while kids design and decorate their own constellations.
⭐ About 4,500 stars are visible to the naked eye from Earth on a clear night, but the Milky Way alone holds hundreds of billions of stars—lots of ideas for star tokens!
📦 Corrugated cardboard is super strong for its weight—when folded into shapes it can support hundreds of times its own mass, great for building a sturdy dispenser.
🎰 Gashapon machines started in Japan and the word 'gashapon' mimics the clicking-and-dropping sound of a capsule vending—perfect inspo for a DIY gacha box!
🎲 Tiny surprise rewards (like capsule reveals) trigger excitement and curiosity—that 'wow!' moment helps kids stay engaged and experiment more.


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