Today’s creation has nothing to do with words, so I’m straying from my make something theme. Sometimes you just have to step away from the plan.

My daughter Emma jumped at the chance to be my creative collaborator this afternoon. In about 10  minutes of pure fun, we scavenged the junk drawer to round up household objects, then assembled them into this robot sculpture on our kitchen floor. Note the eight-year-old’s clever touches: our robot is combing his hair, wearing both a neck tie and a bow tie, and sticking out his tongue. He has style and attitude.