Toilet Roll Crafts for Kids: 15 Fun Ideas

Toilet-roll tubes are a free, endless supply of craft material. Save them in a box, and you'll always have something to make on a rainy day. These fifteen crafts turn humble tubes into animals, rockets, binoculars and more, with step-by-step instructions and tips for every age.

Getting started

• Collect tubes. Keep a box near the bathroom and kitchen. Kitchen-roll tubes are great for taller crafts.
• Prepare the surface. Painting tubes is messy; use newspaper and old clothes.
• Paint or wrap. Paint the tube, or wrap it in colored paper with a glue stick. Wrapping dries faster.
• Tools: scissors, glue, tape, paint, markers, googly eyes, pipe cleaners and colored paper.

Animals

1. Owl. Fold the top edges of the tube down into the middle to make ears. Add big eyes, a beak and paper wings.
2. Bat. Paint the tube black, fold down the top for ears and add paper wings.
3. Penguin. Paint the tube black with a white tummy, then add an orange beak and feet.
4. Bunny. Paint white or grey, add long paper ears and a cotton-wool tail.
5. Octopus. Cut eight strips up from the bottom of the tube, curl them with a pencil and add a face. Color some ocean pages too.
6. Caterpillar. Cut tubes into rings, paint them and glue them in a row.
7. Dinosaur. Paint the tube green and add paper spikes down the back. See dinosaur crafts.

Things to play with

1. Binoculars. Tape two tubes together, decorate and add a string strap. Go on a bird or bug safari.
2. Rocket. Paint the tube, add a paper cone on top and tissue-paper flames at the bottom. See space activities.
3. Marble run. Cut tubes in half lengthways and tape them to a wall or a big box as chutes.
4. Rainmaker. Cover one end of a kitchen-roll tube, fill it with rice and pasta, cover the other end and decorate. Tip it slowly to hear "rain."
5. Race cars. Cut a hole in the top for a driver, add bottle-top wheels and paint. Color some vehicle pages for design ideas.
6. Puppets. Turn tubes into characters and put on a show.

Useful things

1. Pencil holder. Glue several tubes of different heights onto a cardboard base.
2. Cable tidy. Wrap cables and slide them into a decorated tube.

Learning with tubes

• Stamping shapes. Dip the end of a tube in paint and stamp circles. Squash it into a heart or an oval for different shapes.
• Counting tubes. Number tubes 1–10 and drop the right number of pom-poms in each.
• Color sorting. Paint tubes in different colors and sort pom-poms into them.
• Letter towers. Write letters on tubes and build words. Try sight words.
• Measuring. How many tubes long is the table? Introduce non-standard measurement.

Crafts by age

Ages 2–3: stamping shapes, painting tubes and rainmakers.

Ages 4–5: owls, bunnies, binoculars and rockets.

Ages 6–8: octopuses, race cars, puppets and marble runs.

Ages 9+: bigger projects like a cardboard tube city, a castle or a stop-motion film set.

Tips

• Squash a tube flat before cutting slits; it's much easier.
• Let painted tubes dry standing up on a pencil.
• Wrapping tubes in colored paper is faster than painting.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Painting with thick paint. It takes ages to dry. Use thin layers.
• Throwing tubes away. Save them; you'll always find a use.
• Using only glue sticks for 3D parts. Tape or PVA glue holds better.

Frequently asked questions

Are toilet-roll tubes safe for crafts?

Most people use them without any problem. If you're concerned about hygiene, use kitchen-roll tubes or cardboard from cereal boxes instead.

What's the easiest toilet-roll craft for toddlers?

Stamping circles with paint, or painting a tube and adding googly eyes.

How do I make tubes stand up?

Cut small slits at the bottom and fold them out, or glue the tube onto a cardboard base.

A toilet roll craft challenge

Give each child five tubes, tape, scissors and some paper, and set a challenge:

• Build the tallest tower.
• Make an animal that can stand up by itself.
• Build a car with moving parts.
• Make something that rolls the furthest.
• Invent something new and explain what it does.

Set a timer for 20 minutes and then share the creations.

How many tubes should I save?

Around 20–30 is plenty for most projects. Store them flat in a bag or box.

What can older kids make with lots of tubes?

A tube city, a large marble run, a castle with many towers, a set of puppets for a show, or a giant caterpillar for the bedroom wall.

Can we use toilet-roll tubes for math?

Yes. Number tubes for counting games, stack them in patterns, or use them as non-standard units to measure the table or the sofa.