8 Adorable Toilet Paper Roll Crafts

Crafts Shutterstock Zany-haired people, slithering snakes, and a DIY advent calendar. by Katie McPherson Updated: Feb. 20, 2024 Originally Published: Jan. 18, 2022

ozgurcankaya/E+/Getty Images If you’re looking for some crafting inspiration, consider... the garbage can. That’s right: throwaway items like toilet paper rolls can actually be the perfect base for crafting together with your kiddos. Read on to see just how much potential awaits under all that TP.

Ian Nolan/Image Source/Getty Images Who knew there was a rocket ship inside your toilet paper? Your space-obsessed kiddo will love turning their cardboard canvas into the fastest, farthest-flying rocket ship ever. Bonus points if you toss them out a window in a race to see whose spacecraft lands first.

yulkapopkova/E+/Getty Images Speaking of STEM-inspired crafts, toilet paper rolls are the perfect robot wheels, arms, and appendages. You’ll need some empty shipping or tissue boxes for his head and body. Once he’s assembled, your child can decorate him with buttons, switches, and gears.

Dorling Kindersley: Ruth Jenkinson/Dorling Kindersley RF/Getty Images The humble toilet paper roll can become the sturdy body of just about any animal, or even a tree trunk for a monkey to climb. Whether you and your little one choose to make a jungle scene or choose a different theme, making animal friends is a great way to spend an afternoon.

Allan Baxter/Photodisc/Getty Images Sssss... A toilet paper roll snake or caterpillar is a pretty simple craft that mostly involves coloring. Staple or string together your segments, add eyes and a tongue, and voila. This is a great way to learn about snake colors and patterns, too.

KidStock/Photodisc/Getty Images If binoculars are the first thing that come to mind when you hold up your rolls, no shame. Use tape or string to bind two TP rolls together, then let your child go crazy decorating them with stickers, markers, and more. Then, take a walk and see what you can spy through them.

RobMattingley/E+/Getty Images Make A Friend Not so much into snakes? A toilet paper roll can become just about any bug, person, or mythical critter with a little construction paper and imagination. Pop them on your hands, or glue them to popsicle sticks like this butterfly, and you have a puppet show.

yulkapopkova/E+/Getty Images Apply a brightly colored paint or paper to the tube and add pipe cleaner antennae, arms, and googly eyes to make an adorable alien. Leave the toilet paper roll centers open and use these creatures as pencil and marker cups to organize your supplies when you’re done.

Tatiana Soares / EyeEm/EyeEm/Getty Images Save 24 toilet paper rolls and a few Amazon boxes, and you’ll have the bones for a homemade advent calendar. You can hide candy, miniature toys, or other small surprises inside, then cover both ends with tissue paper for your kiddo to pop open each day of December.

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