October 14, 2026

Toilet Paper Roll Crafts

Cardboard tubes made into binoculars, an owl, and a flower

Toilet paper roll crafts start with a tube you already have. The tube is a body, a flower centre, or a pair of binoculars. These projects use tape more than liquid glue, because tape holds while the child is still building. The recycled crafts guide has a short binoculars project. This article stays with tubes and adds animals, a flower, and a pull toy.

Set up the table

Save clean, dry tubes. Flattening them is fine for some projects and wrong for others, so do not crush the pile. Markers work better than paint, which makes the cardboard soggy. An adult cuts slits. The child decorates and tapes.

Tube owl

Ages: 5+. Time: 25 minutes.

You need: one tube, paper wings, two paper eyes, markers.

  1. Draw feathers or leave the tube plain.
  2. Glue or tape the eyes near the top.
  3. Add a paper triangle beak.
  4. Tape wings on the sides.

Tape the wings on the back so the front stays flat.

Tube flower

Ages: 4+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: one tube, paper petals, a green strip, glue stick.

  1. Snip a fringe around one end, adult or older child.
  2. Bend the fringe out as petals.
  3. Tape the tube to the stem.
  4. Draw a centre in the hole.

Four snips are enough. More snips make the fringe fall off.

Binoculars

Ages: 5+. Time: 15 minutes.

You need: two tubes, tape, yarn, markers.

  1. Tape the tubes side by side.
  2. Decorate the outside.
  3. An adult adds a yarn strap through two holes, or skip the strap.
  4. Look across the room.

No strap is safer for younger children. The taped tubes still work.

Car

Ages: 5+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: one tube, four paper circles, tape, marker.

  1. Tape the circles on as wheels.
  2. Draw windows.
  3. Add a paper spoiler if they want.
  4. It can be pushed. It does not need axles.

Paper wheels that are taped flat still look like a car. Real rolling wheels are a harder build.

Pull pet

Ages: 6+. Time: 25 minutes.

You need: one tube, yarn, paper ears, markers.

  1. Decorate a face.
  2. An adult punches one hole and ties yarn.
  3. They pull it across the table.
  4. Ears and a tail are paper.

The yarn is a pull string, not a neck strap. Keep it short.

Tube stamps

Ages: 4+. Time: 15 minutes.

You need: a tube, washable paint, paper.

  1. Dip one end in a thin layer of paint.
  2. Press to print a ring.
  3. Use the side of the tube for a bar.
  4. Two kinds of print on one page.

Too much paint fills the ring and you lose the shape.

What to watch

Paint on cardboard needs drying time or it tears. If the child wants to keep building, use markers. Cut slits away from fingers, one tube at a time.

The Imagination Hive is a children’s art and STEM studio in Milton, Ontario. These projects use ordinary supplies so you can start at the kitchen table.

Keep making