Sweet friend, I don’t know who else is collecting cardboard tubes on the kitchen counter, but around here it has become a whole situation. The basket by the trash can has its own ecosystem at this point — empty toilet paper rolls, a stray paper towel tube or two, and inevitably one small person trying to use them as a telescope before I’ve even decided what to make.
We’ve been doing toilet paper roll crafts for a couple of seasons now, and honestly? They’re some of my favorites. No trip to the craft store. No special supplies. Just those humble little cardboard tubes, a bit of paint and imagination, and a kitchen table full of tiny wild ones.
If you’re a mama of littles who likes to keep things simple and meaningful — this list is for you. These are the kinds of crafts you can pull out on a slow morning, a rainy afternoon, or a Sunday when everyone just needs something gentle to do with their hands.
25 cute toilet paper roll crafts for kids
These ideas cover every season and celebration — so you can tuck this list away and come back to it all year long. Each one uses basic supplies you likely already have: paint, construction paper, googly eyes, yarn, pipe cleaners, and of course, those beloved cardboard tubes.
1. TP Roll Butterfly
Flatten the tube slightly, cut wing shapes out of tissue paper or watercolor paper, and let little ones paint and glue to their heart’s content. Add pipe cleaner antennae and you’ve got a fluttery little friend drying on the windowsill in no time. These look beautiful strung up as a garland if you make several.
2. TP Roll Owl
Pinch the top of the tube into two little ear points, paint it brown or gray, and glue on big round googly eyes. A felt beak and some torn paper feathers glued around the middle turn this into the most dignified little woodland creature you’ve ever seen. These are wonderful for a forest-themed afternoon.
3. TP Roll Farm Animals
Cows, pigs, sheep, horses — the whole barnyard is possible with a few tubes and some paint. Use construction paper for ears and tails, and let your little ones decide which animal they’re making. Around our farmhouse this one naturally turns into a whole farm scene spread out across the table.
4. TP Roll Shark
Paint the tube a stormy gray-blue, cut a triangle fin from cardstock, and add a paper mouth full of little white teeth. Simple and fast — and the kind of craft that makes a little boy absolutely delighted with himself. Great for an ocean unit or just because sharks are always a crowd-pleaser.
5. TP Roll Bat (perfect for fall!)
Paint the roll black, fold two wing shapes from black construction paper, and add white dot eyes. These look beautiful dangling from a string in a window — especially when the October light is coming in low and golden. A sweet, not-too-spooky touch for the season.
6. TP Roll Christmas Tree
Stand the tube upright, paint it green, and let small fingers dot it with ornaments using a cotton swab and different paint colors. A tiny yellow star on top — made from folded paper — makes it feel complete. These make the most darling little advent decorations lined up on the mantle.
7. TP Roll Christmas Ornaments
Slice the tube into rings, squish them slightly into oval shapes, and loop several together to make a garland or wreath. Paint them, add glitter, or wrap them in twine — each little ring takes about two minutes and looks genuinely beautiful. This is a wonderful project for early December when the anticipation is building but Christmas morning is still a ways off.
8. TP Roll Christmas Stars
Flatten the tube and cut five identical petal shapes. Fan them out and glue them together at the center to form a five-pointed star. Paint gold, dust with a little white, and you have a hand-crafted Christmas star that costs exactly nothing and feels like a treasure.
9. TP Roll Halloween Monsters
Give each child a tube and let them paint their most creative monster — no rules, no wrong answers. Purple with three eyes? Absolutely. Green with yarn hair? Yes please. Set them up in a row on the windowsill for an October display that is entirely theirs.
10. TP Roll Halloween Mummy
Wrap the tube in white yarn or torn strips of gauze, leaving a gap for two googly eyes peeking through. It looks so much cuter than it has any right to, and little hands can manage most of the wrapping themselves. Hang them from a thread for a little haunted house display.
11. TP Roll Easter Bunny
Paint the tube white or soft pink, cut two long bunny ears from cardstock, and glue on a pom-pom nose and a cotton ball tail. Tuck a few candy eggs inside and these become the sweetest little Easter basket additions. My oldest declared hers was “the real Easter bunny” and I didn’t argue.
12. TP Roll Easter Chick
Painted yellow, with two little orange paper wings and a tiny triangle beak — this little chick sits up on a table and looks genuinely joyful. Add a tuft of yellow yarn on top for extra fluff. Simple enough for even the youngest crafters to feel proud of what they’ve made.
13. TP Roll Fall Turkey
Fan out strips of construction paper in fall colors — orange, red, yellow — and tape them to the back of the tube for tail feathers. Paint the tube brown, add a little paper wattle and beak, and you’ve got a November turkey craft that takes twenty minutes and makes everyone smile. These also make a sweet Thanksgiving table decoration.
14. TP Roll Fall Leaves
Flatten a tube and use it as a stamp — dip the end in orange, red, or yellow paint and press it onto paper to make little oval leaf shapes. Add a painted stem and vein lines, and you have a whole autumn scene without any cutting required. Little ones can do this almost entirely independently, which is deeply satisfying for everyone.
15. TP Roll Valentine Hearts
Pinch the top of the tube into a heart shape and use it as a stamp with red or pink paint. Press onto card stock, add a little message in your child’s handwriting, and you have a Valentine that is truly handmade and genuinely sweet. These always feel more meaningful to me than anything we could buy.
16. TP Roll Spring Flowers
Flatten a tube and cut petal shapes along one end, then fan them out. Paint bright colors, add a yellow center, attach a green paper stem — and you have a flower garden growing on your kitchen table. These look so cheerful strung up with a bit of twine, and if you’re in a rainbow season with your littles, these pair beautifully alongside a round of rainbow crafts for kids.
17. TP Roll Winter Snowman
Paint the tube white, add a button nose, a scarf made from a strip of felt or fabric scrap, and a tiny paper top hat. Stack two or three tubes if you want a taller snowman. These feel like something that belongs on a windowsill in January, when the light is quiet and everything outside is still.
18. TP Roll St. Patrick’s Day
Paint the tube green and add a black paper hat brim and gold buckle for a little leprechaun, or simply wrap it in green and gold stripes for a festive display. Either way, it’s a five-minute project that makes a cheerful March table centerpiece. Tuck a few gold-wrapped chocolates inside for a little surprise.
19. TP Roll 4th of July Firecracker
Wrap the tube in red, white, and blue paper or paint it in stripes. Add strips of metallic tissue paper at the top as the burst and a curled pipe cleaner fuse at the bottom. These look festive on a porch or picnic table, and if you love a patriotic craft afternoon, you’d probably enjoy this full list of 4th of July crafts for kids too.
20. TP Roll Mother’s Day
Let little ones paint and decorate a tube for mama — flowers, hearts, handprints, whatever moves them — and use it as a gift wrap tube for a rolled-up drawing or a small note tucked inside. A card from a three-year-old saying “I love you mama” might be the most beautiful thing you’ll ever receive. These are the gifts I keep.
21. TP Roll Binoculars (for a nature walk!)
Tape two tubes side by side, punch a hole on each outer side, and thread yarn through for a neck strap. Paint them or cover in washi tape and send your little explorer outside. My toddler spent an entire slow afternoon “looking for birds” with hers, which is the kind of unhurried play that fills a farmhouse with peace. These pair so well with a whole camping crafts afternoon if you want to lean into the outdoor adventure theme.
22. TP Roll Race Cars
Lay the tube on its side, cut four circles from cardstock for wheels, and secure them with paper fasteners so they actually spin. Paint it your child’s favorite color, add a tiny driver made from a scrap of paper, and let the races begin. These are a consistent hit with little ones who like to zoom things across the floor at top speed.
23. TP Roll Nativity Figures
Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, and of course baby Jesus — all can be shaped from cardboard tubes, fabric scraps, and a little paint. These make the most tender little Advent activity, building the scene figure by figure through December. They also work beautifully as a simple craft for Sunday school or a family devotional evening around the table.
24. TP Roll Castle
Glue several tubes together in varying heights, cut battlements from the tops, and paint the whole thing gray or sandy brown. Add a drawbridge made from a strip of cardstock and a tiny flag on the tallest tower. This one takes a little more time and is wonderful for a slower afternoon when the littles are ready to invest in something bigger.
25. DIY TP Roll Craft Kit
Save a bag of rolls, gather basic supplies — paint, glue, tissue paper, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, yarn — and put together a simple craft kit your child can pull from anytime. Let them invent their own creation with no instructions at all. Some of our very best afternoons have come from a bored toddler and a pile of cardboard tubes left unattended for about six minutes.
what you’ll need to get started
One of the things I love most about these crafts is how little you actually need. The tube itself is free. Most of the other supplies are things you probably already have tucked in a drawer or a basket somewhere.
Here’s what we keep on hand for a quick craft session:
- Toilet paper rolls (and paper towel rolls for bigger projects)
- Washable tempera paint in basic colors
- White school glue or a glue stick
- Construction paper in assorted colors
- Googly eyes (the big bag from the craft store is worth it)
- Pipe cleaners and pom-poms
- Child-safe scissors for little helpers
- Yarn scraps, felt scraps, fabric bits
- Washi tape (optional but so fun)
That’s honestly it. I keep a small basket with these basics near the kitchen table so we can pull it out without any big setup. Quick access means we actually do it — and that matters on a busy Thursday afternoon when everyone just needs something to do with their hands.
why we save every cardboard roll
I really love turning something headed for the trash into something a child is proud of. These little cardboard tubes are headed for the recycling bin anyway — and in about twenty minutes, they can become a butterfly, a nativity figure, or a tiny race car that gets zoomed across the floor approximately four hundred times.
I think there’s real value in teaching our littles to see potential in ordinary objects. That toilet paper roll isn’t trash — it’s a castle waiting to happen. And that cardboard egg carton isn’t waste — it’s a garden of creatures. (If you’re in the habit of saving those too, you’d love this roundup of egg carton crafts for kids.)
For even more ideas built around what you already have at home, recycled crafts for kids is one of my favorite posts for this kind of creative, low-waste afternoon.
“She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” — Proverbs 31:27
There’s something quietly Proverbs 31 about this kind of afternoon — keeping our hands busy, using what we have, tending our little home with care and creativity. I think about that sometimes when we’re deep in a paint-spattered session with nothing but cardboard tubes and good intentions.
tips for keeping craft time gentle and fun
Craft time with little ones doesn’t have to be Pinterest-perfect — and honestly, it shouldn’t be. Here are a few things that have made a big difference in how our craft afternoons actually go.
- Set up before you call them in. Lay out the tubes, put paint in a muffin tin, set out the googly eyes and glue. When little ones sit down and everything is ready, there’s less chaos and more creating. It takes three minutes of prep and saves fifteen minutes of toddler meltdown.
- Let them lead. I try to show my kids one example and then step back. The owl that becomes a robot is perfect. The turkey that looks like a blob of brown paint is precious. Their version is always better than the instruction sheet version, because it’s theirs.
- Embrace the mess. An old vinyl tablecloth on the table, paint clothes on little bodies, and absolutely zero expectations for a clean workspace. Mess is how they learn. The countertop wipes down. The memory of a slow afternoon making butterflies does not.
- Mix in other materials. Toilet paper roll crafts go really well alongside simple paper crafts for kids — you can have both out at once and let little ones move between them freely. Same basic supplies, double the creativity.
- Don’t rush the drying. Paint needs time. Set finished crafts somewhere safe to dry completely before little hands want to handle them again. A cooling rack or a lined windowsill works perfectly.
planning these crafts through the whole year
One of the things I love about this list is that it covers the whole year. There’s always a season or a celebration just around the corner — and now there’s always a reason to save those cardboard tubes.
In the winter and Christmas season, we reach for the Christmas trees, ornament rings, stars, snowmen, and nativity figures. In spring, the butterflies, Easter bunnies and chicks, spring flowers, and Valentine hearts come out.
Summer is for binoculars, race cars, 4th of July firecrackers, and whatever the kids dream up on their own. And fall is one of my favorites — bats, turkeys, fall leaves, and Halloween monsters make the whole season feel festive without a single store-bought decoration.
If you want to add more texture to your indoor seasons, I also love weaving in sensory crafts for kids — especially in the slower winter months when little ones need something to really dig their hands into.
And if faith-filled crafting is part of your home rhythm, bookmark this list of prayer crafts for kids too — gentle, beautiful projects that help little hearts connect to God through their hands.
grab your cardboard tubes and make something today
Sweet friend, I hope this list gives you the kind of afternoon I love most — a little bit of color, a little bit of laughter, and three tiny humans absolutely delighted with what their hands can make out of practically nothing.
Start with just one. Pick the one that caught your eye first — the butterfly, the snowman, the nativity figures — and see where the afternoon takes you. There’s no wrong answer here, and there’s no such thing as a failed toilet paper roll craft when a child made it.
When you try one (or five), come back and tell me which craft your little ones fell in love with. Drop it in the comments below — I’d love to hear from you, and those notes always brighten my little corner of the internet.
Warmly,
Betty
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frequently asked questions
what age are toilet paper roll crafts good for?
These crafts work beautifully for children as young as 18 months with a little help, and they stay engaging well into the elementary years. Toddlers and preschoolers can handle painting, gluing, and stamping with minimal assistance. Older kids can take on more detailed projects like the castle, race cars, or nativity figures. The beauty of toilet paper roll crafts is how easily they scale up or down depending on who’s sitting at the table.
do I need non-toxic paint for these crafts?
Yes — especially for younger children, I always reach for washable, non-toxic tempera paint. It’s gentle enough for little hands, comes off skin and surfaces easily, and is widely available. If you’re working with a child who tends to put things in their mouth, keep a close eye until the paint is fully dry. A non-toxic craft space is a small and easy part of a non-toxic home.
how do I store toilet paper rolls for crafting?
I keep a simple paper bag near the trash in the bathroom and one in the laundry room. As rolls empty, they go straight in — no extra steps. Once the bag fills up, I move them to a shelf near our craft supplies. Paper towel rolls go in a separate spot since they’re a different size and suit different projects. Simple, tidy, and out of the way until a slow afternoon calls for them.
can these crafts be used for sunday school or homeschool?
Absolutely — many of these translate beautifully into faith-based settings. The nativity figures are a natural fit for Advent and Christmas lessons. Farm animals, Easter chicks, and bunnies work well alongside Bible story units. And the nativity craft in particular is a wonderful group project for a Sunday school class. Materials cost almost nothing, which is always a blessing for a ministry budget.
what if I don’t have all the supplies listed?
Work with what you have — that’s the whole heart of this kind of crafting. No googly eyes? Draw them on with a marker. No pipe cleaners? Use twist ties or strips of construction paper. No construction paper? Old magazines and newspaper work just fine for cutting shapes. These crafts are meant to be made from what’s already in your home, not as a reason to run to the store. Imperfect supplies and a willing heart make the very best things.
