Really easy toilet roll crafts for toddlers!

I’ve been wanting to write something a bit ‘crafty’ for a while now and in my mind had envisaged it being just a little bit more highbrow than activities with a loo roll tube. But toddlers aren’t all that discerning and we had fun making these so I thought I’d share our ‘toilet roll animals’ with you! They were really simple to do – made with bits we already had in the house – and kept Little Miss amused for a good half hour or so, which is pretty good given the average toddler attention span!

So first up we have Mr Octopus, who you can see in the top picture, made with your good old family loo roll tube. Basically you just cut the eight legs and hey presto, there he is! If you cut the legs longer it could make an equally good spider if that’s more your thing. Once you’ve done the legs you’ve got the fun bit of decorating him, which as you can see Little Miss took  quite seriously – to start with at least. The Works is great for bags of cheap craft bits and bobs, like the boggly eyes. If you’ve got the time and inclination then it might be nice to get the paint out (clearly I didn’t here!).

Moving on, we have (drum roll) Kitchen Towel Tube Snake…

This was made by cutting diagonally round the tube in a spiral motion – hopefully that makes sense as I’ve just struggled to put this into words! We, well I, then drew on the eye and decorated it with coloured pencils. Little Miss enjoyed coiling her new cardboard reptile friend around her arm!

So there you have it. A new way to get rid of those those pesky cardboard tubes that we seem to get so many of –  we could make half a zoo in an average week!

The initial inspiration for these was found within the wonderous fountain of ideas that is Pinterest but we gave it our own spin – and I’m claiming the snake idea as my own, though I strongly suspect I couldn’t patent it!

I regularly pin ideas for toddler arts and crafts onto my Pinterest board, which cunningly has that name. Further loo roll animals can be found on this board, though some look a bit too complicated for Little Miss to enjoy making just yet. And I’m collecting Easter-themed toddler activities here. Also worth a follow on Pinterest is Craftulate.

So, what do you think of our creations?