Cardboard Tube Characters
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Description
Give your child cardboard tubes from toilet paper or paper towel rolls and a handful of art materials, and let them decide what each tube becomes - an animal, a person, a rocket, a creature.
What to prep
- cardboard_tube
- markers
- paper_scraps
- tape
Play guide
- 1Gather 2-4 cardboard tubes (from toilet paper or paper towel rolls).
- 2Set out markers, paper scraps, tape, and glue.
- 3Ask your child what the first tube wants to become. Let them answer before making any suggestions.
- 4Let them decorate freely - draw faces, wrap paper to add clothes, tape on paper ears or wings, roll paper for a hat.
- 5When one character is done, start the next. The characters may interact and tell stories as they accumulate.
Success signals
Your child decides what at least one tube becomes and names it. They add at least two details (face, clothing, feature) without guidance. The finished characters get used in pretend play rather than just set aside
If it's tricky
Your child is blank on ideas: Hold up a tube and move it like a walking figure - the movement usually triggers imaginative response. Paper scraps won't stay on the curved tube surface: Use tape rather than glue (tape holds curved surfaces better). Your child wants to squash or tear the tubes rather than decorate them: Let them - this can lead to flattened animal shapes or other creative forms