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Making and imaginingHand strength

Cardboard Tube Characters

Decorate cardboard tubes from toilet paper or paper towel rolls into characters, animals, or objects using markers, paper scraps, and tape. Child decides what each tube becomes.

Cartoon illustration of a parent and child at home doing Cardboard Tube Characters.
  • Age2.5 to 7 years
  • Time15 to 30 minutes
  • EnergyCalm
  • CostFree
  • WhereIndoors
  • PrepNone

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.

How to do it

  1. Gather 2-4 cardboard tubes (from toilet paper or paper towel rolls).
  2. Set out markers, paper scraps, tape, and glue.
  3. Ask your child what the first tube wants to become. Let them answer before making any suggestions.
  4. Let them decorate freely: draw faces, wrap paper to add clothes, tape on paper ears or wings, roll paper for a hat.
  5. When one character is done, start the next. The characters may interact and tell stories as they accumulate.

What you need

  • Cardboard tube
  • Markers
  • Paper scraps
  • Tape

Signs it is working

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 is not quite clicking

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

Make it yours

Younger, 2-3 years: Markers on a tube is sufficient. The wrapping and attaching steps require more fine motor precision than this age has reliably; keep it simple. 5-10 minutes is a complete session; follow the child's lead and stop before interest fades: one finished character is a full success. Older, 5-7 years: Try a whole cast of characters with a story; use them as puppets for a short play. Paper towel tubes can become taller figures or buildings. Extension: Connect multiple tubes to form a longer figure (body segments of a caterpillar or train)

Try this with your child.

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