Crafty animal antics
Toilet paper has become a pandemic cliché. If it’s not tales of panic purchasing at the announcement of each lockdown, it’s the never-ending suggestions for the use of empty rolls in crafting at home. Guilty as charged… in this blog we’ve painted them, stamped with them, rolled with them and used them in a whole host of constructions. In my very last post we used them to make binoculars.
So I thought I’d seen it all when it comes to crafty ideas using cardboard tubes. But then, last week the most adorable little cardboard fox came through my insta feed.
The design of the little fox was simple and clever, and I felt sure the same method could be used for a whole bunch of animals. So here are my humble efforts at making a farmyard of toilet roll animals. Enjoy!
This activity requires you and your child to craft together. Your job is the cutting. Creating these sweet little creatures requires some nifty scissor work – so the cutting part is a grown-up job. You’ll find that small sharp scissors, like nail scissors, are the best tool for the job.
Leave the painting and decorating up to your kids, they’ll love it. Their job is to bring those little animals to life, using whatever colours bring them joy. Once finished, the possibilities for creative play sparked are pretty endless. Play with them inside or out, add some extra bits and pieces, a flat sheet of cardboard, a shoebox shed, some sticks and leaves and you’ll soon have the ingredients for a farm, jungle or zoo.
While toilet tubes are great for this, any cardboard tube made from lightweight cardboard will do (gift wrapping, kitchen wrap etc.).
You’ll need:
one cardboard tube per animal
a pen or pencil for tracing the outline
sharp small scissors
paint
How to:
Take a cardboard tube and squash it flat with your palm.
Trace or sketch the animal shape’s outline onto one side. In the photos above I’ve included some of the shapes that worked for my samples. You might like to copy from them, or even print out and trace them as a template.
Cut carefully along the outlines, cutting away the shapes.
Poke your fingers into the tube to make it round again. Gently fold the heads and tails down.
Decorate with paint.
