Upcycling Toilet Paper Rolls (and other cardboard tubes)

Confession: I may have a slight obsession with upcycling cardboard and toilet paper rolls for art, craft and play. There’s something so satisfying about giving a humble loo roll a second chance to shine. And they are always in plentiful supply. (Well, they are in our house anyway…)

We’ve done so many toilet paper roll activities that I’m having trouble keeping track of them all! So I thought I would share them all here, in one handy spot.

(Note: I’ve heard some people are worried about germs, and prefer to zap their TP rolls in the microwave for 10 seconds before using them. Personally, I’m don’t worry about this – ours sit in our TP roll stash for ages before we use them, so I’m confident that any nasties would have died off – not that I was ever concerned that there was a germ issue in the first place. Another idea is to use another type of roll, cut to size. The inside of paper towel or gift wrap is usually quite similar. Apparently you can even buy ‘craft rolls’ that are the same as toilet paper rolls, just without the toilet bit.)

I’ve also included our crafts and activities with other types of recycled cardboard tubes too – as I don’t want them to feel left out. Sometimes other tubes are actually better, depending on what you want to use them for. Cling wrap and aluminium foil rolls are usually sturdier and have a smaller diameter than TP rolls for instance. Occasionally we’ve also used aluminium-lined Pringles-style cylinders, like we did for our rain sticks.
 

Toilet Paper Roll Crafts for Kids

 
And we’re pinning loads more ideas here!