If you don’t have a stash of toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls, we recommend that you start saving them. They come in so handy for crafting with the kids.
Frugal, recyclable materials like cardboard tubes are a great way to craft with the kids on a budget.
And if you need inspiration, we’ve put together a fun list of 25+ toilet paper roll crafts for kids that you can make right now.
You can make just about anything with toilet paper rolls.
From Forky to Ariel to the Minions, you’ll find some of your child’s favorite characters in the list below.
We’ve also included some cute animals, race cars, stackable toys, and rainbow blowers. In other words, you’ll find something for every child’s interest.
Let’s get to the list so you can have an activity ready for the kiddos, pronto.
Here's a fun take on Forky—a favorite character from Toy Story 4.
Using our handy template, a toilet paper roll, and a pipe cleaner, you make your own toilet roll Forky to play with!
Baby Yoda (aka The Child) is everywhere, and we can't resist his cute face, either.
Your kiddos are going to love this Baby Yoda made out of cardboard tubes and colored paper. It's so easy to put together.
If you have fans of Disney's Frozen and Frozen 2, Olaf is probably a favorite character.
Make a simple, cute Olaf figure with cardboard tubes in no time flat.
You don't have to wait for winter; this snowman craft is a great choice for a Frozen family movie night.
This adorable toilet paper roll mouse craft is a fun and simple recycled craft that kids will have a fun time making!
These little toilet paper roll bats are small, but fun to make! They're great for Halloween or when learning about bats.
For fall or Back to School season, you may want to try this cute apple core craft.
The toilet paper tube is between two cupcake liners. Add a stem, some leaves, and the seeds, and you're all set.
Made with coffee filters, colored paper, and toilet rolls, these smiling butterflies are the perfect subject for spring.
Summer brings Shark Week and all the toothy shark fun that entails. Make this toilet paper roll shark as a summer craft or as part of an ocean animal unit.
Phineas and Ferb fans will instantly recognize Agent P (aka Perry the Platypus). This craft makes a fun toy as well. The kids will keep him around for ages!
Here's a cute little craft for your preschooler or kindergartener that'll give them plenty of scissor practice while cutting the paper into pieces for the body and the yarn for the hair.
You only need a little bit of yarn, so feel free to use the scraps you've been saving.
Make an octopus for an Under the Sea learning unit, or just for fun! It's a terrific summer craft.
All you need is a toilet roll, the paint color of your choice, and scissors make the tentacles. It's so easy!
Are they aliens or monsters? Who knows? But they sure are fun!
Get wild and wacky with the designs. Add lots of antennae, multiple eyes, funny teeth... whatever your imagination comes up with!
Perfect for before or after a visit to the zoo, these cardboard tube elephants will be a cute addition to your crafts.
They're super simple with big ears and trunks made with thin cardboard. Toilet paper tubes, gray paint, thin cardboard, and googly eyes are all you need to make a trio of elephants.
Have a kiddo who loves robots? Make these cute cardboard tube robots today!
If you'd like to cut down on the paint time, use gray paper instead, and then arrange your beads, stickers, etc. to create your panel of buttons. Add some accordion paper arms, and you're finished.
Make this Lorax paper tube craft to celebrate Read Across America week or just for fun after reading through this popular book again.
It would also make a fantastic Earth Day craft since The Lorax has a strong environmental message.
We just can't BEAR how cute these bears are! Puns aside, these friendly bears would be fun to make after a visit to the nature preserve or as a camp or scout craft.
Zoom, zoom! Use your tp roll stash to make a slick racecar or two. The printable car sleeves make it super easy to figure out where everything is supposed to go.
Boys (and girls) will get a kick out of designing their cars.
How cute is this family of paper roll giraffes? You'll need paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes to complete the whole family, but it's well worth the effort. What a cute family activity for a rainy day!
You can't get much simpler than these paper roll fish. You only need some paint, paintbrushes, scissors, and your toilet paper rolls.
You'll be surprised at the fish shapes you can make using just your scissors and a toilet paper tube.
Your little mermaid is going to love this Ariel paper roll craft. The best part is that you can change the hair color with paper that matches your child's hair color.
Make some minions for family movie night, and follow it up with a couple of Minion movies!
These little yellow guys are as fun to make as they are to play with.
This lucky little ladybug looks like she's ready to take flight! Make one with your kids as part of an insect unit or when you begin to see the ladybugs emerge in spring or summer.
They'd also make cute decorations for a ladybug-themed shower.
With the release of the Paddington films in recent years, a whole new generation of kids loves this sweet bear in his hat and raincoat.
Now you can make a toilet paper roll version that's just as cute. Look at his little matchbox suitcase. Isn't it adorable?
Blast off! Let your imagination soar by making a rocket out of toilet paper rolls and cardboard.
You don't have to paint it if you don't want to. Just draw some windows and a door, and your rocket is ready for playtime.
Your kids will have so much fun playing with this colorful rainbow craft. The tissue paper streamers will move wildly when you blow in the top of the cloud tube.
Unicorns are magical, and so is this easy, colorful craft. Use scrap pieces of yarn to make the gorgeous rainbow mane and tail.
Wouldn't this make a fun craft for a unicorn-themed party?
Build a city backdrop for your LEGO Minifigures or your superhero action figures! It's super easy to do with toilet paper rolls and a little paint.
Cut slits in the tops of the rolls to stack them on each other to create lots of interesting structures.
Pin this list of toilet paper roll crafts the next time you want an easy, rainy day craft to do with the kids!
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Sam is the crafter and founder of Simple Everyday Mom. She has been featured in Oprah Mag, Good Housekeeping, The Spruce Crafts, Country Living, The Bump and more. Read more.