Save up all those empty toilet paper rolls, because we’ve got a list of 50 super cute paper roll crafts for you and your kids to make and play with!

After 2020, every time someone mentions toilet paper, I’m sure most of us are going to get flashbacks of the toilet paper wars! The way people hoarded something so basic – it was crazy! Anyway, there may be a silver lining – lots of empty toilet paper rolls!

Those rolls are made of cardboard and are pretty durable. What’s more, you can easily paint on it or glue things on, which means these can be converted to pretty much your imagination can come up with.

We hope you have been saving up those paper rolls as today we are sharing a whole bunch of incredibly fun ideas for toilet paper roll crafts. You’ll find a project for pretty much everyone, from magical fairies that are ready to fly to dragons ready to breathe fire. What will your kids be making first?

Contents show

50 Super Cute Paper Roll Crafts for Kids

1. Fairy Birthday Countdown

Got a birthday coming up in your home? Make it one they’ll never forget by building up to the great day with these paper roll fairies from Kids Activities Blog. Not only do the fairies look absolutely gorgeous, they also contain hidden surprises inside! Now this is one fun birthday!

2. Cat Gift Boxes

Gifting is something everyone does, but the packaging can make this process a unique one! These cat gift boxes from Red Ted Art are super easy and super adorable – check out the detailing on the back! You can customize the cats any way you like to make your own personalized gift boxes.

3. Toilet Roll Octopus

How would you like a friendly little octopus sitting on your table as you work? With a toilet roll and instructions from Easy Peasy and Fun, you can go ahead and make a smiley little ocean creature. The paper-curling might be difficult for young kids, so adult help may be needed.

4. Star Wars Toilet Tube Characters

If you thought the Star Wars craze had died down, think again! For a true blue Star Wars fan, the force is always alive and kicking! This craft from Hello Wonderful is the perfect craft for such a fan, making use of a collage technique where pieces of paper are glued on to create the characters.

5. Horton Hears a Who Craft

Who doesn’t love Dr. Seuss? It’s quite likely that your Seuss fan has read the book about Horton or even seen the movie, which makes this craft perfect for him to make! Kids will have fun making the elephant’s trunk and Horton’s clover – the devil is in the details!

6. Toilet Roll Race Cars

This craft from Kifli es Levendula is perfect for when you have playdates over – boys or girls! Gather a bunch of toilet rolls, paints and cardboard, and let the kids create their own custom race cars! Increase the play-ability by inserting little Lego minifigures or other action figures as racers!

7. Toilet Roll Extension Cord Holder

It’s hard to believe that something so chic-looking is made from nothing more than wrapping paper and an empty toilet roll! Apartment Therapy shows you how you can keep your wires organized in a pretty manner, with a DIY that doesn’t take more than five minutes!

8. Inside Out Toilet Roll Craft

The Pixar movie Inside Out dealt with different emotions, one of the earliest things we teach children to identify for effective communication. Meaningful Mama takes it a step further with very detailed Inside Out characters, representing all the emotions and made of – toilet roll tubes!

9. Monster Mobile

With Halloween on the way, it’s time to stock up on monster crafts! This one from Happy Hooligans is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers who can play with toilet rolls, paints, pipe cleaners and googly eyes to create their own personalized monsters!

10. Polar Bear

Now this is a craft that you’d love to hug! Crafts by Amanda shows you how to turn a very insignificant-looking toilet roll tube into an absolutely adorable polar bear that’ll make you want to spread the love! This one is grey, but you can try a white version too.

11. Butterfly Spring Craft

We’ll have to wait for next year to enjoy spring, but that doesn’t mean that we can decorate our homes with the colors of this season! These colorful little butterflies from Bo Bunny are sure to brighten up a dull space, what with their floral wings and cute antennae. Go ahead and draw some smiles on them too!

12. Circus Performer Craft

Have you ever tried making a circus performer out of a toilet roll tube? Yes, we didn’t think so! The Art Room Plant shows you some fun models you can make of circus performers, including a strong man and an acrobat.

13. Pull Pinata Garland

Pinatas take a regular party to another level, don’t they? For your next party, be sure to make this pull-down pinata garland from Love and Cupcakes. The pinatas are toilet rolls, wrapped in fringed-paper and filled with little treats – perfect for little kids!

14. Minion Craft

The minions are such simple, happy creatures that everyone loves – no wonder there are so many crafts based on them! This particular one from All Free Kids Crafts is made by covering toilet roll tubes in yellow and blue paper, and drawing in the details with Sharpies – so simple!

15. Cardboard Tube Mini Beasts

Don’t be alarmed by the name; these little creatures are far from beastly! They’re actually cute little critters, with glittery wings and colorful legs. Red Ted Art gives us a lovely little critter craft that is perfect for the current weather and encourages some outdoor play!

16. Toilet Roll Spiders

Spiders can be large, hairy creatures that can make anyone run screaming from the room. Or they can be like the ones at Molly Moo Crafts – colorful, fun and very interesting! The unique part is that you don’t use a toilet roll in its original cylindrical shape – you transform it. Click on the link to find out more!

17. Paper Roll Bee Craft

Just look at that bee – isn’t he such a smiley, sunshiny fellow? Just looking at him makes you want to smile and be nice to everyone! You can make one for yourself with an empty toilet roll, colored paper and instructions from Easy Peasy and Fun.

18. DIY Ball and Cup Game

DIY toys are often the most fun, aren’t they? For this ball and cup game from Hello, Wonderful, all you need are empty toilet paper rolls, yarn and some large wooden beads – yes that’s it! This is an easy craft for preschoolers to make and play with – enough to keep them occupied for a while!

19. Minecraft Creeper

We’ve talked about Star Wars and Minions; can Minecraft be far behind? Kids Activities Blog has a very impressive Minecraft creeper craft for kids to make. The project is great for older kids, and there’s even a video tutorial to help!

20. Red Riding Hood Craft

We’re all familiar with the story of Red Riding Hood and how she dealt with the wolf who swallowed her Grandma, but this craft from Red Ted Art makes it so much more real with cute little toilet roll characters! It’s a slightly time intensive project, but completely worth the effort – just look at that Grandma!

21. Toilet Roll and Leaves Turkey Craft

With fall coming, you’re likely to soon have lots of golden brown leaves on hand. Be sure to collect them for this toilet roll turkey craft from Easy Peasy and Fun. Once you’ve got the leaves ready, the rest of the craft just involves a bit of sticking – it’ll be ready in a jiffy!

22. Fire-breathing Dragon

Have you ever wondered how cool it would be to breathe fire like a dragon? Thanks to this craft from One Little Project, you can actually get to do it with a toilet roll and basic craft supplies! The craft is simple enough, but we can imagine the amount of fun you’re going to have blowing through the rolls!

23. Mermaid and Hula Girl

Summer’s on it’s way out, but that doesn’t have to stop you from making this adorable craft featuring some summer gals! Molly Moo has made toilet rolls look unbelievably pretty, as colored paper, a sharpie and some glitter come together to make a cute Hula girl and her mermaid BFF!

24. Toilet Roll Snakes

The sheer versatility of toilet rolls is visible in this fun craft by Eighteen 25. Toilet rolls are painted, cut into spirals and then decorated from some really cool, swirly snakes – complete with a slithery tongue and protruding eyes!

25. Toilet Roll Penguins

There’s something endearing about penguins, which probably explains why they’re pretty popular (Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Pingu, Happy Feet, Penguins of Madagascar). Krokotak dips into this penguin fandom with their toilet roll penguin craft that’s actually a lot easier than it looks!

26. Toilet Tube Animals

This craft from Creative Me Inspired You is for a long lazy weekend when you have the whole family together (and a bunch of empty toilet rolls). Let each person ‘adopt’ a tube and make an animal – at the end of the day, you’ll have your own colorful menagerie! (Is anyone else reminded of Clifford?)

27. Statue of Liberty Craft

Here’s a craft that’s perfect for the 4th of July or Patriot’s Day. Let kids make their own statues – the craft offers some good cutting and sticking practice! One tip – use some orange and yellow crepe paper for a more realistic ‘flame’.

28. The Color Monster Toilet Roll Craft

The Color Monster is a lovely little book about emotions, and how each emotion is assigned a color. This craft along with the book works to help little children effectively understand their feelings by using colors.

29. Toilet Paper Roll Lorax Craft

The Lorax is one of those amazing books that tells a lot in very few words. This craft will help kids focus more on the meaning of what Lorax said. Unless each of us cares a whole lot, things won’t get any better!

30. Toilet Paper Roll Pig Craft

Pigs love rolling around in the mud, but these ones prefer the grass, I suppose! At first sight, these probably don’t look like they’re made from cardboard tubes, but they definitely are!

31. Cardboard Tube Parrot and Pirate

Ahoy matey, do you have treasure for us? Thanks to books and movies, no pirate today seems complete without a faithful parrot sidekick! And when you can make both of them out of paper rolls, it’s a win-win!

32. Among Us Cardboard Roll Craft

After Pokemon, this game was probably what became popular in my home for a while. Well, I suppose the pandemic probably had a role to play in its sudden popularity, since we had little else to do in lockdown!

33. Cardboard Tube Mushroom House

If you’re playing with little gnome dolls or need a little fantasy village setting for your pretend play, these mushroom houses are really easy to make from cardboard tubes!

34. Cardboard Roll Santa Claus Ornament

I love the idea of decorating a tree with DIY ornaments. It adds so much personality to a tree rather than using mass produced ornaments that don’t just cost a bomb but also lack that special touch!

35. Cardboard Tube Aliens

We aren’t exactly sure how aliens look like, but that gives us the creative freedom to imagine them however we like! So grab some cardboard tubes and go crazy – make your aliens as unique as can be!

36. Tissue Roll Owls

This Mama owl and baby owl look adorable together don’t they? This is the perfect craft to make for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. We love how the tube folds so that it forms the owl’s head so perfectly!

37. Paper Roll Cat Craft

Hello Wonderful has a use for toilet rolls that isn’t just super cute, but quite utilitarian too! It’s impressive what a bunch of uncovered cardboard tubes put together can create!

38. Toilet Paper Roll Mouse Craft

If you’ve made a cat with cardboard tubes, can a mouse be far behind? Simple Everyday Mom creates some adorable mice with cardboard tubes – you can make them brown or gray, whatever you like!

39. Paper Roll Leprechauns

Fun 365 has a craft with cardboard tubes that’s perfect for when March rolls around. These leprechauns may be sleeping now, but don’t even dare to touch their gold – they’re nimble enough to rescue it!

40. Paper Roll Crab

Whether you visited the beach this summer or are making plans to go, this craft from Hunny I’m Home is a must try! The pipe cleaners seem like the perfect thing to make the crab’s limbs – he looks like he’s already moving!

41. Paper Tube Toy Car Garage

Tired of all the metal cars lying around your home? Mama Cheaps has the perfect solution to contain the mess, while also keeping your die cast cards safe and protected – a garage made with cardboard tubes!

42. Toilet Paper Roll Forky Craft

Isn’t Toy Story among the best movie series of all time? I certainly think so, which is probably why we love this Forky craft from Simple Everyday Mom. Turns out you don’t need a fork – a cardboard tube will do!

43. Toilet Paper Roll Cactus

There was a time when there were cactus motifs on everything, and I think the trend is still around! I don’t mind it at all, I love my succulents, which is why this craft from The Best Ideas for Kids is very much on trend.

44. Paper Roll Lion

The lion may be the king of the jungle but this little guy from Easy Crafts for Kids looks so cute and mild! The mane and tail of the lion almost hide the fact that it is, in fact, made from a toilet paper roll.

45. Toilet Paper Roll Foxes

Looking for woodland animal crafts to make? Well then, this fox craft from Easy Peasy and Fun is a must make! These foxes look asleep however – maybe they’re waiting for Fall!

46. Recycled Robots Craft

We absolutely love this craft from Artsy Momma for its open ended nature. It’s a recycled robot, which means you can use pretty much anything lying around your house – a button, a bottle cap, scraps of foam – anything really!

47. Paper Roll Princesses

Ruffles and Rain Boots has some interesting princess crafts made with cardboard tubes and this one features Rapunzel. Love the focus on the long blonde hair – looks like Rapunzel is really happy about it too!