We wanted to do a blog post of kids’ activities with toilet paper rolls. You can bet your bottom dollar there’s demand for it, and toilet rolls are so versatile, we were sure we’d have a butt-load of suggestions. Bummer is we didn’t have any experts in this area, so we posted out an ad and flushed out this specialist writer.
“There are lots of very fancy ideas for kids’ activities with toilet paper rolls; however, not everyone keeps lots of craft supplies, glue and so forth on hand, and not all kids are patient enough to invest time into those really crafty toilet paper roll ideas. Luckily, toilet paper rolls are great fun on their own! One of the most fun things kids can do with toilet paper rolls is use them as a musical instrument! Simply take the empty toilet paper roll and blow a “raspberry” into one end!
With practice, you can play toilet paper roll songs! Add some paper towel rolls for even more variety! You and your kid will be amazed at the great, loud sound, and if you happen to have a cat or dog, it will be amazed, too! [Ed- although we commended the use of toilet paper rolls to make toilet sounds, we weren’t wild on the creativity of this one, and felt it hit the pan in terms of innovation. But the next ones are better.]
Another very fast kids’ activities with toilet paper rolls is making a pair of binoculars. This is very simple and requires two toilet paper rolls. All you do is hold them side by side and let your kid staple them together (or let your kid hold them while you staple them together if that works better). If you have a hole punch, you can make a couple of holes on the outside edge of one end to string a piece of yarn through as a lanyard so that your kid can carry the binoculars in style. If you don’t have two toilet paper rolls, you can cut a paper towel roll in half or just use the paper towel roll as a telescope.
Both of these kids’ activities with toilet paper rolls are super quick and easy, yet you’d be amazed at how well they will keep your little ones occupied. Making noise and pretending to see things far away are both almost endlessly fascinating activities. If your kids like to do very crafty things, they can always add to these activities by coloring the toilet paper rolls, covering them with tissue paper or construction paper glued on, adding glitter, and so on.
Another very fast and fun kids’ activities with toilet paper rolls is Toilet Paper Roll Bowling, but you have to have about half a dozen toilet paper rolls for this. You just set up the rolls in a triangular pattern: 1 in front, 2 behind it, 3 behind that. Use a tennis ball or other small play ball as a bowling ball. Kids can stay entertained in a hallway on a rainy day with this for a very long time.
Some craft sites that share toilet paper roll activities give alternatives to use in case you have “hygiene” concerns about using toilet paper rolls for crafts. It’s hard to imagine what sort of hygiene concerns one might have considering the vast majority of people simply use up the toilet paper and toss the roll (or recycle it if they are conscientious). Nonetheless (don’t dwell on it) if you have “hygiene” concerns about using toilet paper rolls for crafts, you will be happy to know that you can carefully measure a paper towel roll to the size of a toilet paper roll and cut it yourself! You can substitute this hygienic cardboard tube for any craft plan calling for toilet paper rolls.”
If you thought this article was a bum deal, pan it and check out our real stuff. Join us by completing the form top right on this page, and we’ll send you a free copy of our $1,000 Book, “How to fool your kids into having fun so you can”. This has (just) over 100 games for kids to play while travelling – from hotel rooms, to restaurants, to airplanes, to boats, to beaches, parks, hotel lobbies and more. None of which are kids’ activities with toilet paper rolls. Thankfully.