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This set of 10 beginning sound clip cards are a great way to bring literacy into your tubes and tunnels study. There is an answer key included in this pack in case there are any questions as to what type of tube or tunnel is on the card. Print, laminate, cut, and have children use clothespins to clip the correct beginning letter.

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Tubes and Tunnels Beginning Sound Clip Cards

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This set of 10 beginning sound clip cards are a great way to bring literacy into your tubes and tunnels study. There is an answer key included in this pack in case there are any questions as to what type of tube or tunnel is on the card.

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Tubes and Tunnels Two Piece Matching Puzzles

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Cute two piece puzzles with a tubes and tunnels theme...

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Tubes And Tunnels Worksheets & Teaching Resources | TpT

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Browse tubes and tunnels resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources.

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Toilet paper rolls are amazing. There are so many activities that you can do with them. As part of the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop, I came up with five easy games you can put together using your saved toilet paper rolls. To make my rolls a bit prettier, I dressed them up with origami paper using my favorite double-sided tape to attach each piece. I love this package of papers because of the color variety. For the numbers I used foam stickers, but you could also just use a marker.

1. Stacking Tower - If your child is a builder he or she will love stacking tubes. I cut out cardboard circles to use as a base between each roll. The stacking tower is a fun and interactive way to teach counting.

2. Color Matching - It's easy to put together a color matching game with your toilet paper rolls. Collect small, colored items from around the house, place them in one small container or several, and you now have an inviting activity for practicing colors.

3. Tube Bowling - We have some plastic bowling pins that my son loves, but boy are they loud when they come crashing down on our tile floor. I love that he can have just as much fun (minus the noise) with tube bowling. To make the ball, crumple up a piece of paper and then wrap tape around it to cover it. I used washi tape for mine.

4. Number Matching - Use magnetic numbers, stickers, or just draw numbers on a piece of paper and you now have a number matching game. Kids can drop the matching numbers in the tubes or place them in front.

5. Tube Tunnels - As a mom to an enthusiast of cars, trucks and trains, I'm always making tunnels out of something. Toilet paper rolls make awesome tunnels. If you have lots of cars and trucks like we do, it's easy to turn your tube tunnels into a color matching game as well.

This post is part of the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop. Sharing simple ideas on how to connect with your children through play! New ideas shared each day from April 1st - July 20th.
100 Days of Play is brought to you by these wonderful bloggers

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Five Easy and Fun Toilet Paper Roll Kid Activities

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Toilet paper rolls are amazing. There are so many activities that you can do with them. As part of the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop, I came up with five easy games you can put together using your saved toilet paper rolls.

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Toilet paper rolls are amazing. There are so many activities that you can do with them. As part of the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop, I came up with five easy games you can put together using your saved toilet paper rolls. To make my rolls a bit prettier, I dressed them up with origami paper using my favorite double-sided tape to attach each piece. I love this package of papers because of the color variety. For the numbers I used foam stickers, but you could also just use a marker.

1. Stacking Tower - If your child is a builder he or she will love stacking tubes. I cut out cardboard circles to use as a base between each roll. The stacking tower is a fun and interactive way to teach counting.

2. Color Matching - It's easy to put together a color matching game with your toilet paper rolls. Collect small, colored items from around the house, place them in one small container or several, and you now have an inviting activity for practicing colors.

3. Tube Bowling - We have some plastic bowling pins that my son loves, but boy are they loud when they come crashing down on our tile floor. I love that he can have just as much fun (minus the noise) with tube bowling. To make the ball, crumple up a piece of paper and then wrap tape around it to cover it. I used washi tape for mine.

4. Number Matching - Use magnetic numbers, stickers, or just draw numbers on a piece of paper and you now have a number matching game. Kids can drop the matching numbers in the tubes or place them in front.

5. Tube Tunnels - As a mom to an enthusiast of cars, trucks and trains, I'm always making tunnels out of something. Toilet paper rolls make awesome tunnels. If you have lots of cars and trucks like we do, it's easy to turn your tube tunnels into a color matching game as well.

This post is part of the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop. Sharing simple ideas on how to connect with your children through play! New ideas shared each day from April 1st - July 20th.
100 Days of Play is brought to you by these wonderful bloggers

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Five Easy and Fun Toilet Paper Roll Kid Activities

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Toilet paper rolls are amazing. There are so many activities that you can do with them. As part of the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop, I came up with five easy games you can put together using your saved toilet paper rolls.

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Creative Curriculum Tubes and Tunnels- Pinterest

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Creative Curriculum Tubes and Tunnels- Pinterest

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Questions to ask while they use Tubes and Tunnels

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Questions to ask while they use Tubes and Tunnels

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Cardboard tubes are versatile resources for your preschool classroom. You can repurpose or reuse paper towel tubes and gift wrap tubes in many different ways. Almost all the centers in your classroom can use cardboard tubes. Check out these ideas to use in your art center, dramatic play center, math center, science center, and blocks center.

Cardboard Tubes in the Art Center

Use the cardboard tubes with paint in your art center. Cut a longer tube into smaller circles to make circle prints. You can fold or adjust the cardboard tube into other shapes. Pinch one side to make a point and push in the opposite side to make a heart shape.

Modify two cardboard tubes and staple them together to make a fish shape, as a class did to paint fish pictures after reading Swimmy.

Other art center ideas:

Cut cardboard tubes into one-inch wide pieces. Use glue or a stapler to create sculptures.

Cut a slit up the back of a tube. Cut the tube across into two-inch pieces. Glue tissue paper on the cardboard piece to make wristbands.

Cut cardboard tubes into lengths of 3-4 inches. Cover the tube with paint or paper (of appropriate color). Add wiggle eyes. Glue on legs or other details cut from paper to make animals.

Cardboard Tubes in Dramatic Play Center

Cardboard tubes can be fashioned into various accessories for dramatic play. Cut a cardboard tube in half (or into 3-4 inch lengths). Tape the two pieces together to make binoculars. Add a length of string to wear them around your neck.

Or use several tubes with tissue paper to make a campfire. Both of these accessories are great for camping or exploring dramatic play.

Other dramatic play ideas:

Cover a tube with paper or contact plastic. Use it as a telescope for a space theme or a spyglass for a pirate theme.

Cover a tube with black tape. Wad a piece of paper into a ball; cover the ball with foil. Tape the foil ball on top of the tube to make a microphone. Use for singing or reporting dramatic play.

Create wristbands (as above) but decorate them to be superhero cuffs

Cardboard Tubes in Other Centers

A cardboard tube makes a great base for a bird feeder. Spread sunbutter on the tube and roll it in bird seed. Set or hang the bird feeder in a tree.

Use cardboard tubes in STEM activities. They make great foundational construction materials to build bridges or other creations.

Other ideas:

Use cardboard tubes with wooden or foam blocks to create more interesting buildings.

Cut tubes into different lengths. Sort and arrange by size.

Drop or roll things through tubes - pom-poms, balls, cars.

Add magnets to the sides of the tubes. Arrange the tubes on a large magnet board to create a "roller coaster." Drop pom-poms through the roller coaster.

Staple one end of a cardboard tube. Add a small handful of aquarium gravel or popcorn to the tube. Staple the other end. Cover the tube (especially the ends) with colored tape. Use these homemade shakers with music activities.

How do you use cardboard tubes in your classroom? Tell us your ideas in the comments.

More Teaching Tips and Ideas for the Classroom-
Ideas for Using Popsicle Sticks in the Classroom
Pom-Pom Learning Activities
Using Cardboard Boxes in the Classroom
Using Tape in the Classroom

Follow myCardboard Tubes Pinterest Board for more great ideas!

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Cardboard Tubes in the Preschool Classroom - Pre-K Pages

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Cardboard tubes are versatile resources for your preschool classroom. You can repurpose or reuse paper towel tubes and gift wrap tubes in many different ways. Almost all the centers in your classroom can use cardboard tubes. Check out these ideas to use in your art center, dramatic play center, math center, science center, and blocks center.

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Peek-a-boo
With either baby or you in the tunnel, pull the top edge of one end of the tunnel down to the floor to close it off. Letting go gives a nice dramatic "Peek-a-Boo!" The guys in my house came up with this fun variation (see photo) - this mommy's abs give out after about 40 seconds of this one!

Shake, Shake!
Sit at opposite ends of the tunnel and show your little one how to shake, shake! This can be especially fun if you put stuffed animals, balls or other toys in the tunnel to shake. Add in some language and direction-following play by saying, "STOP" and "GO" or letting your kiddo call the shots!

Shake, Shake! (modified for not-yet-sitting babies)
Gather several sections of the tunnel together to shorten it (if yours is long like ours) and stand over your baby as she lays on her back. Peek down into the tunnel as you encourage her to shake her end with one or both hands.

Ball in the Hoop
Use the velcro closures or ties to collapse your tunnel into a hoop. Let your baby or toddler drop balls through the hoop as you hold it.

Puppet show
Use the velcro closures or ties to secure one side of each opening to each other, making your tunnel into a semi-circle. Use stuffed animals or dolls to sing, dance or play peek-a-boo around the bend so your child can't see that you're the puppeteer.

Caterpillar Hide & Seek
(If your tunnel is big enough for you to stand in) collapse the tunnel down flat on the ground and step into the circle it makes. Let go of the top opening and let it pop up to conceal you. You'll look ridiculous - like a caterpillar doing a headstand! Pull the top opening down to reveal yourself. Don't fit in the tunnel? Enlist the help of a sibling, cousin or neighbor kiddo.

Tunnel Play for Bigger Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers

Over The Mountain
Tunnel play can get more exciting when you add some throw pillows, rolled blankets and other soft obstacles underneath the tunnel.

Commute
Little kids love activities such as puzzles or ball/car ramps positioned at one end of the tunnel with the pieces at the opposite end. They'll have to commute back and forth through the tunnel to complete their task. This is awesome for developing sustained attention and for learning to complete multi-step sequences. A fellow OT blogger mommy, Heather at Growing Hands on Kids Blog does a great job explaining how tunnel play is also great for sensory processing and has a fun Commute - style activity suggestion.

Popcorn
As your kiddo crawls through the tunnel, shake it until he giggles! Feel free to borrow this little rhyme as you play: "Popcorn on a string, let's see [your child's name] pop this thing. Pop pop pop, pop pop pa-pop! Pop pop pop, pop pop pa-pop! Pop pop pop, pop pop pa-pop! And now we STOP!" This makes a fun turn-taking group activity.

Water play
Most tunnels are made out of tent-like nylon material that will dry quickly without damage. If yours is, take your tunnel outside for water play - letting your kiddo crawl into a baby pool or crawl under a sprinkler through her tunnel.

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12 Simple Tunnel Games For Babies, Toddlers And Preschoolers - CanDo Kiddo

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Peek-a-boo With either baby or you in the tunnel, pull the top edge of one end of the tunnel down to the floor to close it off. Letting go gives a nice dramatic "Peek-a-Boo!" The guys in my house came up with this fun variation (see photo) - this mommy's abs give out after about 40 seconds of this one!

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This is a silly way to get the kids to learn about and sort colors.

I absolutely needed to get the kids moving, or at least I thought I did. I have not been making the best of all their energy lately, and it's starting to wear on me.

So we included our play tunnel (affiliate link) in an activity, just for the sole fact to get them moving. Which may or may not have been a great idea...

I dumped our bag of Mega Bloks (affiliate link) on the floor for the boys to sort by color.

Henry has been working on reading color names, so I labeled three baskets with three of the block color names. I included our big Mega Bloks Dump Truck (affiliate link)as a 'catch all' basket for the rest of the colors.

With that ready, they picked up a couple blocks, crawled through our play tunnel and put them each in their corresponding color basket.

That's it! They took turns, though they each wanted to also crawl back through the play tunnel, so they often ran into each other.

And of course, this got them extremely wound up and even sillier than usual.

But it was a fun, quick game to get them out of their unfortunate television slump lately.

Louis even got in on the fun of crawling through the tunnel (no color sorting for him though)!

More move and learn ideas from my co-hosts:

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Sort Colors & Get Moving With a Play Tunnel

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This is a silly way to get the kids to learn about and sort colors. I absolutely needed to get the kids moving, or at least I thought I did. I have not been making the best of all their energy lately, and it's starting to wear on me.

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Here is a super simple fine motor cardboard tube challenge for kids! They simply need to remove the bands from the cardboard tube with their fingers. Can they get them on again?

As a busy mum with two girls, I like when things can be simple. I don't like to over complicate things. This is one activity that is incredibly simple to set up and have your child get playing. You only need two materials to make it too!

Recommended age: 3 years +
(Strict and active supervision is required at all times)

To make this quick little fine motor activity for your child, you will need -

cardboard tube

elastic bands (like loom bands) or hair ties

Quite simply, all you need to do is add the bands to the tube and ask your child to carefully remove them using only their fingers. You'll find they get started straight away and it comes quite an exciting challenge.
As you can imagine, this simple little activity is wonderful for developing a child's fine motor skills. The pinching action required to remove the bands really works those small muscles in the hand.
Is this an activity your child would have fun with? Great value ebooks featuring Laughing Kids Learn

Follow Kate @ LaughingKidsLearn's board Laughing Kids Learn on Pinterest.

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Fine motor cardboard tube challenge for kids - Laughing Kids Learn

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Here is a super simple fine motor cardboard tube challenge for kids! They simply need to remove the bands from the cardboard tube with their fingers. Can they get them on again? As a busy mum with two girls, I like when things can be simple. I don't like to over complicate things.

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how.
Save all the empty toilet paper tubes! They can be put to use for fun hands-on science activities with the kids! This roundup highlights 8 free STEM activities you can do with empty toilet paper (or paper towel) tubes.
Recycled materials are great for many hands-on science and engineering activities. Paired with craft materials and some tape or glue, kids can turn recycled containers and cardboard into the basis of a fun and engaging science exploration.

These eight hands-on science activities all use simple cardboard tubes - like the ones you end up with when the toilet paper or paper towel roll is empty:

1. Build Your Own Sports Equipment: use cardboard tubes (taped together if you need them longer) to make sports equipment like golf clubs or baseball bats - and then head outside to try them out!

2. Build a Paper Airplane Launcher: you can use a range of materials to build your own paper airplane launcher, but toilet paper tubes work well!

3. Build a Robot Hand: explore robotics (no electronics required!) when you use cardboard tubes and recycled or craft materials like modeling clay, straws, and rubber bands to design a robotic hand.

4. Junkbots: Robots from Recycled Materials: use cardboard tubes to design and build robots from recycled materials. (A few specialty electronics parts, or the Bristlebot Kit, are also required.)

5. Make Your Own Stethoscope: kids can explore heart beat science with a simple homemade stethoscope.

6. Balloon Magic with Bernoulli's Principle: experiment to see what happens to two balloons when you blow air between them through a cardboard tube.

7. Make a Cotton Ball Launcher: use a cardboard tube, a pencil, and a rubber band to make a fun launcher. How far can a cotton ball go?

8. Can You Kazoo?: use a cardboard tube to experiment with sound using a homemade kazoo.

You Might Also Enjoy These Related Posts:

Explore Our Science Videos

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8 Free Science Activities with Toilet Paper Tubes | Science Buddies Blog

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how. Save all the empty toilet paper tubes! They can be put to use for fun hands-on science activities with the kids!

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20 science projects that will wow preschoolers!

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20 Science Projects for Preschoolers

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Activity Sneak Peak:

Under 5 minute set-up time

Requires only THREE household items

Multi-sensory and fine motor skills

Works on problem-solving, cause-and-effect, counting and colors

For ages 12 months+

This PomPom Tube Drop activity is very simple and only requires 3 items. Most of them you probably already have at home.

The pompom tube drop is a developmental activity that will help to improve fine motor skills (using the small muscles of the hands and fingers) and understanding cause-and-effect and problem-solving.

You can even add more learning opportunities during this activity by adding an abundance of vocabulary, counting, and color recognition.

I tend to save random household items that I know could be used for future activities, such as formula containers, egg cartons, and of course, paper towel rolls.

Although my husband hates me hoarding garbage, it comes in handy every once in awhile when I need to get creative!

Related Post: 9 Simple Ways to Get Your Toddler to Learn Their Colors

What you will need:

Your toddler will love the bright colors and softness of the pompoms if you choose to use them. They're also so versatile to use over and over on other DIY projects or activities.

However, you can also substitute the pompoms for other household objects you may have, such as snack pouch tops, 1″ cubes, or large beads.

You'll want to make sure you're using painters tape if you're sticking the tubes to any wall in which you care about so the tape easily comes off. If you're doing this activity somewhere that you're not afraid of running the paint or surface, and standard duct tape would do.

What to do:

1.Find an open flat, vertical surface, such as a wall or door.

2. Using painters tape, tape the paper towel and toilet paper rolls to the wall.

3. Align the tubes vertically or diagonally (with the tape horizontal) so when the objects are dropped in from the top they will fall out the bottom. Make it a fun maze by allowing the pompoms to drop from one tube into another. You can use any arrangement that you wish, as long as you make sure any tubes that are in vertical alignment are directly on top of each other so the object can fall through both of them.

4. Demonstrate to your child how to put a pompom or object into the top and see it drop.

5. Watch as they can't wait to get started on their own.

6. Teach them to use a pincer grasp (thumb and pointer only) to grab each pompom one-at-a-time.

7. To go one step further for an older toddler who is learning colors and counting, have them name each color as they put it in the tube or call out a color and have them pick that one up. They can also count each pompom as they put it in or place each color into piles and count them before they put them in.

Note: Be careful if your toddler still tends to put things in their mouth as these are small enough to be choking hazards.

Related Post: Edible Finger Paint for Toddlers

Skills that this activity addresses

Play is one of the best ways to encourage our children to learn everyday. So many activities are teaching and encouraging your child, even though they may not even know it.

They can learn new vocabulary, problem-solving, cause and effect, shapes, sizes, colors, animals, and so many more skills through everyday play.

Hopefully your toddler will have fun playing with the pompoms, that they won't even realize that they are learning!

You can pretty much find skills that will be improved through any playtime activity. For this Pompom Tube Drop activity, the following skills are being strengthened for our toddlers:

Language/Vocabulary: Hearing and talking about different objects (pompom, tube, hole, soft, fuzzy, colors, numbers)

Cognition: Learning and understanding new concepts (drop, top/bottom, fall, sort colors, counting)

Fine motor skills: Strengthening and coordinating the muscles of their hands by using a pincer grasp to hold onto the pompoms. Also, working on bilateral coordination (using two hands together in different ways) by transferring the pompoms hand-to-hand and holding .

Sensory: Feeling and seeing different textures can be calming or stimulating for a child. They will get to explore the softness of the pompom and hardness of the tubes.

Related Post: Painting with Water: A Clean Toddler Sensory Activity

Ways to incorporate cognition and language

You really can and SHOULD incorporate cognition (knowledge) and language into any activity you are doing with your little one. Just merely talking through the steps that they're performing will help build their vocabulary and understanding about new words and concepts.

Remember that your toddler is constantly listening and absorbing everything around them, including language. Repetition and overuse dramatically increase your child's ability to learn and retain new words.

Here are a few ways to build cognition and language during this activity:

This is a great way to practice colors. Point to a pompom and say or ask, This is pink or What color is this?

Ask them to point to the green pompoms, pink pompoms, etc.

Work on concepts like in, out, on top, bottom, up, down, fast, slow, under, sort, count

Vocabulary words such as pompoms, tubes, colors, numbers, drop

Ways to work on fine motor skills

Fine motor skills allow us to use the small muscles of our hands and fingers. They enable us to grab, manipulate, turn, twist, and hold objects.

Bilateral coordination also allows us to use both hands together in a coordinated manner usually to transfer objects and stabilize with one hand to manipulate with the other.

This activity can help develop these skills in a variety of ways.

Have your child only use a pincer grasp (thumb and index finger) to pick up and sort pompoms.

Transfer the pompoms from one hand to another.

Practice holding many pompoms in one hand, but just letting go of one at a time.

How did your toddler like this activity? Write in the comments below!

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Pom Pom Tube Drop: Toddler Developmental Activity

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Activity Sneak Peak: Under 5 minute set-up time Requires only THREE household items Multi-sensory and fine motor skills Works on problem-solving, cause-and-effect, counting and colors For ages 12 months+ This PomPom Tube Drop activity is very simple and only requires 3 items. Most of them you probably already have at home.

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Set up a threading activity for toddlers using DIY cardboard tube beads and pipe cleaners, for fine motor and mathematical skills, and plenty of playful fun!

When we finished playing with the Colour Sorting Pom Pom Drop game that we made recently, I thought we could re-use the rainbow painted cardboard tubes for another activity.

I cut them into similar length pieces and there turned out to be quite a lot, which will be great for more games to come too!

I twisted together the ends of 4 pipe cleaners to turn them into one, extended piece, making sure to tuck in the sharper edges. I made a circular loop at one end to stop them falling off the end and then she had a go at threading the cardboard "beads" onto it.

She was able to thread them on, pushing them along as she did so. First she dragged her creation around the room as a "snake", laughing and talking to it, and then she wanted it around her neck to be a necklace, so we twisted the ends loosely and she wore it to show her sisters very proudly!

Check out the rest of our simple Toddler Play series here, with lots of easy ideas for engaging play and learning together!

Check out our collection of Fine Motor Skills activities for Babies and Toddlers here

And over 40 Fine Motor Skills activities for 2 years + here
What they are learning as they play:
physical: fine motor skills, threading, pincer grasp

personal, social, emotional: concentration, completing a task

maths: counting, sorting, naming and distinguishing colours

Bean: 2.2

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Cardboard Beads Threading Activity for Toddlers - The Imagination Tree

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Set up a threading activity for toddlers using DIY cardboard tube beads and pipe cleaners, for fine motor and mathematical skills, and plenty of playful fun! When we finished playing with the Colour Sorting Pom Pom Drop game that we made recently, I thought we could re-use the rainbow painted cardboard tubes for another activity.

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While fixing up George's new big boy room, we got new carpet for the room and ended up with this large carpet tube.

This was such a treat for the boys! And I think you could go to any carpet store and they'd be happy to give you any tubes that they have. Or this experiment could be done on a much smaller scale too using wrapping paper tubes, or even a paper towel tube.

Of course, I just let the boys explore this large tube to see what they'd find to do with it.

Henry propped it up on his table and ran tractor after tractor down it. Running from one end to the other racing the tractor. George did the same (of course!), following Henry's lead.

The boys worked together, but occasionally fought over it too. For the most part, one would run a tractor through it while the other waited for it at the other end! It was magical and mysterious to them!

It wasn't until they started fighting a little more over the tube that I started probing them with questions, making them think how they could use the tube.

The obvious question to ask: "How can you make it go down the tube faster?"

Henry had the answer! Raise it up higher!

Of course! Gravity will do its job!

So that's what we did. We propped the tube up higher. And tested it. Did the tractor make it down faster? It was obvious that it did. But I wished we had two tubes to test and compare side by side. (Maybe a future experiment with other tubes!)

But of course, the boys wanted the tractor to go even faster yet! So we propped it up more and more. Henry kept asking for it to be higher and higher. Until he couldn't reach the tube anymore.

Any other suggestions for this large carpet tube?

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While fixing up George's new big boy room, we got new carpet for the room and ended up with this large carpet tube. This was such a treat for the boys! And I think you could go to any carpet store and they'd be happy to give you any tubes that they have.

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You know me, I thought I'd share with you a fun and educational activity that is also great for recycling some of the everyday things you might already have in your home. This is a simple, fine motor threading activity using straws and cardboard tubes.

Fine motor threading activity using straws and cardboard tubes

Ever since learning about the dangers of plastics to our Earth, I've had this terrible guilt over a packet of straws sitting in my pantry cupboard. Ugh, it's horrible.

I actually don't even remember buying them, so I have changed my thinking and have decided to repurpose them as loose parts suitable for educational activities. They will not have one use, but many.

Brilliant. Check this out...
To do this activity you will need -
Cut each of the cardboard tubes in half or abut 10 - 15cm long.

Depending on the capability of your child, ask them to punch holes into the cardboard tubes using the hole puncher.

Using a hole puncher is really great for fine motor development. It strengthens the smaller muscles in the fingers and palm of the hand. Important for when they are learning to write with a pencil or draw.

The activity and it's purpose is simple, much like my previous post.

Present them with the straws and ask them to thread them through the holes in the cardboard tube. In one side and out the other.

They begin to look a little like crazy and colourful spiders after awhile.

Boo (aged 3 years) discovered that she needed to bend the end of the straw to stop them from slipping out. The was a great discovery and only learnt through her own experience of doing this activity.

This activity does open itself up to challenging your child and their problem solving skills.

I've got my eye on this similar idea from Babble Dabble Do.
Is this an activity your child would enjoy?
This is a super simple activity that you might like to set up for your child. It reuses some of the things you already have in your home and turns them into wonderful, handmade teaching tools (or toys).

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Fine motor threading activity using straws and cardboard tubes - Laughing Kids Learn

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If you want an activity that is simple to set up and engaging for your toddler, try this fine motor threading activity using straws and cardboard tubes. Children develop their fine motor skills, concentration and problem solving skills with this handmade teaching tool or handmade toy. Fun for toddler to make too.

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Make some cardboard tube car ramps for a fun car racing activity for vehicle loving kids! Great fun for exploring motion, cause and effect and as a fun idea for rainy day play.

To make these super simple cardboard tube car ramps you need:

1 cardboard wrapping paper tube

black paint

white chalk pen (or white paint and a thin paintbrush)

small cars
I've made it super easy for you to find the materials right here!
[amazon affiliate links]

You may very well have all of these things to hand already like I did. Let's go!

Simply cut along the length of the tub, making sure to create two, even halves.

Then paint the inside of the cut tubes with the black paint and allow them to dry.

When they're dry, add the road markings. Here in the UK our dotted lines are white, but I know some other countries have yellow markings too. As soon as that is done they are ready for play!

We first of all tried propping them up against a chair and simply enjoyed racing the cars down one by one. This was a GREAT game according to Miss 4 and baby boy, who is now 17 months.

He was particularly in awe of how fast they whizzed past and shot off the end of the ramp across the room!

Miss 4 enjoyed racing them in the two ramps at the same time, and also lining them up, counting them, talking about their colours and telling stories with them.

They then took them around the house and garden and either stood to use them or propped them up against other items. We tried using them over cushion and it became like a see-saw, which was fun to watch as the road flipped back and forth!

These are so easy to make and would be fun for travel too, if you cut them half the length. The tubes nestle into each other really well, so by cutting them you could have 4 to take around with you, along with the little cars in a tub with a lid. Perfect!

We made this fun cardboard roadway which you may love too! It would go really well together actually.

And this town within a cardboard box is always a winner!

If you enjoyed our cardboard tube car ramps play activity then you may also like these other HOMEMADE TOY ideas that we have tried before! Homemade and simple really are the two best ingredients for play.

Here are lots more TODDLER PLAY IDEAS too, if you need a quick activity for an afternoon of play!

Happy playing! If you enjoyed this then please consider sharing it. You could pin the image above perhaps! Thank you.

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Cardboard Tube Car Ramps - The Imagination Tree

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Make some cardboard tube car ramps for a fun car racing activity for vehicle loving kids! Great fun for exploring motion, cause and effect and as a fun idea for rainy day play.

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by Jaimi Erickson

It can be tough to combine learning activities for multiple ages of children. As a mom of 4 where my kids ages spans from kindergarten to infants, we have to get creative to make learning time successful. You can make seven learning activities with cardboard tube apple trees. From shapes to basic math, this Fall themed kids activity grows with your child.

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Learning activities with cardboard tube apple trees can be adapted to toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary aged kids.

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Creating the apple trees is an art activity. Simple learning games make these little trees a great prop for learning and play. My older two children each spent time on their specific activity using these cardboard tube apple trees. Then, for extra fun, we stored the trees near the little people and animals. My kids had so much fun setting up their little apple tree grove for their toys to roam around during pretend play.

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Whether your child is working on shapes, basic math, number recognition, or reading skills, this learning activity collection has you covered.

I shared my 7 learning activities with cardboard tube apple trees-for toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary kids-over at B-Inspired Mama. Contributing to such a fun blog that helps moms and teachers is a great blessing. I hope you will pop over there to Krissy's blog and then stop back here to let me know which activity you like best.

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Do you have other ideas for activities that could be used with these cardboard trees?

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Enjoy your time at home!

Filed Under: Tagged With: activities art, homeschool, homeschool preschool, kindergarten, matching, math, numbers, preschool, shapes, toddlers

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Activities with Cardboard Tube Apple Trees | The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide

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by Jaimi Erickson It can be tough to combine learning activities for multiple ages of children. As a mom of 4 where my kids ages spans from kindergarten to infants, we have to get creative to make learning time successful. You can make seven learning activities with cardboard tube apple trees.

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We've been doing a lot of hands on counting activities lately and this is one of my daughter's favorites. For her and the other toddlers in my daycare counting practice is our way of beginning math activities and doing some critical thinking at the same time. Of course to them these math games are just playing and having fun!

Counting Practice for Toddlers with Pom Poms & Tubes
Post contains affiliate links for your convenience, see disclosure for more info. Items Needed:
For my younger toddlers I wrote the number and added the matching number of dots to help them count out each number and begin to recognize what the quantity of each number looks like.

MB and her daycare friends spent quite awhile sorting out the corresponding number of pom poms into each tube. They enjoyed it so much that I've added it to our shelf of toys and they can get it out as often as they like. It gets brought out a few times each day by each girl.

Oh and this counting practice activity is also fun and just as pretty off the light panel.

For my older toddlers we wiped off the dots and they put their number recognition skills to work by counting and sorting acrylic ice rocks into each of the tubes.

For more counting activities or number recognition activities check out our Ping Pong Ball Counting Game, our Counting with Bears, or our DIY Love Bug Counters!

Does your child have a favorite counting activity?

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Counting Practice for Toddlers with Pom Poms & Tubes

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We've been doing a lot of hands on counting activities lately and this is one of my daughter's favorites. For her and the other toddlers in my daycare counting practice is our way of beginning math activities and doing some critical thinking at the same time.

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Last updated on

I admit it. I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to cardboard tubes. I just can't bring myself to part with them. Here in my daycare, we love crafting with toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, wrapping paper tubes, food-wrap rolls, poster tubes, mailing tubes... My family thinks I'm nuts, but when you think of all the things you can make with a cardboard tube, how COULD you possibly throw them away?

There are hundreds of ways to re-use your cardboard tubes. Toilet paper tubes and paper towel rolls are perfect for most preschool crafts. Wrapping paper rolls are great when you need a super-long tube, and the tubes that hold cling-wrap or aluminum foil are great when you need something a little sturdier.

Do you have a growing stash of cardboard rolls at your house?

Well, bust 'em out because I've rounded up 22 ways for you to use them in the craft room and the playroom.

22 Things to Make with Cardboard Tubes:
Click on the highlighted descriptions to see a full tutorial for each craft or activity.
Fall Decorations with Cardboard Tubes:

Use a cool paint process to make some fall napkin rings.

Make a turkey table topper for your Thanksgiving table.

Round up some fabric scraps and a few crafty odds and ends for some adorable toilet roll owls.

Crafting for Halloween:

The kids will love making a quirky monster mobile out of cardboard rolls.

A spooky crow or owl is a very fitting decoration for Halloween.

Our toilet roll mummies help little ones develop their winding and wrapping skills.

Winter Toilet Roll Crafts:

These cardboard roll snowmen are just the cutest little things, aren't they?

The hooligans LOVE playing with our toilet roll Nativity set.

Cardboard Roll Christmas Crafts:

Fleece, batting and a cardboard roll makes an adorable Santa Claus.

Make a set of cute reindeer ornaments for your Christmas tree.

This snowman ornament would be great for the tree or as a gift topper.

Spring Crafts:

Summons up some April showers with a colourful rain stick.

These Easter chicks in paper nests are just too sweet.

Peeps! Everyone loves Easter peeps, right?

And don't forget about the Easter bunnies! Check out our paint chip bunting too!

Bracelets and Cuffs:

Make some simple toilet roll cuff bracelets.

Anklets can be made using cardboard rolls and colourful duct tape.

Skill Building Activities:

Make some cool 3-D structures with tubes and a low-temp glue gun.

Toddlers love to drop things through our cardboard Drop Zone.

Arts and Crafts:

Create a unique piece of art for a kid's room, toy room or classroom.

Turn a long cardboard tube into a torch.

Cardboard Tubes for Play:

In a pinch, a sturdy kitchen roll, makes an excellent bubble wand.

Make a set of simple "stand up" paper dolls.

Well? What do you think? Did we inspire you? Now, it's your turn to inspire me! If you have a favourite cardboard roll craft or activity, I'd love to hear about it!

Before you go, be sure to check out this fab collection of tp roll Christmas crafts for kids by Red Ted Art.

If you enjoyed this post, check out:

25 Ways to Re-use Your K-cup pods.
40 Gifts Kids Can Make that Grownups Will Really Love 70 Homemade Gifts to Make for Your Kids Budget-Busting Homemade Laundry Detergent Denim Pant-leg Craft Aprons
Get the 3-5 Playful Preschool e-Book!

25+preschool activities by 25 bloggers, 10 printables, 50 links to activities not featured in the book all for $8.99!
Download your copy today:
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I admit it. I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to cardboard tubes. I just can't bring myself to part with them. Here in my daycare, we love crafting with toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, wrapping paper tubes, food-wrap rolls, poster tubes, mailing tubes...

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Help kids explore color by creating these color tubes. The prep is easy and your kids will enjoy decorating them. This is more than a preschool arts and crafts project.... there are also many activity ideas.
Here is a preschool arts and crafts project with a twist of science. Kids can look through these color tubes to add a little color to their world. This is a great project during a unit on the five senses or when you are talking about colors.

Supplies

I started with some cardboard tubes. I used tubes that I purchased at the craft store because they are thick and sturdy. If you want to use free tubes, you can use paper towel or bathroom tissue tubes instead. I also used several colors of cellophane, white masking tape, and some pretty washi tape. I have included some ideas for materials to decorate the tubes at the end of the article.

Assemble the Color Tubes

It is probably best to add cellophane to the tubes in advance because young kids may struggle with the task. Cut a circle from the cellophane (I used an empty yogurt container as a pattern).

Place the cellophane on one end of a tube. You can hold it in place with a small rubber band. I couldn't find a rubber band, so I improvised with a hair tie.

Wrap white masking tape around the edge of the cellophane to attach it to the tube. Because I wanted to add a little bit of cuteness, I added a band of washi tape on top of the masking tape, but that is totally optional.

You can remove the rubber band now that the cellophane is taped to the tube. If you want to create binoculars, you can hot glue two tubes together.

Decorate the Tubes

You can leave the tubes as is, but kids will also enjoy decorating them. And, they can use almost anything to make them into a little work of art. Here are some ideas:

crayons or markers

stickers - use seasonal or thematic stickers to go with your current unit

color collage items

tape - add pieces of color tape

scissors, scrap paper, and glue - let kids cut and paste their own shapes/crations

stamps

streamers

puff balls

yarn

Not Just a Preschool Arts and Crafts Project

It is fun to create color tubes with kids. Here are a few ways to explore more concepts with the project.

Color Mixing - Ask kids to look through two tubes together (end on end). What happens to the color?

Mirror, Mirror....... - Provide a mirror for kids so they can see what they look like through the tubes.

- Provide a variety of color tubes and help kids graph their favorite color.

Bear Hunt - Use the tubes to go on a colorful bear hunt

Letter Hunt - Hide some letters around the room and use the tubes to go on a colorful hunt for the letters.

More Color Activities

If you are interested in more hands-on color activities for your kids check out the following resources in my store:

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Help kids explore color by creating these color tubes. The prep is easy and your kids will enjoy decorating them. This is more than a preschool arts and crafts project.... there are also many activity ideas. Here is a preschool arts and crafts project with a twist of science.

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What can you learn from a cardboard tube?

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What can you learn from a cardboard tube?

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What Can You Learn from a Cardboard Tube | Toddler learning, Activities, Preschool

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Dec 9, 2012 - What can you learn from a cardboard tube? Experience science concepts like friction, make predictions, and practice observation skills.

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Make a fun game for counting, colour sorting and fine motor skills coordination using rainbow cardboard tubes and coloured pom poms! A great indoor or outdoor play activity for toddlers and preschoolers to enjoy again and again.

Here's the latest in our Toddler Play series, although so many of these ideas are applicable to all ages and mine have all joined in at various stages with each one!

We painted some long wrapping paper tubes in rainbow colours and left them to dry. When they were ready we stuck them to the inside of a large, under-bed storage box (from Ikea), using sticky tape.

Then we filled the tub with lots of plain and sparkly, colourful pom poms to match the colours of the tubes, and added some large tweezers for easy grabbing.

My eldest was the first to be desperate to play and loved using the tweezers to drop the pom poms down the tubes and count them as they piled out of the bottom! This activity reminds me of one of the first Discovery Boxes we put together for open-ended play with very similar materials, when she was just 3. That play lasted for days and was constantly evolving and makes a great additional activity to pair with this one.

Her littlest sister, always keen to copy, came along and played too, even having a go with the tweezers with some control and coordination, (using both hands at this stage.) I love her little tongue-out-in-concentration face here!

She matched some colours and others she just enjoyed posting and watching the cause and effect of the pom pom entering then leaving the tube, with lots of joy!

This would be very easy to extend for other learning intentions such as counting, matching the correct number of pom poms to the numerals, addition and subtraction. Follow your child's lead and interests to see how the activity could progress, and when they want to move on then dismantle the pieces and re-use it for construction materials and loose parts play!

Here's one of the ways we re-used these tubes as giant beads for play, stacking and threading!
What they are learning as they play:
maths: sorting by one criteria, matching, recognising and naming colours, counting using 1:1 correspondence

physical: fine motor skills and coordination, using one-handed tools (with two hands initially, then one), dropping and posting, pincer grasp and release

knowledge and understanding: cause and effect, simple problem solving

Cakie: 5.7

Pop: 4.1

Bean: 2.2

You will may like this Pom Pom Drop and Shoot Game too!
Discovery box with beans, tubes and tape!
And next steps with counting and sorting bottles

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Colour Sorting Pom Pom Drop Game - The Imagination Tree

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Make a fun game for counting, colour sorting and fine motor skills coordination using rainbow cardboard tubes and coloured pom poms! A great indoor or outdoor play activity for toddlers and preschoolers to enjoy again and again.

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Make this cardboard tube bowling game to keep the kids entertained!
This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you I can make a tiny bit of money to help support this blog. Thank you!
My son was recently trying to set up a bowling game using marker pens - I think he'd seen it on YouTube and they were using stubby markers. But ours are quite skinny, so harder to stand up on one end. It occurred to me that there must be a simple of way of making our own bowling game and of course cardboard tubes are perfect!

To make them less cardboardy, I covered them in white Contact paper. The ideal size for each piece of sticky paper is about 5×5½", which allows a little extra for overlap and to fold over at each end. Wrap each tube in the paper, then cut slits into the overhang at each end and fold inside the tube.

Although the tubes didn't have the shape of a bowling pin, we decided to make them look a little more authentic by wrapping strips of red tape around each one. The tape I had looked too wide, so I cut it in half lengthways so make it fit the tubes better.
Note: You could always paint the tubes white if you don't have any white Contact paper, but it will take much longer to make them!
F helped with putting some of the tape on, but otherwise I did the rest. I did ask him to go and find a suitable bowling bowl, and he chose one from our Crazy Fort kit because it "had holes in it like a bowling ball"!

The cardboard tube bowling game worked really well! My son loved that he could set it up on carpet, hardwood, or even outside on our patio!

Since these photos were taken, he's found a permanent spot to set up the "alley" in the basement, with taped lines on the floor for where to stand, where to set up the pins, and a "ball return"!

Cardboard Tube Bowling Game - a homemade toy to keep the kids entertained! Click To Tweet

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Cardboard Tube Bowling Game - Craftulate

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Make this cardboard tube bowling game to keep the kids entertained! This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you I can make a tiny bit of money to help support this blog. Thank you!

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This Cardboard Tube Racing Car Craft is a great way to use up your hoard of Tp rolls or kitchen towel middles. If your family is anything like mine then it's a craft supply you'll always have to hand! We love to recycle trash into crafts.

It's fun for kids to make their DIY Racing Cars in lots of different colours and we've got free printable wrap arounds to make it super easy too!

The coloured printable sleeves have a blank round space so you can personalise your cardboard tube racing car with a number, name or picture.

We love being able to recycle waste into crafts. It's a lovely way to have fun and be creative cheaply and it encourages our children to care for the natural world too. We've got lots of recycled crafts here on Kids Craft Room. Some reader favourites are Rainbow Blowers which also use cardboard tubes, a fantastic Dragon Hobby Horse made from an old cereal box, Squeeze 'N' Croak Frogs made from jar lids and gorgeous art made from old CD's.

Cardboard Tube Racing Car Craft Tutorial

Supplies To Make TP Roll Racing Cars

Free Printable Car Sleeves (Get yours at the bottom of this post.)

Cardboard Tubes

Paints

Bottle Caps ( e.g. Applesauce Caps)

Glue

Hot Glue

Scissors

Paint Brush

Black Sharpie Pen

Paper Roll Racing Car Craft Instructions

1 - You can paint your cardboard tube racing car craft purely by hand or print out our free colourful sleeves to help you. Their 'go faster' stripes are lots of fun and there are lots of colours to choose from. Grab yours at the bottom of this post.

2 - If the printable sleeves don't fully cover the length of your cardboard tube then paint the ends. You can choose the same colour as your printable sleeve or a contrasting colour.

3 - When your paint is dry glue on the printable sleeve.

4 - Of course your racing car craft needs some wheels! Applesauce caps are perfect but you could use any bottle lids you like. Glue them on with your glue gun because a glue stick won't be strong enough to hold them in place.

5 - To make the back of the seat for your racing car cut a small rectangle from another cardboard tube and cut a slight concave curve along one side to help it fit well onto the back of your car. Paint it.

6 - To make your racing car's steering wheel cut a small circle from a cardboard tube, flatten it and paint it black.

7 - Cut a smaller circle from white paper and glue it on to the steering wheel. Draw on the cross pieces with your black Sharpie Pen.

8 - To make the steering column cut a thin strip of cardboard tube, roll it up and stick it. Paint it black.

9 - Use your glue gun to stick the steering wheel and seat onto your sports car.

10 - Use the white circle space to personalise your cardboard tube racing car craft with a number, name or drawing.

Broom, broom, you're ready to go racing around the track! My craft blogger friend Stef, from Non Toy Gifts, has a great idea for making a cardboard road that would go perfectly with this racing car craft.

Come and chat with us on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram or YouTube or subscribe to our weekly craft newsletter.

More Fun Crafts To Encourage Imaginative Play:
Print your instructions below:

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This Cardboard Tube Racing Car Craft is a great way to use up your hoard of Tp rolls or kitchen towel middles. If your family is anything like mine then it's a craft supply you'll always have to hand! We love to recycle trash into crafts.

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This simple Heart Tube Stamping activity is fun for toddlers and preschoolers. I love that it take no time at all to set up and the materials come straight from our recycle recycle bin. Below you will find lots of Valentines Day ideas to inspire you.

This is a classic toddler craft that has to be one of the easiest to set up.

Cardboard tubes ~ most commonly found in your paper towels, toilet paper or even your wrapping paper.

Paint of your choosing ~ we used red tempera paint for Valentines day

Now all you need to do is shape the cardboard tube. Simply squish and manipulate it until you reach the desired shape. I tried encouraging the kids to do this step, but it was a bit beyond little fingers. You may just want to do this step yourself. If you are finding that the tube is becoming a little wonky, you can always add a strip of tape around the tube to help it hold its shape.

This is not a new idea, but definitely a fun and easy craft for toddlers. Here is a list of our favorite ways to jazz up your Valentines with the simple cardboard tube.

Did you know that you can turn a simple painting activity into a fun treat filled pouch? You have to check out these simple Kraft paper Stamped Heart Pouches. They would be perfect for handmade Valentines or as a special treat in the kids lunches.

Take your stamping to the next level and create a fun mixed media piece. I love this simple Jim Dine inspired artwork. I am in love with how the colorful background accents the heart. Beautiful!

Grab your scissors and glue gun, because you are totally going to want to create this adorable Hearts All Around art work. A fun collaborative project that you can create with your kiddos.

Here is the perfect way to create a simple cardboard tube Heart Stamp. I adore these photos!

Another great idea on how to use your simple stamp create Hearts A Plenty. A perfect way to address envelopes to your loved ones for Valentines Day.

Glitter has always gone hand and hand with Valentines Day. I love these simple Glitter Hearts and your kids will too.

Your kids will be seeing hearts with these adorable Valentines heart shaped Binoculars. Glitter, jewels and hearts oh my!

Why not have the kids create their own shirts for Valentines Day. Your kids will looks so sweet sporting their own handy work. Plus no need to spend money on the pricey holiday shirts. Its a win-win!

I love this simple way to dress up your Valentines gift bag. What a great way to personalize a special gift.

Looking for a last minute Valentines Card Idea for your kids? Check out these simple cards that are perfect for your kids to create in just a few moments.

Looking for more Valentines inspiration? Then make sure to check out Housing A Forest's favorite Valentines crafts, games and activities.

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This simple Heart Tube Stamping activity is fun for toddlers and preschoolers. I love that it take no time at all to set up and the materials come straight from our recycle recycle bin. Below you will find lots of Valentines Day ideas to inspire you.

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These activities involve creativity and engineering for kids that let's them experiment and use their imaginations while also building skills in the STEM-field!

At Kids Collaborate in Winchester, California, they did a number of bridge-building STEM activities with their kids. Here are some you can do in your classroom!

Building Bridges Engineering Activity

Popsicles and Paper Souffle Cups

For this activity preschoolers are encourage to build their own bridge out of glued-together Popsicle sticks and paper souffle cups so that they can put over a big gap or imaginary river. Show the students how by placing the Popsicle sticks on the Paper Souffle Cups it creates stability that then allows all kinds of fun possible bridges to be built!

STEM activities for preschoolers

Lego Bridge

Using Lego blocks to build a bridge is great because the pieces easily snap together and there is not mess from glue. Preschoolers love to play with Lego blocks and will be excited to try and click them together in a way that makes a bridge over a gap, imaginary river, or whatever else you challenge them to have a bridge cross!

Paper Tube Tunnel-Bridge

You can use cardboard paper tubes so that you have a covered/tunnel-bridge that the students can put toys like mini-cars in! By taping the paper tubes together and having them go-down at an angle kids can watch with glee as they put their toy cars in one end and the cars are able to pass all kinds of obstacles the tunnel-bridge crosses before popping-out at the other side.

Tape Bridge

Really young preschoolers who struggle with some of the more advanced concepts in the above activities can still get-in on the fun! This tape-bridge activity just encourages students to use tape to create their own little bridges between paper tubes and have them maybe stack on one another with extra stability thanks to the tape.

Click Here For Even More Activity and Craft Ideas

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Bridge-Building Preschool STEM Activities for Preschoolers

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These activities involve creativity and engineering for kids that let's them experiment and use their imaginations while also building skills in the STEM-field! At Kids Collaborate in Winchester, California, they did a number of bridge-building STEM activities with their kids. Here are some you can

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A rainstick is a long tube-like instrument that makes a sound like rain falling when it is turned over and over. It's easy to make a kid-friendly rainstick out of a recycled paper towel roll and some items from your kitchen and craft room.
What you need to make a paper towel roll rainstick:

A paper towel roll

A sheet of paper

A piece of aluminum foil

A piece of plastic wrap

Popcorn kernels or dry beans

Tape

Markers and/or stickers

How to make it:
1. Draw pictures on one side of a colored piece of paper (note, only about 1/3 of the end of the page will show once wrapped around the paper towel tube.)

2. Crumple up a long, thin piece of aluminum foil and insert it into the paper towel tube. The aluminum foil will act as the barrier to keep the beans or popcorn kernels moving through the tube at a slow rate, making the rainfall sound.

3. Put a doubled-up piece of plastic wrap over one end of the paper towel tube, and tape in place.

4. Pour a tablespoon of dry beans or popcorn kernels into the open end of the tube, then seal the end with a doubled-up piece of plastic wrap. Tape plastic wrap in place.

5. Tape decorated paper to the paper towel tube, then wrap around tube, securing end with tape.

6. Decorate tube as desired with tape or stickers.

Tip back and forth to hear the sweet sound of rainfall!
Heather Mann is the mother of four boys, and is constantly on the lookout for fun games, activities, and recipes to keep her busy boys, well, busy. She designs and shares clever crafts with a frugal twist at her site Dollar Store Crafts and ideas for being the best mom ever (on a budget) at Dollar Store Mom.

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A rainstick is a long tube-like instrument that makes a sound like rain falling when it is turned over and over. It's easy to make a kid-friendly rainstick out of a recycled paper towel roll and some items from your kitchen and craft room.

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Or you could do colored plastic over the end and have them search for letters with their tubes and have them write the letters on a white board.

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If you're stocked up on toilet paper, don't toss the empty rolls in the trash! You can transform these cardboard tubes into educational games, awesome art projects, and tools for at-home learning!

Explore the science of symmetry and observe how light and mirrors make pretty patterns with this DIY kaleidoscope!

Learn More: Kaleidoscope Symmetry

Transform a toilet paper tube into a marionette that moves with help from a simple machine. Learn how levers work by making your own dancing puppet!

Bring the stars to you and learn about the amazing night sky by creating your own mini-constellation jar that can light up!

Learn more: Light Up Mason Jar

With three toilet paper rolls, some stickers, and string, this recycled project lends itself to all sorts of fun. With these binoculars, your little explorers can go on an exciting expedition to wherever their imaginations take them.

Learn more: Toilet Paper Binoculars

This simple octopus doubles as a puppet. Make a few octopi in different colors and put on a puppet show.

Learn more: Cardboard Tube Octopus

This cute craft doubles as a learning activity! Younger kids can use it to practice the alphabet while older kids can use it to practice multiplication tables.
Learn More: Teaching Tubes

Create characters that change expressions to show different emotions. You can use the ones your kids create to check-in with their own emotions each day!
Learn More: Feelings Friend

Transform your tubes into a family of owls! Use scrap paper and other materials to decorate.
Learn More: Cardboard Owls

Make a musical instrument! Create a kazoo using a roll, a sheet of paper and a rubber band.
Learn More: Toilet Paper Kazoo

Use your spare cardboard rolls to make colorful, coiled snakes!
Learn More: Cardboard Coiled Snakes

Create a rocket ship, and fly it to the moon!
Learn More: Cardboard Tube Rocket Ship

This simple DIY construction set slots together to make all kinds of funky cardboard shapes and sculptures.
Learn More: Cardboard Construction Set

Create a marble run on a wall using tubes and tape. If you don't have a marble, try it with other small round objects.
Learn More: Cardboard Tube Marble Run

These tube letters are a fun way to display a message - no tape or string required!
Learn More: Tube Letters

Amplify the speakers on your phone with the toilet paper tube hack! You can also use it as a tripod to hold your phone while you video chat with friends or family while at-home.
Learn More: Toilet Paper Speaker & Phone Holder

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10 Toilet Paper Roll Crafts & Activities for Kids

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If you're stocked up on toilet paper, don't toss the empty rolls in the trash! You can transform these cardboard tubes into educational games, awesome art projects, and tools for at-home learning! Kaleidoscope Symmetry Explore the science of symmetry and observe how light and mirrors make pretty patterns with this DIY kaleidoscope!

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Have some cardboard tubes lying around? I have the perfect cardboard tube craft for you! This little cardboard tube rocket blaster is a BLAST! 😉 (Pun intended!) It is a great STEM project to learn about gravity and trajectory.

This activity idea came from the book This is Rocket Science by Emma Vanstone who writes over at the fabulous website Science Sparks. This fun book has 70 fun solar system themed experiments and activities. There are 160 pages of full color pictures and science explanations for each topic. It is a FUN book for any science lovers out there.

Now to the activity. . .

How to Make the Cardboard Tube Rocket Blaster

Supplies:

2 cardboard tubes that fit inside of each other- each about 12 inches long
1 Rubber Band
Cardstock or plastic lid to fit the top of the inner tube
Tape
Stickers or Markers for Decoration
Screwdriver to make holes in the tubes
Pom-poms

Start by cutting down the cardboard tubes to be the same size~ about 12 inches each. I used a wrapping paper roll and a mailing tube for our rocket launcher.

Cut the rubber band apart.

Cover the end of the smaller, inner tube with a piece of cardboard, or glue on a plastic lid. The hole just needs to be covered.

On the smaller tube, make two holes around the center using a screw driver. Make two holes in the larger tube through both sides about an inch from the bottom. You want the holes to line up on both tubes to thread the rubber band through. Make sure there is a good amount of the smaller tube hanging out the bottom when the holes are lined up.

Thread the rubber band through. This part was tricky, We ended up using a pair of tweezers!

Attach the rubber bands to the outer tube with some tape.

Decorate it! Use stickers, paint markers, or whatever you want to make it fancy.

Test it out! Put in some pom-poms, pull back the smaller tube and let go.

See More of My Rocket STEM Projects!

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STEM Project: Cardboard Tube Rocket Blaster

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Have some cardboard tubes lying around? I have the perfect cardboard tube craft for you! This little cardboard tube rocket blaster is a BLAST! 😉 (Pun intended!) It is a great STEM project to learn about gravity and trajectory.

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One thing we always have loads of is cardboard tubes, mainly from TP Rolls and kitchens rolls! I love to get the kids crafting with them when I can. These Cardboard Tube Rainbow Blowers are a wonderful way to recycle them into something colourful and most importantly fun!

Kids will love to huff and puff down their rainbow blowers and see all the colourful streamers blow and billow about. It's a fabulous rainbow craft to go along with weather learning themes and songs, and as a St Patrick's Day craft too.

I adore that these rainbow blowers look wonderful hanging up too and double up as pretty windsocks when the kids have had enough of playing with them! Two rainbow crafts for the price of one LOL!

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Before you zoom on to see how to make these rainbow blowers, why not share some other fun rainbow crafts to Facebook or Pinterest? It's a great way to find them again easily and you can give your friends an idea or two too!

Some of our favourite rainbow crafts are Edible Bread Painting (Your kids will want to do this again and again!), Rainbow Tambourines (So much fun for music time!) and Rainbow Sponge Painting ( A fun way to explore textures and colour mixing.)

Let's get back to making those pretty cardboard tube rainbow blowers! Grab your TP rolls and join me below.

Cardboard Tube Rainbow Blowers Tutorial

Supplies To Make Rainbow Blowers

How To Make Fun Cardboard Tube Rainbow Blowers

These cardboard tube rainbow blowers are super easy to make and can be done in any colours to match a particular theme.

We've made ours with gorgeous rainbow colours because St Patrick's Day is looming but they'd look equally good in gold and greens as a Paddy's Day craft or how about purples and blacks for Halloween or reds, oranges and yellows for Fall?

We started our rainbow blowers by painting the cardboard tubes blue. I tend to use acrylic paint because it gives such a good coverage and the kids don't have to wait around waiting for a multiple layers of paint to dry.

When our blue paint was dry we painted on some light blue/white clouds to add to our weather theme.

To make the gorgeous rainbow streamers we cut strips of colourful tissue paper. Our strips were about 1 x 12 inches.

Then we laid them around the outside of the cardboard tube in the order we wanted them and started to stick them on, one at a time. We used UHU glue again for speed. (We are terrible impatient crafters and hate to have to wait too long for things to dry!)

Don't worry if you don't have any UHU or feel your kids are too young for it. Twist up glue sticks or PVA will work just as well just take a little longer to dry.

With a slight overlap we were able to get all out 7 rainbow colours glued inside the cardboard tube.

On one of our rainbow blowers we cut each tissue paper streamer in half lengthways. It made each individual streamer lighter and easier to blow. Whether you leave the rainbow streamers fat or cut them thinner is up to you.

They look super pretty don't they? And are so much fun to blow and send the rainbow colours swooshing!

If you want to you could use string them up and use them as rainbow wind socks too, what fun!

Will your kids enjoy this colourful rainbow craft too? I love hearing how you get on. Leave a comment below, come and chat on Facebook or sign up to our email updates.

More Fun St Patrick's Day Crafts To Try:

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One thing we always have loads of is cardboard tubes, mainly from TP Rolls and kitchens rolls! I love to get the kids crafting with them when I can. These Cardboard Tube Rainbow Blowers are a wonderful way to recycle them into something colourful and most importantly fun!

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Cardboard Tube Binoculars: the perfect spring and summer time kid’s craft

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These cardboard tube binoculars are a great rainy day craft for kids. They can use them to go bird watching, as a camp craft, or as a nature craft!

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Thanks to its readily available, cheap and so versatile, PVC tubes can be used to create many fun crafts - kid's toys are in it. All you need is a little imagination and perhaps some inspiration. Low-cost PVC tubes toys are easy to do and will guarantee in hours of fun. From DIY water and sand table to play teepee, tube wall and pipe xylophone instrument to race car or boat track, here's PVC pipes toys sure to keep kids active and constructive during playing. Summer's here, let the fun begin!

#1. PVC pipe children's ball pit for a long time fun:

See the tutorial: empathyencompassed.com and boymamarussell.wordpress.com

#2. Build an easy and inexpensive Nerf play zone from PVC pipe:

Image via: imgur.com

#3. Funnels and PVC pipes sensory play with water:

Similar project tutorial: mylifewithlittles.wordpress.com

#4. Toy car garage made out of PVC pipes and a wooden crate:

Similar "PVC Toy car garage" project found here: frugalfun4boys.com

#5. A reading Teepee created from PVC pipes and Tablecloths allows your kids to have a reading and quiet space:

Check out the full Instructions: importtestsite.wordpress.com

Tips: When it is set up in the yard, it is a good idea to use Foam Floor Tiles to create a cozy and dry floor.

#6. Plastic container or stainless steel recycled sink mounted on a PVC pipe base becomes fun water and sand table for children:

Image via: mypinkyfinger.blogspot.com Get the full Instructions at: frugalfun4boys.com

#7. Homemade hurdles for kids of all sizes using PVC pipe:

See how to do: todayfitness.net

#8. Make a race car or boat track by cutting PVC in half vertically:

Image via: mymixofsix.blogspot.com

HOW TO CUT PVC TUBE IN HALF VERTICALLY:

After cutting the conduit to sticker lengths, I cut them in half on my bandsaw, using a simple jig to hold the sticker in position (see photo, above). To keep the conduit from rotating during the cut, I follow a straight line drawn on its surface. To draw the line, I simply lay a flat board next
the conduit and use the board as a straightedge.　- americanwoodworker.com

#9. Have cozy outdoor time or take a nap in this swing built from nylon webbing and pvc tubes:

See the full Instructions for : thenaughtymommy.com

The main different between the projects is the degree elbow. Case 1 uses 1-inch PVC 120 degree corners.

#10. Create adjustable PVC canopy sunshade for kids summer fun:

Image via: myhappycrazylife.com See the full Instructions for top image here: thekreativelife.com

#11. Use a variety of PVC pipe connector and joints to build a fun tube wall:

See the more details at: kidsactivitiesblog.com

#12. Kids can bring music making outside with a pretty cool PVC pipe xylophone instrument:

similar project tutorial: frugalfun4boys.com

#13. Use inexpensive PVC pipe to make a sprinkler to play in when the days get hot:

Source Unknown.

#14. Create a perfect reading nook for your kids with PVC tubes:

Get the full Instructions at: angryjuliemonday.com and littlemisskimsclass.com

#15. Make a tunnel for the kid's toy cars using PVC pipe, a few river rocks and some mulch:

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A Dozen Terrific DIY Kids Toys Using PVC Tube

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Thanks to its readily available, cheap and so versatile, PVC tubes can be used to create many fun crafts - kid's toys are in it. All you need is a little imagination and perhaps some inspiration. Low-cost PVC tubes toys are easy to do and will guarantee in hours of fun.

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Looking for a fun and educational activity to do at home with your kids? These easy science experiments for kids are sure to be a hit.

Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

Kids are natural-born scientists. They love to experiment, ask questions, and see how things work. So why not indulge their curiosity? There's no need to schlep to a science museum or sign your kids up for a pricey afterschool class. You can do these fun, easy science experiments for kids right at home in your kitchen or backyard. The best part: You'll have as big a blast as they will.

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6 Easy and Fun Science Experiments for Kids

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Looking for a fun and educational activity to do at home with your kids? These easy science experiments for kids are sure to be a hit. Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

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Looking for easy crafts for kids? If your child loves music, you've come to the right place. Below, we've complied a list of our favorite music activities and easy, DIY musical crafts your family will love to create.

You'll find a link to the original post with instructions, as well as the level of difficultly, ranging from music activities your preschooler can do to more advanced, adults-only projects to decorate your home. Enjoy!

Musical Crafts for Kids
These crafts are perfect for kids, from DIY music-makers to fun decorations!
19. Pin Strummers via Pi'ikea Street
Use bobby pins to create boings, pops, and other sounds!
Level: Easy

Crafts for Music-Loving Families
Want to spruce up your home with some more advanced crafts and DIY projects? Here are our favorite Pinterest-worthy ideas:
1. Sheet Music Candles via Can't Stop Making ThingsLearn how to make Pottery Barn lookalike candles with sheet music.
Level: Moderate

5. Vinyl Record Bookends via Treetrunkwise
Keep your bookshelf organized with these DIY bookends made from old records.
Level: Easy

7. Music Box Ornament via Craft Snob, guest post from SaltTree
Surprise! This cool glitter ornament is actually a wind-up musical box!
Level: Moderate

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40+ Fun (and Easy!) Music Crafts & Activities for Kids

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Looking for easy crafts for kids? If your child loves music, you've come to the right place. Below, we've complied a list of our favorite music activities and easy, DIY musical crafts your family will love to create.

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Here are over 20 science projects for kids using cardboard tubes! In this collection of STEM and STEAM activities for kids, you'll find all kinds of creative ways to encourage scientific exploration using empty toilet paper rolls, empty paper towel rolls and other cardboard tubes.
This post contains affiliate links.
We often use cardboard tubes for crafts (like with these adorable hanging bats) or for creative play (like in our car-themed sensory bin), but they can also be used to encourage children to explore the world around them. So grab some toilet paper tubes, paper towel tubes, or wrapping paper roll tubes and get busy creating all kinds of fun and engaging science activities!
Don't want to repurpose old cardboard tubes? You can also buy recycled craft rolls in sets. Homemade Spectroscope Exploring Sound with Homemade Rainsticks DIY Kaleidoscope Homemade Kazoo Craft Cloud Watching Binocular Craft Hexbug Mazes and Tracks Egg Drop Challenge
Cardboard Tube Marble Run STEM Activity from Little Bins for Little Hands

Upcycled Catapult from Go Science Girls

STEM Challenge: Build a Bridge from Inspiration Laboratories

Owl Eyesight STEM Exploration from JDaniel4'sMom

Homemade Bubble Blower from Happy Hooligans

Building Challenge: Design Play Structures for Toys from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Pulley Engineering STEAM Activity from Left Brain Craft Brain

Paper Plate Marble Track from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

DIY Recycled Suspension Bridge from Left Brain Craft Brain

Hand Crank Winch Simple Machine Activity from Little Bins for Little Hands

Gardening with Kids: Seed Starting from Rainy Day Mum

Balloon Rocket from Mum in the Madhouse

DIY Constellation Viewer from School Time Snippets

Moon Phase Viewer from What Do We Do All Day?

Be sure to check out STEAM Kids book and ebook for even more creative STEM and STEAM ideas!

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Science Projects with Cardboard Tubes - Buggy and Buddy

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Here are over 20 science projects for kids using cardboard tubes! In this collection of STEM and STEAM activities for kids, you'll find all kinds of creative ways to encourage scientific exploration using empty toilet paper rolls, empty paper towel rolls and other cardboard tubes. Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board!

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Looking for a fun and educational activity to do at home with your kids? These easy science experiments for kids are sure to be a hit.

Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

Kids are natural-born scientists. They love to experiment, ask questions, and see how things work. So why not indulge their curiosity? There's no need to schlep to a science museum or sign your kids up for a pricey afterschool class. You can do these fun, easy science experiments for kids right at home in your kitchen or backyard. The best part: You'll have as big a blast as they will.

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6 Easy and Fun Science Experiments for Kids

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Looking for a fun and educational activity to do at home with your kids? These easy science experiments for kids are sure to be a hit. Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

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Cut the cardboard to make different prints

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Cut the cardboard to make different prints

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Painting Fireworks is a super easy and fun New Year's Day Celebration activity - Creating Fireworks with Paint!

Using some of the left over cardboard rolls from the Christmas gift wrap, we created different length 'firework' fans for printing with paint. The print pattern created by the cardboard roll fans mimics that of fireworks brilliantly and children can create as many different size and coloured fireworks as they like.

What you will need?

You will need coloured paint (we have only chosen 4 colours), large sheets of paper and cardboard tubes.

Cut the cardboard tubes into different lengths as shown in the photo, to create different size firework prints.

Please note:

Do not place the cardboard tubs into the paint until you are ready to use them because after a while the cardboard strips become soft and will break off after they have been in the wet paint for some time.

The Fireworks Painting was inspired by reading the story The Night Before New Year's written by Natasha Wing and illustrated by Amy Wummer. This is a fun story that you can read to children as an introduction to the theme activity.

Some Ideas:

When printing the fireworks onto the paper, we used a 'bounce and twist' motion as we transferred the paint and fireworks pattern onto the paper.

Start printing with the largest fireworks cardboard fan first and print over the top with the next size down to the smallest.

Create a fireworks using the smallest cardboard fan first overlapping the paint with the next biggest until the largest.

Create single coloured fireworks with no overlapping with several colours.

Talk about the different sizes, which one is the largest fireworks and which one is the smallest?

Watch videos or read stories that show fireworks.

Add a small amount of glitter to the wet paint to finish off the 'fireworks' effect!

Let's Learn

Learning Opportunities

Imagination and Creativity

Fine Motor Development

Hand-Eye Coordination and Control

Cause and Effect

Colour recognition and creating new colours.

Language development - New vocabulary such as fireworks, New Year's Day, etc.

Click here for more PAINTING activities & play ideas

Click here for more CELEBRATION & FIREWORKS activities & play ideas

Available in our online shop:

Please click on the product names to view full product details.
Printable Dot-to-Dot Alphabet Letter Charts Printable Dot-to-Dot Number Rhyme Charts

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Painting Fireworks is a super easy and fun New Year's Day Celebration activity - Creating Fireworks with Paint! Using some of the left over cardboard rolls from the Christmas gift wrap, we created different length 'firework' fans for printing with paint.

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Playing with magnets is a lot of fun. I distinctly remember playing with them as a kid and how much fun they were.

In Magnetic Tubes we explored the power of magnets to move things up through a cardboard tube. It was very simple to set up and take down but really fun for my almost four year old. This activity would be ideal for toddlers or preschoolers but even school aged children would enjoy this!

Here's what you'll need to get create your own Magnetic Tubes:

Supplies

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience).

Simple Set Up for Magnetic Tubes

Grab a few cardboard tubes of different sizes and tape them upright to the bottom of a sensory bin. You do not need to do this activity in a sensory bin. It could be done quite easily on a hard floor. I, however, found that the bin helped to contain the magnetic counting chips and other items we were using.

Once the tubes were taped down I let my daughter drop a few metal objects down the tubes.

She even dropped a few of the magnetic wands down the larger tubes.

Then using the wand she did not drop down she slowly tried to lift up the dropped objects by putting the wand along the outside of the tube and slowly lifting it upwards.

Once the dropped objects reached the top she would grab them with her hands.

For some objects, such as the letters, she had to move the wand up very slowly so that they would not drop. These were the trickiest to maneuver up and required lots of patience.

For other objects one wand was enough to pick them up through the tubes.

For these object she needed to combine several wands together to create a more powerful magnet.

STEM Learning Fun

This activity was a total hit. My imaginative four year old turned this into a treasure hunt game where she pretended that she was 'discovering' the contents of each tube.

Purchase your supplies now online at Amazon.com.

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Playing with magnets is a lot of fun. I distinctly remember playing with them as a kid and how much fun they were. In Magnetic Tubes we explored the power of magnets to move things up through a cardboard tube. It was very simple to set up and take down but really fun for my almost four year old.

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Welcome to another story+ art = great stART (for more on "start projects" visit the original A Mommy's Adventure). I was fretting a little about this week's story & craft project, as I have a couple of "complicated ones" up my sleeve, but also want to keep encouraging everyone to have a go. Mess is good. But no mess is also good.

And then Red Ted pulled this book from the shelf! And inspiration came!

Piep, Piep, Piep: Das Buch der Töne und Geräusche, by Soledad Bravi. Originally in French, so get that if German is no good for you! A lovely (soft?) board book - it has many images of different every day things and all the sounds that they make. I particularly like it that the "plug says - no no no!" and that the christmas tree sings "oh tannenbaum". Fabulous. Simple. Red Ted (2.5 yrs) always make me sing to the christmas tree, but also likes many of the other pages. It is really nice that we can enjoy this book with Pip Squeak (8mths) too, as she loves the bright colours and the fun noises. Depending on the month, Red Ted has a different favourite page. Currently, we get stuck on the watch page (tick tack), mainly because I showed him an old Swatch Flick Flack that used to be mine and told him once it has a new battery he can have it.

We were also given a read the time activity book which he loves drawing in.Needless to say, he hasn't got a clue and cannot tell the time. He is not a wonderchild, but the point is, he is taking an interest in time. And we talk about time. And I tell him what time we do what.

So. The craft project. This is super easy.It took 2 min per watch. We made them more on a whim than anything else. I just realised that, I made them all. Mmh, I guess Red Ted gave me instructions (mainly "more"), but we did discuss time (what time shall I do next, Red Ted?) and he did want some for his friends. And you do learn through watching?! Below there are some more crafty suggestions.

1) Materials: Loo Roll, Scissors, Paper, Pen, Sellotape

2) Cut a strip of loo roll: the armband

3) Cut a circle and draw a watch face

4) Sellotape on (you can glue it, but takes a while to dry!

DONE!

Variations:

let your toddler decorate the wristband and watch face:

decorate loo roll: with feathers, fake gems, paint, pens, whatever takes your fancy (avoid glitter with this one, you will have it ALL over the house)

instead of loo roll, cut a strip of coloured card and sellotape it - good for older childrenwith bigger wrists.

Maybe you can be SUPER crafty and with a pin make a moving clock arms

Watch out for Red Ted Art, launching in German, Spanish and Russian!

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Great stART: Piep Piep Piep or making watches with toddlers - Red Ted Art

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Welcome to another story+ art = great stART (for more on "start projects" visit the original A Mommy's Adventure). I was fretting a little about this week's story & craft project, as I have a couple of "complicated ones" up my sleeve, but also want to keep encouraging everyone to have a go.

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Science for Kids: How to Make a Kaleidoscope - Buggy and Buddy

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Learn how to make a kaleidoscope in this fun STEM/science activity and craft for kids. It's such a fun way to explore light, reflections, and symmetry! Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board! *This post was originally published 2/2/16 and has since been updated. Last week I made these super fun kaleidoscopes with my ...

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Keep kids busy for hours with this simple sensory bin! They will love pouring colored beans through the funnels and watching them come out the tubes below.
If you liked our PVC pipe sand and water table, you might enjoy this simpler option for indoors. We used PVC pipe that we had on hand to build a simple structure that sits inside one of the under-the-bed tubs that we bought for the sand and water table. After playing with the sand and water table all summer, I enjoyed setting up something a little different, and the kids actually enjoyed playing with it on the floor so that they could have a surface on which to put their cups and bowls that they filled with beans. They were pretending it was candy! 🙂

Another option is to just use the sand and water table indoors. It would work great indoors or out! Obviously, you may not want to use sand and water inside... just saying! 🙂 Beans, rice, pasta, dried corn, or small pebbles would be great sensory materials for indoors.
Here is what our PVC structure looks like:
We used 3/4 inch pipe to build this.

I dyed navy beans using Asia's method over at Fun at Home with Kids. You can see instructions here: How to Dye Beans for Play and Art. It worked really well, and the beans are so pretty!

We did notice that the color rubs off slightly on finger tips after playing with the beans. It's nothing that a hand washing won't fix, but I wouldn't play with these on white carpet. Our grubby IKEA rug was not harmed at all. The color will probably run if the beans get wet, so make sure that kids have dry hands. Still, I think that the fun colors are definitely worth a little bit of mess! The colors contributed quite a bit to the fun of the activity, as you'll see below.

This tub has been played with for hours by my 7, 4,and 2 year olds. The pouring is very fun and the colorful beans are such a great sensory material! We have always had the policy that if you are just making a mess you are either too young to play or too uncooperative to play and your turn is done. For this, I was fine with beans out of the box as long as they stayed on the rug. The clean up has not been bad! One key thing is that I don't get it out at times where we don't have time to deal with picking up the beans.
Adapt the funnels to accommodate beans.
Note that I cut off the ends of the funnels (with a PVC pipe cutter) to allow the beans to fit through easily. Also, the funnels were too wobbly with the ends cut off, so I duct taped them to the PVC pipe which solved that problem nicely. Some of the photos were pre-taping.
Egg Carton Color Sorting
Another big hit was something that I tossed in there on a whim - egg cartons. They have had so much fun with the egg cartons! Jonathan and Owen have spent quite a bit of time on multiple different days sorting out a pile of beans by color using the egg carton sections. They like to pretend that the beans are different flavors of candy.

They consider this to be very important work, and it's great fine motor practice too!

If you choose not to color the beans, another idea for sorting is to use different types of beans.

Rice is also fun to use with funnels like this! You can see how to color rice here: How to Make Dyed Rice.
More Play Ideas
An empty water bottle is perfect for filling with beans, and it's also great for fine motor practice.

Janie and our babysitter had fun hiding a little toy penguin the bottle. They put the penguin in first and then filled the bottle with beans. Then it was fun to turn the bottle around and look for the penguin!

We also had fun with spoons, bowls, and little disposable storage cups with lids.
Have fun playing! Be sure to check out our PVC pipe sand and water table also! I also have a post with fun sand and water table play ideas.

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Sensory Play with Funnels, Tubes, and Colored Beans - Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls

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Keep kids busy for hours with this simple sensory bin! They will love pouring colored beans through the funnels and watching them come out the tubes below. If you liked our PVC pipe sand and water table, you might enjoy this simpler option for indoors.

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If you have an abundant supply of toilet paper rolls, why not let your kids have fun with them until they are needed? I've put together a fun list of things your kids can do with toilet paper rolls that will get them thinking creatively and keep them busy.

Toilet Paper Roll Building Challenges

Since STEM activities are my go-to boredom busters, why not try these challenges?

You probably knew this one was coming. Build a toilet paper tower! How high can you make it in just 60 seconds? The fun doesn't have to stop there. Make it more interesting or challenging by trying something like an arch, a staircase, or a tower with only ONE roll as the base (you might need two or more people to get this one to work!):

Once the TP tower is built, test its strength by designing and creating something to knock it down! Maybe you will create a slingshot or a catapult, or something more complicated like a trebuchet.

One of my favorite set of books for kids who like this type of activity is the Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction series (this is an affiliate link, read our disclosure here):

Make Something Useful?

Why not take this opportunity to try and design a better toilet paper roll, storage system, or way to keep the toilet paper protected from inevitable sneezes in the bathroom?

A Toilet Paper Roll Adventure

Imagine the toilet paper roll is Frosty the Snowman and he'd like to go sledding. Design and create a sled for the toilet paper roll to make it down a flight of stairs without flying off the sled!

Get Nerdy with Science and Math

When I taught a Grossology class, this was a favorite activity of my students! If you have multiple kinds of toilet paper, even better. You'll need a dropper or some way to measure liquid (a measuring cup is okay if that's all you have). See how much liquid ONE SQUARE of toilet paper can hold before becoming saturated. Go for the full effect - use yellow food dye on your water.

Take it one step further - once the toilet paper is saturated, how much solid mass can it hold before it fails? I like using metal washers for this but pennies work well too.

Want some more guidance on how to do this? Lemon Lime Adventures has a nice write up with useful visuals.

More Science with Toilet Paper

For another fun toilet paper science demo check out Steve Spangler's Flying Toilet Paper.

Toilet Paper Math

No, I'm not going to suggest you wrap your brain about single, double, or triple rolls, with one, two, or triple ply squares. No one needs that madness! However, you can absolutely do some simple math activities with a TP roll as your starting point.

In addition to the ideas above, once the volume of a TP roll is calculated, find out how many rolls would fit in the room you're in.

Measure the height of a roll calculate how far away the moon is in toilet paper rolls. If you can do with unraveling one, then compare that number to an unrolled roll of TP to see how many you would need to reach the moon.

Cardboard Tube STEM Activities

Once the TP rolls are all used up, the fun has just begun! There are a number of other activities waiting for you! I created this resource of STEM activities you can do with the cardboard tube that's left when the TP is all gone.

Here's a quick preview of some of the activities included (exploring cross sections, marble run, symmetry art, ball floating with Bernoulli's principle, and cardboard tube structures:

Pin these ideas for later:

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Fun Activities to Try with Toilet Paper Rolls! - STEM Activities for Kids

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If you have an abundant supply of toilet paper rolls, why not let your kids have fun with them until they are needed? I've put together a fun list of things your kids can do with toilet paper rolls that will get them thinking creatively and keep them busy.

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Today's Cardboard Tube Space Shuttle craft comes straight out of the Happy Handmade Book that I received for free from my friend Leslie from Pink Stripey Socksin order to provide an honest review of the craft e-book she contributed to. After our U is for Universe activity we have been in an outer space kind of mood so we chose to make the Cardboard Tube Space Shuttles.

Cardboard Tube Space Shuttle

I loved how easy they were to make, and used all recycled supplies (cardboard tubes and cereal boxes). I quickly cut out our space shuttle frames and pulled out some toilet paper rolls. Then we painted our shuttles and headed off to the grocery store. When we returned we decorated them and started playing. My daughter is determined to fly into space when she gets older...my little astronaut in training :).

Some More Recycled Crafts We Have Done:

Cardboard Tube Space Shuttles by Happy Handmade

Straight from the Happy Handmade Book. Don't forget to read our book review below and find out how to get your own copy of this fabulous book!

Happy Handmade is in e-book format so all you have to do is purchase, download, and you're ready to craft. This means it's a PDF document that reads like a fabulous craft book. The best part is you don't have to find a spot on the book shelf to store it! When we started looking for a craft to try out it was hard to chose which one. My daughter literally decided she wanted to do all of them. The nice thing is that we can do them all without having to run to the craft store because the list of supplies includes typical craft and recycled supplies (cardboard tubes, socks, shoe boxes, and plastic bottles to name a few). Happy Handmade is beautifully designed with helpful step-by-step photos and directions. The craft ideas are fun, unique, and perfect for sparking creativity and imagination. I know you would like this book because you are already a fan of one of the awesome crafts it contains! The price of the book is $12.99 which includes 115 pages of fun projects and free craft templates.

You can buy the book from anywhere in the world. Payment is via Paypal, which will take care of currency conversions if needed. It is recommended that you download the book to a computer, and then share it with your mobile device if you want it on your phone too (for all those craft anywhere type of people :). You can use the book in digital form or print it off if you would like.

Have a great day!
Love, Katie & the Kiddos

Filed Under: Cardboard Tubes, Crafts, Create, Recycled, Review, Solar System, Uncategorized

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Cardboard Tube Space Shuttles & Happy Handmade Book Review -

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Today's Cardboard Tube Space Shuttle craft comes straight out of the Happy Handmade Book that I received for free from my friend Leslie from Pink Stripey Socks in order to provide an honest review of the craft e-book she contributed to.

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It is only 1 week away so I thought it time to think about Valentine's Day crafts for preschoolers! Break out the pink and red crafting supplies friends - here we go!

Are you getting into the holiday spirit yet?! I know what your thinking - 'holiday spirit' - good grief! We are talking Valentine's Day, right?

Yes. You see, if you have little preschoolers to keep you company during those long days of chilly winter weather, you need to look for the fun. I don't know about you, but February gets us crafting A LOT. And with Valentine's day just around the corner, you better believe we are pulling out all the doilies, heart crafts, homemade valentine activities, you name it!

Because you see, for those of us who do not enjoy the winter, these holidays are all we have to look forward to.

Well, that sounded rather bleak - of course there is my incredible family, friends, and beautiful babes. But also snow. And cold.

And so - Valentine's Day preparations it is.

These Valentine's Day crafts for preschoolers are beautiful and playful. Perfect for in the preschool classroom or at home. I hope you like them! I selected a great variety of toddler and preschool friendly art activities. You will find all sorts of hearts and loved-filled ideas.

There are painting crafts, cutting and pasting activities, colourful yarn art, simple colouring with crayons or markers ... if it is a Valentine's day themed craft, it is here!

Heart Crafts for Preschoolers made with Yarn

Yarn-Wrapped Hearts - Heart shaped cardboard and red yarn are all you need for this simple and fun Valentine's Day craft!

Valentine Zip-Line from My Nearest and Dearest - Deliver valentines via zip-line! This one is sure to impress those busy little Valentines.

Paper Valentine's Day Crafts

Valentine Name Puzzle - Name puzzles are a hit around here, so we decided to try one with a Valentine twist. This one is a simple pink construction paper heart cut with scissors by those little hands. Such a great Valentine's Day craft for 3 year olds!

Celery Heart Stamped Valentine - This Valentine's Day craft is perfect for a wide range of ages. Chop up some celery and get out that pink and red paint for a very pretty heart stamping activity for preschool!

Finger Painting Valentine Craft Ideas for 3 Year Olds

Messy Arts and Crafts for Preschool this Valentine's Day!

DIY Heart Sun Catchers

Cute little love filled Critter Crafts

Homemade Valentines Cards

Stencils and Stamps for Valentine Crafts!

Fine Motor Strengthening Valentine Preschool Crafts

The BEST Valentine's Day Crafts for Preschoolers!

Hand-Decorated Wooden Heart from Kleas - The hearts in this picture are obviously decorated by an adult, but wouldn't they look amazing with kids' decorations too?

Woven Heart Basket - This is a fun way to introduce children to weaving and patterns! paper weaving activity is great for older children to create. It is not as tricky as it looks! Most 6 year olds could manage it nicely all on their own.

There you have it! Oodles of Valentine's Day craft ideas to keep us happily crafting until Valentine's Day! Snow? No problem.

Well, maybe not no problem - but tolerable. Well, hopefully tolerable.

And this would be my first post complaining about winter in 2020! Happy winter friends, we'll get through it together.

Thank you for reading!

You might also like:
A Year of Educational Quiet Bins 75 Paper Plate Crafts for Kids 50 Winter Art Ideas for 2 Year Olds 54 Mess-Free Quiet Time Activities for 3 Year Olds Once upon a time ...

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Beautiful and Playful Valentine's Day Crafts for Preschoolers

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It is only 1 week away so I thought it time to think about Valentine's Day crafts for preschoolers! Break out the pink and red crafting supplies friends - here we go! Are you getting into the holiday spirit yet?! I know what your thinking - 'holiday spirit' - good grief!

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19 Best Tubes, Tunnels and Ramps images | Activities for kids, Creative curriculum, Water table

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Jul 25, 2019 - Explore a12808's board "Tubes, Tunnels and Ramps" on Pinterest. See more ideas about Activities for kids, Creative curriculum, Water table.

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Work on number recognition with afun problem solving activity! Our Member of the Month, Shawna, shares her pom pom tunnels maze!

Gymnastics teacher and mom Shawna is super flexible. But finding time to actually plan and prep hands-on activities with her two girls was not happening as often as she wanted.

"I found myself on Pinterest of course, trying to find activities to do," she explains. "Nine times out of ten, I have so many pins and barely touch any of them."

Shawna had the ideas - and the Pins - ready to go. It was just about getting everything organized to actually do the activities!

"I would try to do certain things with the kids every once in a while, but in terms of actually following through and doing the activities, I didn't do as many as I probably should have," Shawna says.

Then, she spied an invitation to The Activity Room ® on Facebook. And she decided to totally jump right in!
"I couldn't wait to see what The Activity Room was going to bring."
Kids Love Hands-On Room Activities!

Now, her kids are 100% percent on-board with The Activity Room adventure. Their excitement is one major reason why Shawna decided to fully commit to hands-on activities with her children.

"They're so happy, they're so excited," she shares. "They constantly ask me for activities! The girls love it and I love their faces and their expressions."

The organization of The Activity Room is another major win for Shawna. She really struggled with getting things planned and organized for her Pinterest-found activities.

" The biggest struggle with activities was to get things organized to actually follow through to do it," Shawna says. "I always have craft supplies here, it was just to follow through with it and making sure I was more planned for it.
"Knowing that it's planned and prepped and organized - really you have no excuse now!"
Shawna is a ROOM superstar- owning the daily activities and finding creative ways to extend hands-on play!

"It also makes me think of other activities," she shares. "It throws other ideas in my head and it makes me excited to do extensions and twists with them."
Every parent should be part of The Activity Room!

Let's Meet Shawna

How many kids do you have and how old are they?
2 girls (age 6 and 3)
How long have you been in The Activity Room?
May 2019
What is your favorite activity you've done in The Activity Room?
Sensory walk and washing toys
What's your favorite thing to do with your kids when you get a few moments?
Read, color or play LEGO!
What's your best tip for doing activities with your kids?
Follow your child's lead and have fun!
If you were to tell a friend about The Activity Room, what would you say to them?
The Activity Room is an amazing resource for all parents. Before The Activity Room, I would spend hours scrolling through Pinterest to find activities to do with kids to only do one or two things a month.

Now with The Activity Room, I feel like an organized and prepared parent ready to make memories with my kids.

The kids are constantly asking for more. In addition, the activities that are planned in the Room have made me think of new twists to try with the kids to keep their interest.

Thank you so much, Activity Room!
Share your favorite quote
"Time spent playing with children is never wasted!"

Simple Fun DIY Pom Pom Tunnels Maze for Kids

We love creating - and solving - our own puzzles and mazes! Which is why my girls love this pom pom tunnels maze.

It's a snap to throw together and doubles as a great fine motor activity, too!

To make your own pom pom tunnels maze, you'll need:

Paper towel or toilet paper rolls

Shoebox without the cover

Pom poms

Markers

Cut your paper towel rolls into multiple sections. Then, arrange them in an open box.

Glue each roll section down. Gluing inside of a small space is great for precision, motor planning, and creative use of tools.

How will your child handle the struggle of this prep work?

Place a Pom Pom in the box and move the box to get the pom pom through the tunnels. You can draw arrows or mark specific start/finish spots.

Another option is to leave it totally open-ended! Ask your kids - see what they'd prefer.

Do you work on problem-solving at your house? We'd love to try some of your creative solutions activities!

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Work on number recognition with afun problem solving activity! Our Member of the Month, Shawna, shares her pom pom tunnels maze! Gymnastics teacher and mom Shawna is super flexible. But finding time to actually plan and prep hands-on activities with her two girls was not happening as often as she wanted.

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NUMBER TUNNELS || We are having fun exploring numbers today! This activity is so easy that Ryan (my ki… (With images) | Toddler activities, Infant activities, Activities for kids

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Mar 15, 2019 - NUMBER TUNNELS || We are having fun exploring numbers today! This activity is so easy that Ryan (my kindergartener) was able to help me set…

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Spring and summer are the perfect time to create an outdoor obstacle course for children. Not only will they love the challenge, they will also be working on gross motor skills. I'm excited to share this fun obstacle course with you!

Develop Gross Motor Skills

This activity is great for working on gross motor skills. These skills work the large muscles of our body, which we use for walking, jumping, skipping, and more. As children grow, so do their abilities to control and move their muscles. Children need lots of time to play and build strength in their bodies. Working on gross motor skills helps a child gain strength and confidence in his/her body. It also encourages physical activity, which is important for a healthy lifestyle.

Outdoor Obstacle Course

Here's what you need for this obstacle course:

I recently discovered reusable water balloons. These are so great because they don't leave waste on the ground and they are very easy to use! You fill a bucket with water, put the water balloon under the water while pushing the clear plastic flap inward so the water can fill the balloon. When it's filled, bring the balloon above the water and the flap will close on its own. As an alternative, use large sponges or foam balls.

To set up this course, begin by laying three hula hoops in a row. Make tunnels out of pool noodles. These are so easy to make! Poke a pen into the ground. Slide one end of the pool noodle over it; the pen will go into the hole in the middle of the pool noodle. Do the same thing for the other side and you have a tunnel!

Set a bucket of water balloons in front of the tunnels. Put another bucket about two feet away. Lay the catcher nets next to the second tunnel.

After everything is set up, have your children try it out! You could time them as they race, or set up two of these courses to have them race against each other.

Run the Obstacle Course

Here's how the course goes:

Hop into the center of each hula hoop. Crawl through the pool noodle tunnels.

If you have older children, you could have them jump over the pool noodle tunnels or alternate jumping and crawling.

Throw the water balloons to the opposite bucket until you get three into the bucket.

Run to the second bucket and scoop one water balloon into the catcher net. Then run back to the starting line.

My children had a blast with this obstacle course! The best thing about obstacle courses like this is that they are easily modified. You could add more obstacles to this course or adjust activities to meet the needs of your children. I would love to hear what other ideas you have for this obstacle course!

BIO: Angela is the writer and creator at Teaching Mama, where she shares hands-on learning activities for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. She is a former teacher, turned stay-at-home-mom to 3 wonderful boys. One of her favorite summer activities is Soap Foam Sidewalk Paint! You can connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Other Gross Motor Ideas-
Gross Motor Beach Ball Game
Walk the Line Outdoor Movement Game
Spring Movement Games
Science for Kids: Body Shadows

Follow myGross Motor Pinterest Board for more great ideas!

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Spring and summer are the perfect time to create an outdoor obstacle course for children. Not only will they love the challenge, they will also be working on gross motor skills. I'm excited to share this fun obstacle course with you! This activity is great for working on gross motor skills.

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For our new Family Inventors' Lab class, we have built a fun tool,which encourages the kids to tinker - see my last post for how kids play with a wind tube. This post is about the tinkering process we're on to build and refine our wind tube.

We started with the directions from Exploratorium. We ordered from Amazon:

a fan (You could possibly use a smaller fan, and smaller hoops if you were making one just for home use and wanted to save some money.)

4 embroidery/quilting hoops (turns out we only needed two) and

an acetate sheet (the directions called for .0075 ml thickness, we used .01)

We cut the acetate sheet, and assembled the tube with the hoops. Definitely a two person job. You can clamp the plastic between the inner and outer layer of the hoop, just like you would fabric. We then used clear packing tape to tape the seam. (We also taped over the metal clamps on the hoops, and we taped over the edges of the acetate sheet on one end, just so kids wouldn't scrape themselves owhile playing.)

Then we needed spacers to lift the tube up off the fan. Exploratorium recommends wooden spacers that you cut a notch in. We didn't have the wood or the tools handy at the moment, so we built spacers with Duplos and set the tube on those. You can see the Duplo spacers in the videos in this post. For our family, that worked fine. There were a few times our son knocked the tube off on accident, and the Duplo towers got broken apart, but they were easy to rebuild. However, for public use, we wanted something else, because we thought that if the Duplo towers got broken up, it might be hard for someone to figure out how to rebuild them. I wandered through a local Ben Franklin craft store, and found some giant clothespins (like these), which worked great. Easy to assemble and disassemble the wind tube. For our home use, this was great.

But, I wanted to test this with a large group of kids. So, I planned to take it to my class, with 1.5 - 2.5 year olds. I knew I needed to cover up the fan openings before taking this to a group, just in case someone tried to put rocks or beans or coins or something into the fan. (Or fingers, of course, though that wouldn't be possible with this fan design, it might be with other fans!) I bought 1.5 yards of black tulle with pretty sparkles (like this), and we wrapped it over the fan, tying it off below with a twisted pipe cleaner. [The tulle does work great as safety proofing and looks fine, but it does diffuse the air flow from the fan a little, so some of the heavier things that would fly without the mesh on (a twirled pipe cleaner and the large plastic lid) don't fly well with the mesh on. (We had to add wings to the pipe cleaner to fly it.) And the tops didn't spin as well. I might remove the mesh if I had only older kids who could be trusted if told not to try dropping small heavy things in... ]

In class, it quickly became clear that we would need to tie down the tube to the fan. I had one toddler that every time she put something in, she would jerk her hand back quickly and knock the tube over. I had another one who would bang on the tube anytime something got stuck in an air current. So, I had to hold the tube continuously so it didn't fall on anyone's head. (Note: it doesn't really hurt if it does, but it is mighty startling.)

Exploratorium recommended drilling holes in the spacers, disassembling the fan, and fastening the spacers on with zip ties. We decided it would be much easier to just thread pipe cleaners through the springs on the clothes pins, and loop those down through the fan and back up again (no dis-assembly required) and twist together to tighten. It was easy to do, worked great to tie them down, and will be easy to undo later if desired. An advantage to the clothes pins is that it's easy to clamp the tube onto the fan, an easy to un-clamp it for transport.

Yesterday, we took the wind tube to the Healthy Kids Healthy Families fair, and for four hours straight, we were surrounded by a non-stop flow of kids playing and experimenting with it. The under-one-year olds loved watching things fly up and out of the tube. The two-year-olds loved shoving things into the tube and watching them fly. The three-year-olds started to make observations on which items flew best. The four-and-ups would experiment with building things, tying things together, trying to put things in from the top, and so on. Some of the parents got caught into the experimenting too, folding paper helicopters and such to test what would fly. The kids played really well together - part of the point of this game is to put something in and LET GO, so there weren't many issues with having to share something that someone was holding on tight to. They all played happily side by side. They don't really need to take turns, as it works fine to have four or five things flying at the same time.

Here's some of the items we launched. We look forward to more play and experimentation to see what other items we can find or build that will fly well in our wind tube.

Note: you can apparently build a very simple wind tube with a fan and some poster board: check out this post at babbledabbledo.

For lots of ideas for STEM enrichment activities with kids, check out my blog www.InventorsOfTomorrow.com.

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For our new Family Inventors' Lab class, we have built a fun tool,which encourages the kids to tinker - see my last post for how kids play with a wind tube. This post is about the tinkering process we're on to build and refine our wind tube.