Toilet Paper Roll Valentine's Day Ladybug

Ladybug Supply List: 1 toilet paper roll, black paint, red construction paper, glue, scissors, pom-poms, pipe cleaner, google eyes

Begin by painting your toilet paper roll black and allow to dry.

Draw two hearts on the red construction paper.

Cut out your hearts (ladybug wings).

Glue the bottom of your hearts together and then glue black pom-poms on them.

Add your google eyes and pipe cleaner antenna.  We punched a small heart for the mouth and glued it on.

Book Suggestion: My daughter and son both love Ladybug Girl.  Ladybug Girl makes her own pint sized fun when her brother tells her she's too little to play with him.  This book is great for both boys and girls.

Cardboard Tube Lion

 Lion Supply List: 1 toilet paper roll, paint, glue, scissors, google eyes, yellow paper, pipe cleaner

 Begin by painting your toilet paper roll yellow.  We mixed a little glitter glue in with our paint to make a sparkly lion.  Allow your paint to dry.

 Cut legs from the bottom of your toilet paper roll.

 Cut a circle out of your piece of yellow paper and cut small slits all the way around the circle so that it looks like a sun.  I let Cole do some of the cuts on this, but then he got board so I finished it for him.

 Add google eyes and draw on a mouth.

Glue on your lion face on the toilet paper roll and add a pipe cleaner tail.

Book Suggestion: I love the story of the The Lion & the Mouse.  It's a classic fable with a wonderful lesson.  In this version, the story has no words and the beautiful illustrations tell the story.  I like using wordless books with my kids.  It gives them a chance to really tell the story and predict what they think is going to happen as well as recant what they've seen.

Toilet Paper Roll Lantern

 Lantern Supply List: 1 toilet paper roll, paint, hole punch, glue, ribbon or string, tissue paper, utility knife

 Paint your toilet paper roll and allow to dry.

Using your utility knife cut slits around the toilet paper roll.

Squeeze your toilet paper roll so that the cut pieces bend outward.  Use your hole punch to put 2 holes in the top of your toilet paper roll.  Add ribbon or string.

Cut your tissue paper into strips.  I let Cole do this part independently so his pieces were jagged and uneven, but he loves cutting and it's his craft, so I don't mind.

Glue your tissue paper around the inside bottom of your toilet paper roll.

Book Suggestion: I love the book Lin Yi's Lantern because not only does it show children a glimpse into Chinese culture and market life, but more importantly to me, it shows how making unselfish choices in life will be rewarded.  This is a great book that prompted some wonderful discussions in our home.

Toilet Paper Roll St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

First of all I would like to apologize for a lack of pictures that go with this post.  I'm pretty sure I took them, but I have no idea where they disappeared to.  Oh well, you can still get the idea behind the craft.  In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I give you the Toilet Paper Roll Leprechaun.

 Toilet Paper Roll Leprechaun Supply List: 1 toilet paper roll, green paint, green construction paper, scissors, piece of round construction paper to use as face, Easter grass or yarn for beard, tape

 Start by painting your cardboard tube green and allowing it to dry.  Cut a circle out of green construction paper and then trace a smaller circle in the middle using the cardboard tube as a template.

 Draw a face on the piece of round construction paper.

 Slip the green circular piece over the toilet paper roll and adhere it using a piece of tape.  Don't bother trying to glue it, you'll be there all day.  Glue the round face and beard onto the green tube.

Viola!  A small St. Patrick's Day friend.

Book Suggestion: The Night Before St. Patrick's Day by Natasha Wing follows two mischievous children as they set traps to catch a leprechaun on the eve of St. Patrick's Day.  Once they have captured one, they then try to find his pot of gold.  I'm a sucker for anything set in the same verse as The Night Before Christmas, and this book is no exception.

Paper Towel Roll Log Cabin

This was a fun project and Cole loved it.  It would be a really fun activity for older kids because they could probably complete more of it independently.  It would be a great activity for around President's Day or if you were studying Abraham Lincoln.  We made it in anticipation of an upcoming camping trip.  Cole wasn't able to help too much with the assembly, but he loved playing with it.

Paper Towel Roll Log Cabin Supply List: 21 paper towel rolls, glue, heavy weight brown paper, scissors

Cut 5 of your paper towel rolls into thirds.  If you don't have enough paper towel rolls you could also use toilet paper rolls for this part.

Cut your brown paper into 11" x 4" strips.  You'll need 4 of them.  These are going to be the corners of your log cabin.

Cut slits approximately 1" long on each side of your paper towel roll.

Fold your 4 pieces of brown paper in half long ways.  Slide your paper towel rolls onto the brown paper.  You will have 2 sides that are solid paper towel rolls, 1 side with a door and 1 side with a window.

We put glue in between the layers of paper towel rolls.  This is not a necessary step.  I chose to use glue because we have a 16 month old master of destruction running around the house and I was afraid she would get hold of it and pull all the rolls off.

I topped the cabin with another sheet of brown paper.  I did this pretty much to show the finished project.  As soon as Cole started to play with the cabin the roof came off so he could reach in and fill it with friends.

Here is the back view of the wall with a window.

Book Suggestion: The Log Cabin Quilt is a touching book that follows a family as they move across the country following their mother's death.  It has warm colors and an even warmer story.  It is a great story that older students would enjoy.