Toilet Paper Roll – Cars Activity

These Recycled toilet roll or toilet tube kids craft is lots of fun to make and even more, fun to play with.

Add this activity to a storybook reading and you have yourself a very easy lesson plan that has the potential for hours of creation and play. Once these cars are made the kids can use their imagination for pretend play as well as using it to create stories for older kids.

The links below are affiliate links which means when you buy a book from that link we get a small kickback in change, this is at no extra cost to you.

Books about Race Cars (or with race cars in them!):

Good Night Racecar –

Race Car Count –

Go Dog Go –

Supplies:

Empty toilet paper or paper towel cardboard tube
Tempra paint
Paint brush
Paper Plate
Hot Glue
Scissors

Instructions:

If using a paper towel tube, cut it in half.

Draw an oval shape in the middle of the tube. Carefully cut it out! Kids might need help with this step! This will be the driver’s seat area.

Trace one end of the cardboard tube on a paper plate and cut it out. Once cut, decorate it with markers (or paint) to be the grill of the car.

On a paper plate (or if you have a thick cardstock that would work!) cut out 4 circles for the tires, a small circle for the steering wheel and a seat shape. I told our kids to cut out a large, skinny hill shape and they cut out perfect race car seats! 🙂

Paint time! You can use anything you want to decorate your cars. We used paint. Paint your car, tires, steering wheel and seat. (Be sure to paint both sides!) Decorate the side of the car with craft supplies or draw on numbers and designs. Allow to dry.

To assemble: Glue the grill to the front of the toilet paper tube. It should fit nicely!

Glue on the 4 tires to the bottom of your car. You will want your car to kind of stand a bit.

A small dab of glue on the steering wheel to place on the front edge of the oval shape you cut out. And slide the seat into the driver’s area.

Ta da!

Did you know that more than eight billion rolls of toilet paper, bath tissue or toilet tissue as it is sometimes referred to are sold yearly in the U.S.A. It is guesstimated that the average person uses 23 rolls each per year. I don’t know about you but that seems a little low to me.

Recently we changed to the thick rolls which are triple length, so now we only have to change them a 1/3 as often, which is great cause no one in the house changes the toilet roll except me.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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