Paper Animation

How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Animal

I love animals, whether they are house animals or farm animals. I just have that natural love for all things cute. My favorite animals are the ones with beautiful designs like giraffes and zebras. They just have those amazing patterns they carry around with them every day. I have a purse with a giraffe print and shoes with a zebra print. Obsessed much?

I also love going on vacation and swimming in the ocean, which is where this project came from. A fun craft for kids to put together is a toilet paper roll animal. An octopus is such a fun craft for them to work on. Here’s how:

You will need:

• An Empty Toilet Paper Roll
• Two Googly Eyes
• Paint (white and another color)
• Glue
• Toilet Paper
• Marker
• Scissors

It’s a super easy craft to make and the kids will love it. There are so many different animals you can make. All you need to do is:

Take a wad of toilet paper and scrunch it up into a ball. Then put that ball inside the toilet paper roll towards the top, this will be used for the head later. Don’t have it out all the way, but just a little bit. You then take your white paint and paint over the whole thing, including the wad of toilet paper. Wait a bit for it to dry and then take your other color and paint over the whole thing. The white constitutes as the base color so you won’t see the brown underneath and your other color will be nice and bold. Again, you wait for this to dry.

Take your scissors and cut around the bottom portion of the toilet paper roll, you’re going to cut vertical strips for the tentacles. You don’t want them to be too skinny, but about a quarter of an inch in between each one. You then take your marker and roll each piece upward to make some cute tentacles. This will allow the octopus to sit on its own.

Now it’s time for the fun stuff. You can glue on your eyes and draw on the mouth. It makes for a cute craft that the kids can play with once all dried. You can also do the same with a bee or a butterfly. You just have to paint differently and make some wings to glue on. You might also want to use pipe cleaners for antennae.

About the Author

Christine Weiher is an Editor for FaveCrafts.com

‘World of Color’ Paper Animation