Paper Towel Rolls
Crafts and Activities to Recycle Cardboard TubesNativity Family
Easy-to-make and adorable!
Praise Streamers
Staple strips of crepe paper to the end of a paper towel roll.
God Created Animals
We used these and many other assorted pieces of "recyclables" in an art lesson for "God Created the Animals" and had our age 3-5 class make an animal of their choice.
Paper towel rolls were used to make birds by attaching precut-out wings and tails and adding eyes with a black permanent marker. But don't let this be your only idea. Ask the children, they will make all sorts of things - mice, octopi you name it - their imagination is limitless. We then used this in the lesson as we talked about land, sea and sky animals, then had the children place their animal in the place it lived. ~ Rachel Onions
Rain Sticks
You'll need a long cardboard tube (from wrapping paper, 30"-36"). Crunch together a 5'-6' long sheet of tin foil into a "stick", then twist coils into the foil. Insert coiled foil into the paper tube. Tape off one end of the tube. Pour a 1/2 cup of corn kernels or small beads into the tube. Seal off the other end of the paper tube with tape. Decorate the tube using torn pieces of colored tissue paper and Modge-Podge. Once it's dry, slowly turn the tube up and down to hear the "rain" fall.
Bible application: the flood (Gen. 6:11 ff); God provides (Deut. 28:12, Zech. 10:1); God sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous...love your enemies. (Matt. 5:45).
Additional decorating ideas: Cover tube in brown paper and stamp with green leaf prints or cover tube with a natural covering such as thin sheets of coconut palm tree bark.
~ Sarah Keith <><
Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Make a tree using a paper towel (or toilet paper) roll for the trunk. Using green construction paper, preferably card stock weight, cut out the tree top in the shape of a cloud and tape or glue to the end of the roll. Then, glue fruit shapes on the tree. I used coloring book pictures of fruit that the kids could color, cut out and glue on the tree.
God's Promise to Abraham
Genesis 15:5 "Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
Make a telescope using a paper towel roll by decorating the outside of the roll however you
like using construction paper, stickers, glitter, etc. Attach a piece of colored cellophane (yellow worked good) over one end of the roll using a rubber band. Then place small star shaped stickers on the cellophane. When the kids look thru the roll, it appears like a starry sky.
Armor of God
Use paper towel roll for a handle to make a shield or sword.
Music for the Lord
Fill the inside of the paper towel roll with dry beans or rice to make a maraca. Tape or staple the ends shut. Decorate the outside anyway you like.
~ Valarie
Scrolls
Each scroll uses two rolls. The children can design their own scroll - make a picture or word story on one long piece of paper. You can cut strips of paper from brown paper bags, or use packing paper, or whatever you have available. When they have finished the story tape each end of the paper onto a roll, and roll together like a scroll. We have used these as props for plays as well as projects to take home. The children love them, and they are chunky for little hands.
Linda
Hoffman Estates, IL
Before the end of the roll
use toilet paper for stories that are about injured people. For Bible stories where people couldn't walk, I wrap toilet paper around a child's legs or eyes to show they were hurt. My husband and I teach 4 and 5's and they love the hands-on visuals. After you are done with the roll use the cardboard tube to place candy or a small gift in to be wrapped and given away as a neighbor gift or Christmas gift. Glory to God!
Peace,
Jenny
Goody Holder
Last year we had a church camp at the beach. I used paper towel rolls to hold lots of little goodies for a treasure hunt. Cover one end with a piece of paper, taped to the roll; fill it with whatever you want; cover the other end with paper and tape it to the roll. I then wrapped each roll in gold paper, and applied a label "The Greatest Treasure" which quoted 1 Cor 13:1 - 7. The kids loved them.
Yours in Christ,
Pat.
Binoculars
"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" Genesis 1:31.
Say something like, "What a wonderful world God has created for us!... To SEE all that He has made; from the smallest speck of sand - to the largest mountain. This is perhaps the most wonderful thing of all... that God has allowed us to be here - living in His greatest creation. Let us enjoy seeing all the things God has made."
Make a pair of binoculars to look through to enjoy the view of God's wonderful world.
Take a paper towel roll and carefully cut it in two equal pieces. Decorate both pieces with crayons, markers, glitter, stickers, etc. Attach the two pieces together by stapling them together at both ends. Take a paper punch and make holes on the outer edges of each tube. Cut a 20" piece of yarn and string each end of the yarn through the holes, tying the string to them.
Now wear them around your neck and peer through them to see the world around you.
Peace, Dene >><>
Trumpets of Jericho
My kindergarten class consists of 8 children (7 boys and 1 girl), and find I'm constantly challenged with the high energy of the boys. We had a great time with a lesson called "Joshua at
Jericho," Joshua 1:20.
The story is about how God gave Joshua and the Israelites instructions for making the walls of Jericho come tumbling down. When they marched around the walls, seven priests played seven trumpets made from rams' horn.
Not much thought had to be given as to the craft - Trumpets. I just knew the kinders would be excited, and yes, they were.
Each child was given a paper towel roll and asked to place it so the end of the roll was centered on the bottom of a plastic container (Like a margarine or sour cream container.). They traced around the paper towel roll, and then cut the plastic circle out. The paper towel roll was pushed through the whole of the container, about 1 inch, making sure the bowl was facing outward. They covered the roll and container with colored construction paper. On the roll they wrote the words "God is with Us All the Time!" and on the bowl, they wrote the numbers from 1 to 7, as the passage speaks of 7 days, 7 priests, 7 trumpets, and the 7th time the soldiers marched around Jericho. The children decorated the rest of the roll however they pleased. I had pre-braided long wool ropes so that they could feed it through their
Trumpet rolls and tie the rope ends together.
I had also collected a lot of 2 liter milk cartons and painted them brown to symbolized blocks. The children built a milk carton tower that stood about 5 feet tall. This towering building illustrated the City of Jericho. With their trumpets slung over their shoulders, we marched around our City of Jericho and sang the song "Oh, When We March" to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching
In." For the first verse, we marched and sang, and then for the second verse, we marched and sang through our trumpets.
Oh, when we march around the wall.
Oh, when we march around the wall.
We know that God will give us the victory.
When we march around that wall.
On, when we blow our trumpets loud.
Oh, when we blow our trumpets loud.
We know that God will give us the victory.
When we blow our trumpets loud.
We sang this song continuously and when we were about to finish singing it for the seventh time, I kicked out the bottom milk carton and the City of Jericho came tumbling down.
The kids thought that the walls came down because of all their marching, singing and trumpet blowing. What a wonderful way for them to live the story, as Joshua and the Israelites did. The lesson made such an impression that I am told by parents that the kids re-lived it at home many times over.
We ended the lesson by discussing the Faith Trait of perseverance. I said that doing something seven times for seven days is hard. Joshua and the Israelites may have wondered why God asked them to march every day for seven days, but they did what God asked. When a person does something many times, even when it is hard, we say that person shows perseverance. One way to encourage perseverance is to say, "Stick with it!" God wants us to show perseverance so we will keep believing and doing what God wants us to do. So "Stick" your hands together in prayer, and know that
God is with Us All the Time!
Yours in Christ,
Connie Samycia,
Edmonton, Canada
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