A Fun Use-What-You-Have Craft: Recycled Cardboard Tube Animals!

A Fun Use-What-You-Have Craft: Recycled Cardboard Tube Animals!

As I’ve written many many times, recycled toilet and paper towel tubes are some of my favorite materials. The charm of these animals is that they are animal-like but still look like cardboard tubes— cylindrical and raw cardboard brown. (Though, of course, painting them is a fun thing for little kids to do!) Older kids handy with scissors can make these creatures and adults should handle any cuts made with the utility knife. Once they see how many ways there are to cut cardboard tubes, they will come up with tons of ideas of their own! Create a habitat by cutting paper watering holes and cardboard trees. The eyes are made by hole- punching black construction paper. To glue on tiny circles and other shapes, dot glue onto the tube with a toothpick. Alternatively, the features can be drawn on with a marker.

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Cupcakes For Your Animal-Loving Kid!

Cupcakes For Your Animal-Loving Kid!

I recently made some safari animal cupcakes for Thomas & Friends to promote their movie Big World! Big Adventures! . I used mostly easy-to-find supermarket ingredients like cookies, marshmallows and pretzels to make these along with candy melts...which you can find at craft and party stores nowadays! Start off with your favorite cupcake, homemade or store-bought. I love this recipe for One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes. If you prefer to buy them, you can call most supermarket bakeries and ask them to make you some unfrosted cupcakes (or frosted, in the color of your choice).

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Recycled Cardboard Zoo Animals!

Recycled Cardboard Zoo Animals!

Oh, the many uses of cardboard! Thanks to online shopping, we often have several flattened boxes in our recycle bin. Sturdy corrugated cardboard it is one of my favorite materials! It can be turned into a box town, a lemonade stand sign, a candy ATM, or these colorful zoo animals that I made for Family Fun magazine. They're easy to make (using the templates, below) and fun to paint and play with!

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