My Favorite Open-Ended Art Activity for Preschool Aged Kids

I’m so excited to share this open-ended art activity for young children; toilet paper roll people and creatures!

This project is amazing for a few different reasons;

• Requires only simple inexpensive art materials (eg toilet paper tubes, pipe cleaners, tape, glue, markers)
• Young children do not need much if any assistance during the creative process
• Activity appeals to a wide range of ages (toddlers to preschool-aged children to older children)
• Finished artworks can be used for creative play
• Encourages problem-solving and fine motor skills development
• Inspires creative thinking
• Lots of fun!

Art Materials for Toilet Paper Roll Figures

Another wonderful thing about this craft project is that the art supplies list is adaptable. As long as you have some toilet paper rolls, tape, and markers, everything else is just extra! 

A list of basic supplies includes the following;

• Toilet paper rolls
• Scotch or masking tape
• Pipe cleaners
• Markers or paint

If you want to add a bit more pizazz to your toilet paper roll people and creatures, here are some ideas for additional materials;

• Tissue paper
• Oil pastels
• Construction paper
• Fabric scraps
• Paint and paint brush
• Googly eyes
• Collage materials
• Glue sticks, Elmers, or craft glue
• Scissors
• Stickers
• Yarn
• Items from nature (leaves, flowers, etc)

You can use different materials for this project based on your child’s age and abilities.

For example, little googly eyes and scissors may not be appropriate for young toddlers. Preschool-aged children on the other hand, will probably do great with googly eyes and scissors, and be able to use these materials independently.  

Allowing kids to be as independent as possible with open-ended art activities gives them a sense of pride and empowerment.

So, if you know your child has not yet mastered things like cutting through fabric, you can precut some fabric scraps for them, or simply leave this material out altogether.

Also, do not forget that nature can provide some amazing art materials!

You can take your toilet paper rolls and some glue outside, and let your kids turn small twigs into arms, leaves into hair, and flowers into dresses!

Sometimes natural materials make the very best art supplies. You may also find that doing art activities outside inspires a whole new level of creativity.

The open-ended nature of this project and the variety of materials that can be used means that you can do this project over and over, with a unique piece of art each time!  

Instructions for Preschooler Toilet Paper Roll Figures:

A great thing about open-ended art projects is that instructions are pretty minimal! 

Parents or art teachers may need to help kids with the technical aspects of using certain art materials, but otherwise, kids can take full ownership of their creations. 

It can be helpful to make a simple example of a toilet paper person or creature to show your child at the start of the activity. This gives them a visual understanding of the gist behind the project.

Keep your example pretty rudimentary, so that your child doesn’t end up trying to copy what you made.

You can suggest kids make either a person, a magical creature, or a favorite animal or superhero. This leaves lots of room for their creative ideas and self-expression to bloom! 

While not necessary, you can also have some books out on your art table with images of paintings, drawings, and sculptures by famous artists. 

Kids may be inspired by colors, shapes, people, and animals from these books if they start to feel stuck or lose interest in the activity. 

Using the End Product to Inspire Creative Play and Critical Thinking

Once your child’s toilet paper roll figures are made, you can encourage some open-ended play and critical thinking with their creations!

• Turn toilet paper roll figures into puppets. Offer craft sticks that kids can use to turn their toilet paper roll figures into stick puppets.
• Create an environment for toilet paper roll figures. Use cardboard boxes, blocks, or draw on paper to create an environment for your toilet paper roll figures (eg, turn a cardboard box into a house for toilet paper roll people, or draw a forest on a big piece of paper for toilet paper roll animals).
• Ask your child questions about their creations. Questions can support critical thinking skills and encourage emotional awareness (eg, what’s your creature’s name? How old is your creature? What does your creature like to do? How is your creature feeling?)

Watching a child create a piece of art and then interact with it and talk about it can reveal some amazing insights into their world!

We can learn a lot about what they are thinking, and feeling, and where they are developmentally, just by observing their creative process and the end result. 

Benefits of Open-Ended Art Experiences for Young Children

Open-ended projects give kids space and freedom to exercise their creativity. They learn to think for themselves and come up with thoughtful, silly, clever, and unique ideas.

Open-ended projects also give them the space to tinker, make mistakes, discover new ways to use materials, and learn from mistakes through problem-solving. 

The prompt to create a figure from a toilet paper roll with some simple materials provides just enough structure to get kids moving in a direction. They take it from there!

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