How to Make a Cat Out of Cardboard Rolls

Save your empty cardboard tubes for crafts.

When you reach the end of toilet paper rolls, don't toss the empty tubes in the trash. Instead, recycle them by creating fun artwork with your kids. Design the creation to look like your pet cat, or make the feline to look like a big cat, such as a leopard or tiger. The finished creations can be used as toys, kept as decorations or added to a diorama.

Things You'll Need

• 2 empty cardboard rolls
• Scissors
• Plain paper
• Markers or crayons
• Clear tape
• White glue
• Three pipe cleaners

Instructions

1. Cut off one-third of an empty toilet paper roll, snipping through the entire perimeter of the tube. You will now have a circular piece that's one-third the size of the original roll. This is the cat's head.

2. Place the cut roll with the circular part facing down on a piece of plain paper. Trace around its perimeter, then cut out the traced shape. This is the cat's face. Use markers or crayons to draw the feline's eyes, nose and mouth. Attach the face across the opening of the cardboard head using a piece of clear tape.

3. Draw two triangles on a piece of paper to represent the cat's ears. Draw a small rectangle extending off the bottom of each triangle. Cut out each ear, leaving the triangle and rectangle connected. Fold the rectangles backward to create tabs on the ears. Apply a line of white glue along the bottom of these tabs. Apply them on top of the tube to attach the cat's ears to the head.

4. Apply a line of white glue to the bottom of the cat's cardboard head tube. Attach the head to the top of a full-sized empty toilet paper roll, which will become the cat's body.

5. Cut two pipe cleaners in half using a pair of scissors. These will become the cat's legs. Holding the cat's body upside-down in one hand, punch one of the pipe cleaners into the front-right side of the bottom of the body. Use your finger to push down part of the pipe cleaner that's inside the tube to secure the leg in place. Repeat this process on the front-left and back right and left sides of the bottom of the body tube to secure all of the cat's legs. Each leg should be the same length.

6. Snip another pipe cleaner in thirds. Place a dab of white glue on the end of one piece of this pipe cleaner. This will become the cat's tail. Glue it on the back of the cat's body under the top of the tube. When the glue dries, bend the pipe cleaner into a curvy shape like a cat's swaying tail.

7. Cut the remaining two pieces of the pipe cleaner in half. These four pieces represent the cat's whiskers. Glue two whiskers to either side of the cat's face, angling them outward from around the feline's nose. Allow the glue to dry before playing with your cardboard roll cat.

Tips & Warnings

• Use poster paints to add more colors and designs to your finished cardboard roll cat.