Upcycling Crafts for Kids: TP Roll Turkeys
We’ve partnered with Mikki Jeffers and Tracy Williams from the Howard County Recycling District, on a series of fun crafts that encourage upcycling items that may be recycled or mistakenly thrown away at your house. Here you’ll find photos and step-by-step instructions for a simple craft you can create together with your family. This craft was inspired from a video by Minnesotaparent on Instagram and took us a little over 20 minutes to make these cute turkeys.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Supplies You’ll Need:
Colored Paint (latex is best in recycling cleaning process)
Construction Paper
Toilet Paper Rolls
Glue
Scissors
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Dip into your paint colors with the tube
Layout your supplies and get ready to paint! A toilet paper roll tube is an easy way to do some simple painting. The tubes are easy for little hands to grasp and make the perfect circle stamps for crafts like this one. Be sure your artists know to get paint on all of the edges of the circle so your circles are whole on your paper. Keep in mind, when more paint is used, the craft will need a longer drying time.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
2. Stamp your tube to make the turkey feathers
This can be done using any colors you’d like, you could even make a peacock for a different time of year. We made circles in the shape of a rainbow to make the feathers look all spread out. Encourage your children to paint as much as they want and add lots of circles for a more full tail feather.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
3. Cut out shapes for turkey face
You can add additional features to your turkey’s face by cutting some simple shapes with additional construction paper. I drew a few circles, triangles, and tear drops to add eyes, a nose, and a snood to our turkey’s face. Let your child be creative and practice their cutting skills in this step.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
4. Use glue to finish your turkey
Add a line of glue to the back of the toilet paper roll tube and place it in the center of the painted paper. On the other side, add small dots of glue to adhere your googly eyes, and additional paper to the toilet paper roll to make your turkey’s face. This was our kids’ favorite part, probably because I don’t let them use glue on their own very often. Allow a few hours for the craft to fully dry.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Photo Provided | Howard County Recycling District
Mikki Jeffers, Executive Director of the Howard County Recycling District, suggested having a craft table at your Thanksgiving gathering this year.
“You can keep the kitchen clear by having a table set up for kids and adults to do a cute reusable craft like this one at Thanksgiving. Have your guests bring a few recyclable or reusable items to add to your supplies. There are no real “rules” when doing an upcycling project, just have fun!”
We’d love to see how your turkeys turn out! Tag us on Facebook or leave a comment below about your favorite family upcycling crafts. What should we upcycle next?
