Toilet Paper Tube Crafts: How to Make Homemade DIY Tinker Toys by Donna John

Tinkertoy® building sets have lasted generations, and for great reason – kids love them! These DIY tinker toys are fun to make and even more fun to play with. Another plus? It’s a great way to introduce the concept of recycling to children.

You’ll need:

• empty toilet paper tubes
• plastic thread spools
• straws
• hole puncher
• scissors

Here’s how you do it:

1. Punch two slightly overlapping holes about half an inch from the edge of the toilet paper tube. Do this three more times, spacing them evenly (see photo for placement). Repeat on the other edge of the toilet paper ring. These are the holes the straws will be inserted into when building.
2. With the scissors, make 1-inch or so slits between some of the holes on the toilet paper rings. This can be random. These slits allow kids to connect the rings in another way to help build their structures.
3. For the straws, leave some of the whole and cut some of them in half.

That’s it! Put your homemade tinker toys in a container and let your kids start building their amazing creations!

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