This is a great Halloween craft to let your toddler’s creativity run wild as they create their own toilet paper roll monsters. You may already have the supplies at home and can easily swap out any you don’t have for something you have on hand. You can also spread this activity out in the day – paint in the morning and create monsters in the afternoon!
Fine Motor Skills:
- Grasp patterns
- Tool use
- Bimanual coordination
- Hand eye coordination
Related Cooking Skills:
- Mixing ingredients
- Grasping various ingredients + cooking tools
- Cooking tool use
- Accurately placing/pouring items
Bonus Skills:
- Problem solving
- Color theory
- Creativity
- Focus + patience
Supplies:
- toilet paper roll
- paint + paint brushes
- stickers and/or googley eyes
- pipe cleaners
Activity Instructions:
- Paint toilet paper rolls. Let dry.
- Poke holes in toilet paper roll for hair, arms, + legs.
- I use a pen to poke holes
- Stick pipe cleaners through holes to create monster hair, arms, + legs. You can either cut pipe cleaners down and push them down along the inside to hold it in place, or stick 1 full sized pipe cleaner through both sides.
- With my kids, we used 1 long full sized pipe cleaner. I tied knots on the outside of each arm/leg to prevent toddlers from pulling them right back out.
- Shape pipe cleaners as desired.
- Add stickers and/or googley eyes for eyes and mouth.
Toddler Instructions By Age:
1-2 year olds:
1. Embrace the mess. Our littlest toddlers will make a mess painting and may try eating the paint (mine does!) as well. You can give color options and let them choose. My 16 month old picks by pointing. Provide help as needed – holding roll for them + directing where to paint.
3. Create larger holes + provide hand over hand help to place pipe cleaners through holes. If using 1 full pipe cleaner, they can pull pipe cleaner through.
5. Use puffy stickers for them to grab them more easily. If using flat stickers, start peeling sticker for them and fold down backing. Let them place stickers wherever they want.
2-3 year olds:
1. Let them choose their paint colors and provide help as needed – holding roll for them + directing where to paint if missing spots.
2. You can let your toddler choose how many arms + legs they want to determine how many holes to make.
3. Create larger holes to make it easier + provide hand over hand help as needed.
5. Remove backing from flat stickers to help them grasp + peel stickers. Let them place stickers wherever they want.
3+ year olds:
1. Let them choose their paint colors and provide help as needed – directing where to paint if missing spots.
2. Let your toddler choose how many arms + legs they want to determine how many holes to make.
3. Can use smaller holes but may require hand over hand help to direct pipe cleaners through holes.
5. Some may still require pulling backing off stickers or you can help show them how to fold backing to peel stickers. Let them place stickers where ever they want.
