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Rolling Race Cars: Toilet Paper Tube Tutorial

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Looking for a fun way to recycle toilet paper tubes? Check out this great, kid-friendly tp roll craft: Rolling Race Cars that actually move!

Toilet Paper Tube Rolling Race Cars Tutorial

There are so many fun, kid-friendly crafts you can make with toilet paper tubes, including these super fun, really rolling, race cars! The coolest thing about these race cars is that they really do roll! My kids had such a blast making and playing with them!

boys playing with TP Tube Race Cars

Fortunately, the cars are fairly easy to create and they are made from items that you most likely already have around your home!

Supplies:

    * empty toilet paper tubes
    * craft knife
    * hole puncher
    * bottle tops (recycled from plastic jugs)
    * drinking straw
    * thumb tack
    * toothpicks
    * acrylic paint (optional)
    * paint brush (optional)
    * glue gun (optional – see Helpful Hint below)

Toilet Paper Tube Race Car Supplies

Once you have gathered all of your supplies, it’s time to get to work on making these super fun race cars! This is a fun craft for children and adults alike! So, be sure to not only involve your kids/students, but perhaps create your own race car as well!

Instructions:

First, paint the toilet paper tube. This step is completely optional, but in my opinion the cars are much more fun to make and use when they are personalized with paint!

Once the tp tube is dry, use a craft knife and cut a square in the tube so that there is a “seat” for the driver.

Toilet Paper Tube Race Car Craft Tutorial Step 1

Next, use a hole puncher to punch four holes near the bottom of the tube to hold the “axle.”

Toilet Paper Tube Race Car Craft Tutorial Step 2

Cut the drinking straw. You will need two 2-inch pieces. Slide one toothpick into each piece of the drinking straw. Insert the “axle” (straw and toothpick) through the punched holes.

Toilet Paper Tube Race Car Craft Tutorial Step 3

Next use the thumb tack to poke a hole in the center of each of the bottle tops (wheels).

Toilet Paper Tube Race Car Craft Tutorial Step 4

After making the hole, push the toothpick into the hole so that the wheels are attached to the car. Repeat for the second set of wheels and there you have it…a rollin’ race car!

Toilet Paper Tube Race Car Craft Tutorial Step 5

It’s almost time to test out the race cars! Initially we stopped here and began playing with our cars. But, it didn’t take long before the wheels started coming off. Check out the helpful hint below to see how we solved this problem.

Toilet Paper Rolling Race Car Tutorial

Helpful Hint: To avoid having the tires come off, you may want to secure the wheels. I used the glue gun and put a bit of glue inside the bottle top where the toothpick poked through. This held the tires on really well and our race car fun could continue!!!

Toilet Paper Tube Rolling Race Car Tutorial

I got this cool idea from a Family Fun magazine at the doctor’s office.

Have a race car fan? Be sure to check out my FREE printable Racing Racecars Game that helps with number recognition and counting with a die!

Looking for more crafts for kids? Be sure to check out some of my other crafts using recycled materials!

This post was originally published on November 8, 2009.

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Category: Family Activities, Family Fun, Kid-friendly Crafts, Letter "C" Activities, Letter "R" Activities, Recycled Crafts
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Comments

  1. Angela

    May 5, 2015 at 10:52 pm

    I made these for preschool, but I don’t understand how to keep the wheels on? the whole toothpick keeps coming out of the straw. I tried hot glueing the toothpick, but that of course prevented the wheel from spinning (not such a fun car) What do you do??

    Reply
    • Mama Jenn

      May 9, 2015 at 3:37 am

      Hi Angela! If I recall correctly, I did end up adding a dab of hot glue on some of our cars to help hold the toothpick in the bottle cap. You only want to glue the toothpick to the cap (not the straw) and leave a bit of wiggle room so that the straw is still mobile. Basically, the dab of glue would go on the outside of the cap to hold the toothpick in place. Hopefully that makes sense!

      Reply
  2. lav

    March 31, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    cool

    Reply
    • Mama Jenn

      April 8, 2015 at 3:51 am

      Thx!

      Reply
  3. lav

    March 31, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    cool

    Reply
  4. Mama Jenn

    June 6, 2012 at 3:54 pm

    Thanks Diane! My boys STILL love making and playing with these!

    Reply
  5. Diane S

    June 6, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    This is really adorable and I’m certain my son will have lots of fun making this with me and, of course, playing with them afterwards! Thank you

    Reply
  6. Katherine Ann Gibbs McCoy

    April 24, 2012 at 10:20 pm

    This is a wonderful project to make. I made this with my grandson who is 6 and loves playing with it! Now I have to make 2 more for his sisters…

    Reply
  7. Katherine Ann Gibbs McCoy

    April 24, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    This is a fun craft to make with my 6 year old grandson…he loves it!

    Reply
  8. Mama Jenn

    March 20, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    I love it when stuff happens “by accident”! 😉 Glad the craft is what you were looking for!

    Reply
  9. Jennifer Ruth Clark

    March 20, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    Looking for a car craft and stumbled on to your blog by “accident”. :p Love it! I’m a home schooling mom, and we are having our 5th child in the fall. I love it when God leads me to a page. 🙂 The craft is just what I was looking for too, thanks!

    Reply
  10. Coca Asan

    February 2, 2012 at 6:24 am

    They are so cute! We made them, too. Thank you !!

    Reply
  11. Love and Lollipops

    September 22, 2011 at 11:03 am

    Such a super idea! I love that it really works and that it need a little thought – nice for an older child!

    Reply
  12. Anonymous

    August 3, 2011 at 12:00 am

    Jenn

    I am a Cub Scout Leader and wanted to make a TP car with my Tiger Scouts I have been saving rolls and milk jug lids for months. I just needed the how to instructions to put it all together. Thank you so much for this easy project. The Scouts are going to love it

    Reply
  13. Marcia

    June 24, 2011 at 3:26 am

    great idea–thanks for sharing
    Marcia

    Reply
  14. Anonymous

    May 4, 2011 at 5:28 am

    Jenn

    I am a Cub Scout Leader and wanted to make a TP car with my Tiger Scouts I have been saving rolls and milk jug lids for months. I just needed the how to instructions to put it all together. Thank you so much for this easy project. The Scouts are going to love it

    Reply
  15. sharon

    September 23, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    I love your blog, and this idea. My son, 3 asked to make cars using toilet roll but I never thought of this really workable wheels. He loves wheels and I am gonna try doing this soon! thanks!
    Amazing how you could plan, and still play with your sets of twins!

    Reply
  16. jen

    May 27, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    Love this since I don’t have to go buy anything to do this! Tomorrow’s our first day of summer, so maybe we should do it then! Thanks!

    Reply
  17. jennwa

    November 14, 2009 at 2:16 am

    Super fun. That would be fun for kids and adults to make. I love crafts you can play with. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  18. Amy

    November 13, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    What a fun and cute idea. If you want I would love for you to come show this off at my Round Robin. Have a great day..

    Reply
  19. Sherry

    November 13, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    What a great project and they look SOO CUTE! I dont have a boy, but I may make it with my little girl anyways 🙂

    Reply
  20. Sarah

    November 13, 2009 at 10:02 am

    This is awesome! Love your ideas 🙂 My girls will ove making cars of their own…and they are pretty competitive so racing will be intersting! Thanks for linking to KFF. Enjoy your weekend~

    Reply
  21. Milk and Honey Mommy

    November 11, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    Jenn,

    We’ll be making these too. All three of my children will love the cars. They are very creative.

    Reply
  22. Milk and Honey Mommy

    November 11, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    Jenn,

    We’ll be making these too. All three of my children will love the cars. They are very creative.

    Reply
  23. Nicole {tired, need sleep}

    November 9, 2009 at 10:11 pm

    This is so awesome! M will love it – we’ll definitely be doing this sometime soon!

    Reply
  24. Ticia

    November 9, 2009 at 2:53 pm

    Super duper fun, I love this idea. Now a different reason to start collecting bottle caps.

    Reply
  25. care-in

    November 9, 2009 at 1:33 pm

    So cute!

    Reply

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