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Cardboard Tube Animals

Animal Crafts for Kids

These cardboard tube animals are inexpensive, fairly easy and kids will have lots of fun. The great thing about animal crafts are kids get to pretend to be their favorite animal while they make these kids craft ideas.

So grab some empty toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls and other cardboard tubes and let's make some fun animals. You can make a fierce (but adorable) lion, a lovable shaggy dog, a prickly porcupine or a tall giraffe.

Each animal craft will list the supplies needed, step by step instructions and a picture of the finished kids craft idea. These crafts are fairly easy and inexpensive so make as many as your imagination can think of.

Cardboard Tube Animals Crafts List

Use the links below to see instructions and list of supplies for each kids craft idea. You can scroll through the page to see them all before deciding which animal you want to make.

Shaggy Dog
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Porcupine

Lions, Tigers and Bears (Oh My!)
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Giraffe

Cardboard Tube Animals #1
Shaggy Dog

This shaggy dog will look so real your friends will think you got a new pet. Okay, maybe not that real looking but it is adorable just the same.

cardboard tube shaggy dog kids craft

Supplies

2 Cardboard Tubes
Cardboard Egg Carton
Paint
Yarn
Craft Foam
Pipe Cleaner
Wiggle Eyes
Pom Pom
Glue
Scissors

How to Make a Shaggy Dog

	Cut two sections of the cardboard egg carton of two egg cups. These will be the dog's feet. Paint these the color of your dog.
	Cut one egg carton section for the dog's head and paint this.
	Now paint your cardboard tube and let it dry.
	Glue the two egg carton sections to the long cardboard tube. Glue on the egg carton (dog's head) to the front of the tube. Tip: For the dog's head, we tucked in the egg carton section and applied a bit of glue. This takes a bit of doing to squeeze into place without distorting the egg carton section.
	Cut pieces of yarn long enough to go from side to side of the dog's body and slightly longer to make the shaggy look. Glue these to the top of the dog's body and let each side hang down.
	Take the pipe cleaner and glue this to the back end of the tube on the inside. Form into the shape of a tail and then glue on strips of yarn for a shaggy tail.
	Add the dog's facial features using wiggle eyes and a pom pom for the nose. Add some ears using craft foam or construction paper.
	Finish off your shaggy dog by adding small pieces of yarn above the eyes. Let some pieces hang down so it covers the eyes slightly.

All that's left to do with this cardboard tube animals craft idea is give him or her a name. Then place them somewhere so you can show off your craft to friends and family members. You can even turn this cardboard tube animal into a furry kitten. The steps are basically the same you just change the color, tail and add some whiskers and you have a furry, fuzzy kitten.

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Cardboard Tube Animal #2
Porcupine

Okay, a porcupine may not be on the top of your list as favorite cardboard tube animals, but after seeing this kids craft completed you may change your mind. This one's different and fun to make.

cardboard tube porcupine kids craft

Supplies

2 Cardboard Tubes
Card Stock or Heavy Paper
Paint
Scissors
Glue
Wiggle Eyes
Button, Craft Foam or Markers

How to Make a Porcupine

	Paint the cardboard tubes. You can make your porcupine any color you want, but if you want it more natural, go with brown, grey or black.
	Using the card stock, cut six 4" square pieces. Use a color that will compliment the color of your porcupine's body.
	In each square, cut several triangles to form the quills. For the first 3 squares cut the triangles 2 1/2" to 3" long. These will be placed in front. For the last sections make 3 1/2" inches long.
	Cut the bottom edges of each quill section to where you have about 1/2" tab. This tab will be used to glue to the cardboard roll.
	Glue each section on the roll starting with the shorter ones in front and the longer ones in back.
	With the card stock, cut out a tail and glue it on the back (on the inside) of the tube.
	Add some features to your porcupine by gluing on some wiggle eyes, a button for the nose (or draw it on) and glue on some ears using paper or craft foam.
	Using half of the last cardboard tube, cut four equal sections. Crease each section to make it flat. Now bend each section about 1" to form the feet. Bend the top about 1/4" to use to glue to the body. Glue each leg on the cardboard tube body. Tip: You may have to work with where the bends are to have this porcupine stand on its own.

Porcupines are interesting animals but don't get too close or their quills will get you. You can read all about porcupines here.

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Cardboard Tube Animals #3
Lions, Tigers and Bears

These cardboard tube animal crafts are too cute to be too scary. You can make all three or just choose one of these kids craft ideas. The directions and image below are for the lion.

cardboard tube lion kids craft

Supplies

4 Toilet Paper Cardboard Rolls
Thin Cardboard (like from cereal boxes)
Colored Paper
Felt
Wiggle Eyes
Pom Pom
Markers
2 Pipe Cleaners
Scissors
Double Stick Tape or Glue

How to Make a Lion

	Cover your cardboard tubes with orange paper or paint. Tip: Use double stick tape or glue to hold in place if you are using paper.
	Cut a square from the thin card board. Your square can be any size depending on how big you want your lion to be. We used a 5" square
	Cover your square with colored construction paper. You can use the same orange color as the legs or a slightly lighter or darker orange. This will be the lion's body.
	Glue the covered square to the 4 cardboard tubes. Place each tube in the four corners of the square but slightly in towards the middle.
	Cut out a large circle using orange paper for the lion's head. Cut slits all around to form the mane. Fold the mane pieces (some forward and some backward). Tip: Using a marker, you can add some lines to give this mane a bit more realistic look.
	Glue the head to the body. Glue on some wiggle eyes, a pom pom for the nose and draw on the mouth.
	Lastly, create a tail by cutting a section of pipe cleaner. On the end of the pipe cleaner, glue on several pieces of yarn. Let the glue dry completely then fray each section of yarn by unraveling each piece.

For the tiger the directions are basically the same just use yellow paper or paint and draw on some stripes using an orange marker. For the tail, twist together a yellow and orange pipe cleaner. Then complete the face and glue on some whiskers and ears.

If you want to make a bear, use brown felt or a furry cloth. Then create his face and ears. Think of any animal using these steps and you will have your own cardboard tube animal craft.

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Cardboard Tube Animal #4
Giraffe

This cardboard tube animals craft was our favorite and he turned out so cute. This long necked animal craft will stand tall and proud in your display area. This one was a bit more difficult and will require two people when gluing together the pieces.

cardboard tube giraffe kids craft

Supplies

3 Toilet Paper Cardboard Rolls
Yellow and Orange Paint
Yarn
3 Yellow Straws
Yellow Pipe Cleaners
Craft Foam
Wiggle Eyes
Black Marker
Scissors
Glue

How to Make a Giraffe

	Paint your Cardboard tubes yellow and let them dry. Tip: If you have a wider tube available, use this for the giraffe's body and cut it to about 5" long.
	Cut one of the tubes into 4 equal pieces for the giraffe's feet.
	Cut another tube 3 1/2" long for the giraffe's head. Cut a slit at the bottom and a slit about 1/2" on each side. Bend in the flap and glue in place. Now cut two more slits on either side at the top. Bring this to a point and glue in place. Repeat this for the two slits at the bottom.
	This will form a point for the giraffe's nose. Paint this pointed section black.
	Paint orange rectangle shaped spots on the body and head of the giraffe.
	Now it's time to start putting your giraffe pieces together. Poke a small hole through the craft foam of the feet. Insert half a pipe cleaner through this hole and bend back to hold in place. Now slip on a straw leaving a section of the pipe cleaner at the top of the straw. Now poke a hole in the body of the giraffe to line up with that leg. Poke the pipe cleaner through this hole and bend back to hold in place. Repeat this for all 4 legs. Tip: You can place a dab of hot glue to help hold the pipe cleaner and straws in place.
	Poke another hole on the top of the body to attach the giraffe's head. Push your pipe cleaner through the hole and slip the straw over the pipe cleaner. Again leaving enough to poke through the head. Poke a hole through the bottom of the cardboard roll of the giraffe's head and poke the pipe cleaner through the hole. Tip: If the head seems to bobble, simply cut your straw and pipe cleaner to shorten it and give it more strength.
	Using yellow craft foam, cut out circles to close up the holes in the tubes. For the feet, you only need to do the top. For the body, do both holes and for the head, just the back side is fine. Glue these in place. Tip: It's easier to glue these in place using hot glue. Also, cut the holes slightly larger and once the glue is set, cut off any excess.
	Finish off your giraffe by glueing on the wiggle eyes, cut out some ears using craft foam and glue in place. Lastly, several strands of yarn braided together and tie it off about 1/2" from the bottom. With the remaining section (the 1/2") fray the yarn to give this tail a fun furry look.

If you don't have pipe cleaners for this cardboard tube animal craft then simply use the hot glue to hold the straws in place. The pipe cleaners give it a bit more strength so that you can make them longer. So if you only use straws, you may need to make the legs and neck a bit shorter.

For more cardboard tube animals check out this bunny ribbon holder using a paper towel cardboard roll. Or you can even turn your animal crafts using cardboard tubes into a puppet. Check out this tiger puppet craft idea. This puppet cardboard tube animal uses a craft stick to turn him into a puppet.

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