DIY Toilet Rolls Cars - Vroom Vroom!

I love a good craft activity especially one that uses waste materials found at home. This is one that I have bookmarked a while ago and finally got down to doing with Xue. Finally I'm making good use of the toilet paper rolls that I have been secretly stashing away for awhile. lol. First we used them for stamping wheels, now we are going to make some paper cars!

This activity is done in two sessions.

Session 1: We painted three toilet rolls together and let them dry overnight.

Then at night, I prepared the materials for the activity basket.

1) Cut out some circles using heavy weight yardstick paper and poke a hole in the middle for the pipe cleaners to go through. For young tots like Xue who is still developing his fine motor skills, make bigger holes. If your kid has pretty good fine motor skills, then smaller holes may be fun as they try to get the pipe cleaners through the holes.
2) Poke 4 holes on each toilet paper roll at where the wheels will be attached. Same thing, big holes for young tots. Cut out a 3 by 3cm square on each roll for the car seat.
3) I got number 1 to 3 stickers for numbering his cars.
4) I cut some pipe cleaners to approximately 12cm long. $2 from Daiso! Keep them short, as shorter pipe cleaners are easier to handle for young tots.

Session 2:
Xue pasted the numbers on the cars first. Then I showed him the holes on the rolls and wheels and how to poke a pipe cleaner through the toilet rolls first. Young tots will definitely need some help here to get the pipe cleaners through the toilet rolls. After which, we put the wheels through the pipe cleaners. I completed the last part of twirling the pipe cleaners into circles to secure the wheels.

This is not the easiest activity for my 26 months old tot. There were times when he just couldn't get the pipe cleaners through, got frustrated and didn't want to try anymore. That's when I enlarged the holes and encouraged him to try again. After a few attempts, he got the pipe cleaners through and he was really pleased! Good job for persevering little buddy!