Penguins with ear muffs? Yes, please! This Cardboard Tube Penguin Craft is as cute as it is fun to make. My kids loved painting, cutting, and gluing their way through this project, and the addition of ear muffs made their little penguins extra cozy. It’s simple enough for younger kids to enjoy but has enough steps to keep older kids engaged, too.
What’s so great about this craft is that it uses materials you probably already have at home. It’s all about taking something as basic as a cardboard tube and turning it into an adorable, personality-filled penguin. Plus, with all the painting and assembling, it’s a hands-on activity that keeps kids entertained from start to finish.
Why You’ll Love This Penguin Craft
This craft is easy, creative, and has so many opportunities for customization. Kids can choose their favorite colors for the ear muffs and craft sticks, making each penguin unique. Plus, it’s a great way to practice fine motor skills, from painting to gluing to cutting out shapes.
Materials You’ll Need:
- Cardboard tube
- Black paint and another color of your choice
- Two jumbo craft sticks
- White, black, orange, and other colors of construction paper
- Glue
- Scissors
How to Make the Cardboard Tube Penguin Craft
- Paint the Tube and Craft Sticks
Paint the cardboard tube black and set it aside to dry. Paint the jumbo craft sticks any color you like (we chose red) and let them dry completely.
- Cut Out the Penguin’s Features
Cut a white oval from construction paper for the penguin’s belly. Then cut two circles from white paper for the eyes, and two smaller black circles for the pupils. Cut wings from black construction paper and a small triangle for the beak and two webbed feet from orange construction paper. For the ear muffs, cut a strip from any color construction paper and two small circles to attach to each end of the strip.
- Assemble the Penguin
Once the tube is dry, glue the white belly to the front of the tube. Add the eyes and black pupils above the belly, and glue the orange beak just below the eyes.
- Add the Ear Muffs
Glue the strip for the ear muffs across the top of the penguin’s head. Attach the two colored circles to either end of the strip to complete the look.
- Attach the Feet and Wings
Glue the orange feet to the middle of each jumbo craft stick. Apply glue to the bottom of the cardboard tube and attach it over the craft sticks so the feet peek out from underneath. Finally, glue the black wings to either side of the tube.
This Cardboard Tube Penguin Craft is a great way to recycle everyday materials into something adorable and fun. From painting to gluing, it’s packed with creative steps that kids will love. Plus, the finished penguin with its colorful ear muffs is the perfect winter decoration—or even a cute gift!
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
