Carboard Tube Love Bugs - The Craft Train

Make a super sweet paper roll love bug craft for Valentines day.

This is a fun craft to make with both preschoolers and older kids. It gives plenty of opportunity for kids to add their own creative license by decorating their love bugs however they like.

This craft was originally created as a guest post for Red Ted Art in 2015. It’s been updated and reshared for today’s audience.

Y0u might also like these pebble love bugs

The wonderful thing about love bugs is how unique each individual is. In fact, not two paper roll love bugs are the same!

As you can see, when I made these with my daughters they enjoyed it so much we got a bit carried away, ending up with an entire swarm of bugs. Aren’t they cute?

All you need to make some are paper rolls (either empty toilet rolls or paper towel rolls) and some basic craft supplies. When you get to the decorating part anything goes – use whatever supplies you have on hand in the cupboard and get creative with it.

How to make paper roll love bugs

Basic Supplies

Paper rolls cut to any size you like (ours were pre-painted)
Paint
Googly eyes — or use our free printable paper eyes for a more eco-friendly version
Pipe cleaners
Beads
Construction paper
Tacky craft glue
Marker pens
Scissors
Skewer

Optional Extras

Pom poms
Glitter or glitter glue pens
stickers
Washi tape

How To

Paint your cardboard tubes and allow them to dry. You can cut them down to a shorter length to create some smaller bugs if you like. We happened to have some ready-painted rolls stashed away in the craft box so we could get straight to the decorating.

Poke six holes with a kitchen skewer for the pipe cleaner legs to go through – that’s three down each side. Simply poke the skewer in one side and out the other three times (note- this part is best done by an adult unless you have older kids).

Cut two pipe cleaners in half to get four pieces (but you will only be needing three of them). Thread your three pieces of pipe cleaner through the holes to make six legs, and then attach a small bead to each end of the pipe cleaners to create hands and feet.

You are now ready to add the details. Decorate the body with stickers, washi tape, plastic gems, markers, glitter glue etc.

To create the wings and antennae fold your piece of construction paper in half and draw a medium-sized heart for the wing shape and a small heart with a stem coming from the bottom for the antennae. Cut these out while the paper is folded in half so that you get two of each shape. Glue on the googly eyes and construction paper shapes last of all and leave to dry.