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The Craft Train

Crafty ideas for kids and parents

You are here: Home / Crafts and Activities / General Crafts / Cardboard tube grasshopper recycling craft for kids

Cardboard tube grasshopper recycling craft for kids

March 8, 2017 By Kate 8 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you.

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Make a cute cardboard tube grasshopper using a paper towel roll!

This craft is part of an Insects from recyclables blog hop. Check out the links at the end of this article for more fun insect craft ideas by my blogging buddies.

We happened to capture a little (or some might say BIG) grasshopper in our lounge room last week. To be clear I didn’t capture him myself, my husband trapped it over a book with a plastic container late at night and left it on the kitchen table for the kids to find in the morning. 

The girls were very interested to watch him in a habitat we set up inside a Critter Keeper (it’s only temporary – we will keep him for a week or so before letting him go).

Now I won’t lie and say I love insects – I don’t! I find them a bit scary but when they’re safely contained inside a habitat with a lid on top I don’t mind them quite so much. Check out this little guy’s camera-ready smile:

Create an insect habitat for observation

Keeping a grasshopper for observation

It’s very simple to set up a habitat like this one. We put a layer of wood shavings in the base of the container and added some garden leaves. We regularly give it a spritz with a water sprayer though the lid so that the grasshopper won’t die of thirst. If you add a dish of water it becomes a drowning hazard. Grasshoppers eat nearly any plants so feeding them is easy, but their favourites are grass and grass-like plants.

Miss K took the critter keeper in to school so she could show him off to her class and the kids were all fascinated to see one so close-up!

How to make a cardboard tube grasshopper

It only takes a few simple materials to make a cardboard tube grasshopper. Your kids may need some help with the construction of the body.

You will need:

• 1 long cardboard tube
• 3 shorter cardboard tubes (or long ones cut in half)
• 4 Pipe cleaners
• Scissors
• Stapler
• something sharp and pointy to poke holes for the legs (I’ve used a mathematical instrument, a skewer was not quite sharp enough)
• Paints to decorate
• Googly eyes and a felt scrap for the mouth
• Hot glue gun

How to:

  1. Flatten your paper towel tube
  2. Trim ends into a curved shape, then trim the larger off-cut into a rounded piece for the face
  3. Staple face to body
  4. Poke six holes for legs
  5. Thread with pipe cleaners
  6. Flatten small cardboard tube and trim a long triangular piece from each side
  7. Fold middle pieces and trim into skinny long pieces.
  8. Staple one triangle piece and one skinny long piece onto each back pipe cleaner (the leg will be longer than the length of the pipe cleaner). Repeat for middle legs.
  9. Make the front legs smaller.
  10. Bend legs into position
  11. Paint and decorate. Attach antennae with a hot glue gun.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make a cardboard tube grasshopper. This is a fun craft for kids using recyclables.

Did you notice my error? I’ve given my cardboard tube grasshopper 4 long back legs instead of two (which is more like a cricket). If you like things to be accurate you can follow the above steps and create four short legs at the front and two powerful long ones at the back instead.

This craft has given me a whole new appreciation for an insect I would have otherwise steered clear of. Do your kids like to collect and observe bugs?


Other insect crafts in this blog hop

Don’t forget to check out the other insect crafts in this series…

Lots of adorable insect crafts using recyclables

How gorgeous are they?

• Egg Carton Bee by Buggy and Buddy
• Milk Jug Dragonfly Craft by Kids Craft Room
• Recycled Bee Craft by I Heart Crafty Things
• Butterfly Wall Hanging by Make it Your Own
• Recycled CD Ladybug by I Heart Arts’n Crafts

 

More cardboard tube creatures kids can make:

• Create a pretty cardboard tube swan
• Make an adorable bunny for Easter 
• This cardboard tube fox turned out so cute!
• Make a cardboard tube Frilled-neck lizard
• What about a Green Sheep from Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox?
• Or (my personal favourite) some adorable cardboard tube dinosaurs

Pin It:

Make a cardboard tube grasshopper – this is a fun nature-inspired craft for kids

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Comments

  1. 1

    Emma (Kids Craft Room) says

    March 12, 2017 at 5:43 pm

    That is genius! What an amazing craft and a great way to encourage kids to get close up looking at bugs.

    Reply
  2. 2

    denise says

    April 22, 2017 at 10:59 am

    I love your grasshopper project and whilst I think it is a great idea to enthuse children about living creatures, it isn’t acceptable to encourage them to catch and keep them captive.

    Animals are not resources, they are not here to entertain humans and their lives should not be interfered with.

    Please encourage children to respect all living beings and leave them in their natural environments.

    Reply
    • 3

      Kate says

      April 22, 2017 at 8:45 pm

      That is a valid point and a good reminder to respect all living things. Thank you. The little grasshopper has since been released back into the garden.

      Reply
  3. 4

    Meg Butler says

    January 13, 2019 at 2:18 am

    Love your grasshopper craft project!!!

    Just a quick question on what type of paint you used? Paint tends to absorb into &/ or warp cardboard, or just look dull on it, but yours looks smooth, bright, & perfect!

    Also, do you think it would be easier to paint the pieces first? Or no?

    Thanks!!!!!!

    Reply
    • 5

      Kate says

      January 13, 2019 at 6:41 am

      Yes I’d paint them first. I use artist’s quality acrylic paint, but for kids that’s probably a bit expensive. Sometimes it helps to do a coat of white underneath if you’re using ordinary kids washable paints (which are also good to use with kids just because they’re washable!)

      Reply
      • 6

        Meg Butler says

        January 13, 2019 at 12:08 pm

        Ok, but you did not tell your readers to paint first. You list that as the very last step.

        Reply
  4. 7

    Meg says

    February 5, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this! My son, 10, can home and said he’s doing a report on grasshoppers and he needs to build a model! I almost panicked! This is exactly perfect! He is excited to get started!

    Reply
    • 8

      Kate says

      February 6, 2021 at 6:21 am

      Good luck with the project 🙂

      Reply

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  • Kate GronoKate GronoCrazy Craft Fanatic

    I’m basically a big kid who never grew up and still loves to muck around with paint, glitter, glue and toilet rolls. With the crafts shared here on this website I’m hoping to give other parents and carers inspiration to get crafty with their kids at home – make our projects, or use them as a source of inspiration to spark ideas of your own. When it comes to crafting no rules apply!

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