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The Craft Train

Crafty ideas for kids and parents

You are here: Home / Crafts and Activities / General Crafts / Toilet Roll Dinosaurs

Toilet Roll Dinosaurs

June 19, 2021 By Kate 19 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 pair of paper roll dinosaurs as a fun upcycling and DIY toy craft idea. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to make both a diplodocus and a triceratops using our free printable template.

This craft was first published in 2015 and has been updated and reshared for today’s audience.

You might also like these paper plate dinosaurs

paper roll dinosaur craft for kids. Make a pair of toilet roll dinosaurs using our free printable pattern

Do you have any dinosaur fans at your place? I have two. In the past, the girls and I have made dinosaurs from paper plates, and used plastic dinosaurs in both messy play and board games. Now we bring you toilet roll dinosaurs!

By cutting and folding toilet rolls (or any cardboard tube) you can make a Diplodocus and Triceratops, here’s how…

You will need:

  • Cardboard tubes (one toilet roll per dinosaur or one paper towel roll cut in half will make two dinosaurs)
  • Scissors
  • Paint and paintbrush
  • Permanent marker to draw on the eyes (optional, you could stick on small googly eyes or paint them on if you prefer)
  • Dinosaur shape templates – to get your free template, enter your details in the box provided

Diplodocus

The diplodocus is very simple. Trace or sketch the dinosaur shape from the template onto a flattened cardboard tube first. It should look like this:

diplodocus step 1 - toilet roll dinosaurs

Cut it out…

diplodocus step 2 - toilet roll dinosaurs

Fold the tail and head down so that they point towards the ground

diplodocus step 1 - toilet roll dinosaurs

…and then paint and decorate.

diplodocus step 4 - toilet roll dinosaurs

Ta-da!

Triceratops

Trace or sketch the template shape on to a flattened toilet roll. It should look like this.

triceratops step 1 - toilet roll dinosaurs

Cut out the body shape first.Then fold the tail down so that it points toward the ground as shown.

This part is the neck and horns. Fold the neck down and point the horns back up towards the sky.

diplodocus step 3 - toilet roll dinosaurs

Cut out the head shape.

diplodocus step 4 - toilet roll dinosaurs

Fold it horizontally to make it easier to cut out two slits for the horns, as shown below. They should be about where the two bulges are on the sides of the head.

diplodocus step 5 - toilet roll dinosaurs

This piece then slots onto the horns to form the head.

diplodocus step 6 - toilet roll dinosaurs

Paint and decorate. It might be easier to paint the head and body as separate pieces and then slot the head back on to the horns.

paper roll dinosaur triceratops

Can you see the obvious flaw in my triceratops design? I’ve forgotten to make a third horn – whoops! I’ve made up for it by painting one on, but you could cut a small pop-up one on the tip of the nose instead if you like.

And there you have toilet roll dinosaurs.

paper roll dinosaur craft for kids

These happy dinosaurs are off to explore — raaah!

More Dinosaur Ideas

  • Make a flying pterodactyl puppet on a string with our free printable template
  • Here are 12 different dinosaurs you can make from paper plates
  • Sew the cutest pair of dinosaur softies with our free printable pattern
  • This dinosaur small world in a suitcase is perfect for road trips!
  • Create a dinosaur-themed succulent garden that can double as a small world for imaginary play

adorable paper roll dinosaur craft for kids. Make toilet rolldinosaurs in a diplodocus or a triceratops design, free template available

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Comments

  1. 1

    Kate Lloyd says

    March 1, 2015 at 11:25 pm

    How incredible. I love that you can turn a simple toilet roll into something like this. Love it!

    Reply
  2. 2

    Penny says

    March 1, 2015 at 11:29 pm

    These are AWESOME! So simple yet they turned out excellent. I love recycling!

    Reply
  3. 3

    Melissa @ Honey Bee Books says

    March 10, 2015 at 3:19 am

    BRILLIANT! They are just too adorable and so clever. Your creativity is amazing.

    Reply
  4. 4

    Erin Burch says

    March 20, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    Oh my goodness, thank you for sharing this! I never would’ve thought of it, but they’re so cute!

    Reply
  5. 5

    Carrie says

    April 3, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    Thank you so much! My 4 y/o son and I just made these to hold our dyed Easter eggs. They are so easy and adorable.

    Reply
    • 6

      Kate says

      April 7, 2015 at 1:42 am

      What a fabulous idea! Glad you found them easy 🙂

      Reply
  6. 7

    Roberta Leonarduzzi says

    May 1, 2015 at 7:32 am

    Super, I did with my 2 and a half year son, dinos addicted, and i add a third cut in the triceratopos, to do the third horn! thank’ you for ypur brillant ideas

    Reply
  7. 8

    Tina says

    May 31, 2015 at 6:26 am

    Just made them. The boys added smiling mouths to the design!

    Reply
    • 9

      Kate says

      June 9, 2015 at 2:27 am

      I’ll bet they look gorgeous with the smiling faces!

      Reply
  8. 10

    PDMS course in chennai says

    July 7, 2015 at 9:44 am

    wonderful creation

    Reply
  9. 11

    Joyallwin says

    March 10, 2016 at 6:18 am

    BRILLIANT! They are just too adorable and so clever. Your creativity is amazing. Thanks for Sharing…………

    Reply
  10. 12

    Georgia says

    March 21, 2016 at 1:38 pm

    So clever!

    Reply
  11. 13

    María Marchena says

    October 12, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    Thanks! .Great idea, my son and i just made,look amazing.

    Reply
  12. 14

    Ellen says

    April 19, 2017 at 8:17 am

    Wonderful!My grand children will be in heaven!!

    Reply
    • 15

      Kate says

      April 20, 2017 at 6:46 pm

      Awesome, I hope they have fun 🙂

      Reply
  13. 16

    Azu says

    February 1, 2018 at 8:13 am

    So fun I could made them with my 3 y/o daughter, she found them so amazing! She has painted them, stickers mobile eyes and 2points for nose and a smile… So cute and east. I also added a third horn.

    Reply
  14. 17

    Lisa // Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing & Crafting says

    July 24, 2018 at 9:35 am

    You are a total dino genius! I love all of these dinosaur crafts that you have!! 🙂 Lisa

    Reply
  15. 18

    Ed says

    June 14, 2019 at 5:21 pm

    My 3yr old is begging for a stegosaurus.

    I don’t have the creative brain power to make one that looks any good. Any idea?

    Reply
    • 19

      Kate says

      June 23, 2019 at 6:29 am

      We have a stegosaurus paper plate craft he might like
      https://www.thecrafttrain.com/sparkly-paper-plate-dinosaurs/

      Also there is a stegosaurus softie sewing pattern
      https://www.thecrafttrain.com/feltdinosaurs/

      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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