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The Craft Train

Crafty ideas for kids and parents

You are here: Home / Crafts and Activities / DIY Toys / Paper roll swan craft

Paper roll swan craft

August 30, 2022 By Kate 7 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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This paper roll swan craft has to be one of the EASIEST toilet roll crafts ever. It’s a fun recycling craft for kids of all ages.

This kids craft activity was originally published in 2016 and has been updated and reshared for today’s audience.

You might also like our paper roll dinosaurs

make an adorable swan craft from a toilet roll

Toilet roll crafts are something I find a little bit addictive. When you figure out just how many possibilities there are for cutting and folding them it’s hard to stop one idea from leading to another and then another.

These swans are particularly simple to create, the first time we made them was back when the girls were princess-obsessed preschoolers.

We originally put together a set of 11 swans along with a paper roll princess as story telling props to go along with Hans Christien Anderson’s fairy tale The Wild Swans. They went perfectly with our cardboard castle! Here is a pic of the preschooler-made swans for you…

cute preschool craft idea

Aren’t they sweet? You can find the original article where we shared it as a guest post over at Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas back in 2013.


 

Today the swans have been modernised slightly, but they are still super easy and a great craft to make with little ones who can paint and decorate them. 

I know there are people out there who get a bit squeamish at the thought of making anything from toilet rolls. It doesn’t need to be a toilet roll – paper towel rolls cut in half are perfect too!

How to make  a Toilet roll swan craft

You will need:

  • Cardboard tubes (toilet rolls, or paper towel rolls cut in half)
  • Scissors
  • Paint
  • Sharpie
  • PVA or craft glue

How To:

process to make a toilet roll swan craft

Squash your toilet roll flat, then cut it in the shape shown above. Use the discarded piece of cardboard to cut the leaf-shaped wings from.

Super easy paper roll craft idea for kids – make a swan!

Pop the toilet roll back into a round shape and bend the pointy piece down so that it looks like a swan’s graceful neck. It’s easier to glue the wings on after you paint them, but for the purposes of showing how to put it together I have stuck them on before painting.

paper roll swans for kids

Paint and decorate your swan, and draw two dots for eyes with your sharpie marker (or use black paint) once it’s dry. I’ve gone for bright colours but you could stick to the more accurate white or black colours if you want your swans to look more realistic.

paper roll craft idea for kids – make a swan!

paper roll swans kids can make

They make a fun DIY toy for kids – go on, make one.

More paper roll animals kids can make

Squash, cut and fold paper roll animals our our specialty! You can also make…

  • A frill-necked lizard
  • A Triceratops and Diplodocus
  • A frog
  • Some bunnies
  • A tropical fish
  • A seahorse stick puppet

Easy swan craft for kids made from a paper roll

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Comments

  1. 1

    Lesley says

    July 19, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    Love this idea, but I’m a bit squeamish about using toilet roll tube, maybe it would be more hygienic to use paper towel tubes 🙂

    Reply
    • 2

      Kate says

      July 20, 2016 at 12:51 pm

      You can definitely use that instead, I actually find a particular brand of paper towel gives the best paper rolls for crafting so I usually stock up on them and use for all my cardboard tube crafts. I don’t know why I call them toilet roll crafts!

      Reply
    • 3

      Audrey says

      August 20, 2016 at 10:07 am

      Why? You don’t use the cardboard roll. It is quite clean!

      Reply
  2. 4

    shaniqwa says

    April 26, 2017 at 12:13 am

    really cool

    Reply
  3. 5

    Lee @ Dragon's Eye View says

    April 24, 2018 at 12:52 am

    Ooh! These could end up as dragons! I love recycling materials to make new awesome crafts!

    Reply
  4. 6

    Sue says

    June 20, 2020 at 5:49 pm

    If using toilet rolls just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds.

    Reply
    • 7

      Kate says

      June 21, 2020 at 7:59 am

      Great tip!

      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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