Thaumatrope

Posted 2014-07-21 by Bastion Harrison ⇒ follow

I'm a big fan of crafts that use up toilet rolls as they're something every family has lying around. This craft can be adapted to make the use of craft scraps that you have leftover and kids enjoy all the painting and glueing that's involved. I helped my 3 year old with the cutting of the tree's branches but he was able to do everything else himself, so a great craft for preschoolers to practice their craft skills.

The finished product

Time: 20 minutes, this includes preparation time but you'll need to also allow 30 minutes for the paint to dry. This is a great activity to complete in 2 stages.
Age: Any Age
Level: Easy

Materials

3 x Toilet Rolls

Brown paint and paintbrush

Glue

Scisscors

Green craft decorations such as tissue paper, crepe, ribbons or cloth.

For green decorations we used leftover green tissue, packaging and green net

Method

Paint the tree trunks

Paint three toilet rolls with the brown paint and set aside to dry.

Once the rolls are dry cut incisions into the rolls which will create branches, once they are all splayed out. Parents may need to help small children out with the cutting.