Saturday, May 25, 2013

Summer Fun Day 1 - Toilet Paper Tube Playhouse



We kicked off our summer fun on this on again off again, rainy, long weekend with an indoor project.

1 large pile of empty toilet paper tubes (somewhere around 200), that I'd been saving up for a rainy day, a couple of rolls inexpensive masking tape, the tail end of our freezer paper (you can buy it by the roll in most grocery stores - it's a "must have" in our boredom buster supplies), a few children, a smidge of creativity (and Disney's Swiss Family Robinson playing in the background for inspiration), and just like that - we had the makings for a perfect afternoon.
















Summer, when every child can be a homeschooler :)

12 comments:

Phyllis said...

How cool. I love it. I could never get that many together, but it is a wonderful use for them. Happy summer.

Tonya {The Traveling Praters} said...

That is so cool! What a great engineering project for the kids!

Erin D - The Usual Mayhem said...

I love it! What a great way to involve all the kids.

I'm not sure, though, if I'm more impressed by the paper tube house or by the fact that you can keep a beige carpet clean with 6 kids in the house. :)

Barb said...

I love this! I bet the kids are learning some construction principles, as well. My kids would have loved doing this when they were young. They made lots of forts with tables and chairs and blankets.

Debbie said...

I love this! I had to show my husband and explain this is the reason he needs to stop complaining when Selena and I want to save such things as toilet paper rolls.

Ticia said...

I'm with Debbie, that's why I keep telling Jeff we need to save all of those rolls. Now, can I scrounge that many before he goes nuts?

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Erin - The carpet color is a challenge - but when it's clean it has a nice soothing, calm feel :)

Ticia and Debbie - I put a paper bag in the back of a closet to stash the tubes in, out of sight, as they emptied. It's amazing how quickly they add up!

Unknown said...

I am so glad to see you are "back" posting for the Summer!

(BTW- do y'all eat a lot of beans, 'cause that is A LOT of toilet paper rolls!) ;0)

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Amber - That is a question only a true southern belle could ask. We'd been saving them for a while :) But, it is amazing how quickly they can add up.

Dawn said...

What an awesome house. I love you fun ideas.
Blessings, Dawn

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

200 TP rolls! You are a saver! What an amazing project.

Alison said...

Impressive! Love this!! Will save up some rolls and give this a try...will take a while to collect so many! I saved up similar materials this spring and let the children build a marble "machine". I would love to see what your kids could do with that assignment. I gave my girls goals to help them get started...something like
1. marble has to cover a 6" drop,
2. marble has to travel on an uphill incline,
3. has to jump into a funnel.
...that's all I remember. Great fun, though! ~Alison