Cardboard Roll Snake Craft

We love washi tape crafts at our house! When I get the washi tape out my daughter jumps with excitement. Our collection has grown to consume a gallon sized ziplock bag…I know, I need to stop. My daughter loves to take them all out of the bag, stack them in different ways and comment about their beautiful colors and designs. Since we have been reading some books about snakes lately we decided to make a simple Cardboard Roll Snake Craft that uses washi tape.

Supplies you will need:

3 toilet paper rolls cut in half
washi tape (varying colors and patterns)
hole punch
string or yarn
scissors
2 googly eyes
small piece of red yarn (or red strip of paper if you don’t have red yarn)
glue dots (or school glue)

Step-by-step guide:

1. Cut toilet paper rolls

Cut your 3 toilet paper rolls in half and lay the pieces down to make a long snake shape. Gather together the washi tape you want to use to make your snake.

2. Decorate as you like

Use the washi tape to decorate your toilet paper rolls. I found it easiest to tear off a piece of washi tape and wrap it all the way around the toilet paper roll. I covered my rolls completely but smaller children probably won’t cover them completely. That’s ok! The craft still turns out adorable! It might be helpful to pre-cut pieces of the washi tape for smaller children and place them on the end of a table hanging off so they can easily grab them.

3. Punch holes

When you are finished decorating your pieces, line your snake up exactly as you want it and use your hole punch to punch holes in the toilet paper role pieces to connect them together. The inside pieces will need a hole on each end, but the two outside pieces will only need one hole punched in them.

4. Connect peaces with string

Now connect all the pieces together. Cut a piece of your string or yarn, thread it through one hole from one of the toilet rolls and another hole in another toilet roll and tie a knot. Cut off any excess string. Continue this process connecting all 6 pieces together. I let my daughter thread the string through the holes but I tied the knots since she isn’t able to yet. It makes for great fine motor practice for preschoolers.

5. Add googly eyes

Finish your snake by turning it over and gluing on googly eyes and a piece of red yarn for a tongue. We used glue dots instead of school glue so we wouldn’t have to wait for drying time.

The snake is able to lay straight but also curve and fold up into a ball like snakes like to do. It makes it super fun for pretend play! One of my favorite things about this craft is that there was no messy painting involved so this is awesome if you are looking for something to do with easy cleanup.