Toilet paper roll crafts are great in so many ways and this super simple Tu B’Shevat Toilet Paper Roll Tree Threading activity combines the fabulous fine motor practice of threading too!
Toilet paper rolls are easy to save once the toilet paper runs out and they can be used in lots of different ways. We often make trees out of them because they make such great trunks! But this year we tried something new by adding branches and a threading practice with beads. Such an easy Tu B’Shevat activity and can even be used for your Tu B’Shevat decorations too!
What You’ll Need
- Toilet paper rolls
- Brown (or whatever color you want!) paint
- Hole punch
- Brown pipe cleaners
- Pony beads
Putting It Together
- Paint your toilet paper rolls. I had set out brown for a traditional trunk appearance but my creative daughter wanted to make a special tree trunk with silver and gold glitter paint. Go for it!
- Let you toilet paper roll trunks dry completely.
- Hole punch some holes in the toilet paper roll. I did a few at the top and a few at the bottom.
- Invite your child to thread a pipe cleaner into one hole, then out another one. This may not be easy for them and they may need some support and modeling at first (or continuously).
- Repeat with as many pipe cleaners as desired.
- Add beads to the pipe cleaner branches.
- Once finished beading, bend and move around the pipe cleaner branches to balance out your tree so it can stand up.
- Display as a Tu B’Shevat decoration, if desired!
Finished & Loving It!
I love how many layers of activity and fun this craft has. The kids were excited to paint the tree trunk and that in itself already felt like a fun activity for them. But after the trunks dried and they realized there was even more, they were super thrilled!
This activity is FILLED with fine motor practice. Using a hole punch takes a lot of hand strength and coordination. My children still need guidance and support to do this. That just shows me it’s a great activity to continue to present to them. We want continued practice and skill development!
Threading the pipe cleaner is also not easy. The kids may be able to get it through the first hole easy enough. Or not! This in itself is a fine motor skill practice; posting a bendable object through a small hole is not easy until you’ve practiced and acquired that skill! No matter what, the second hole will be much harder. First, you need to decide which second hole to put it through. Then, how to put it through.
We also discovered that it’s ok to try a hole then discover you don’t like it. Perhaps the balance is really off and you need to take out the entire pipe cleaner and try a new strategy. That’s not only ok, it’s great! What great critical and strategic thinking is happening just by figuring out what holes to put the pipe cleaner through! And of course, figuring out how to manipulate the pipe cleaner so that it can go through both holes and become a “branch” takes practice and develops skills too.
Beading is such a wonderful fine motor and threading activity. The colors super fun and allows a lot of creativity. The beads are also small and require so much manipulation by little fingers. This takes a lot of practice and is so great for the finger and hand muscles. It’s also amazing for hand-eye coordination and concentration skills.
And what an opportunity for some creativity and even imaginary planning! My daughter created her silver/gold/glitter trunk with what she called “bubble gum” branches–pony beads of certain colors that made her think of bright and beautiful bubble gum blossoms. I love it!
My kindergartener wanted all red beads for a fall tree. I love how he realizes that some tree leaves change color to red in fall. Of course, Tu B’Shevat is a spring holiday but it’s easy enough to gently share that piece of information without detracting from the desired plan of his tree.
It took some work to bend the pipe cleaners to balance out the branches and keep our special Tu B’Shevat Toilet Paper Roll Tree Threading trees upright but it was of course so worth it! The kids loved the process of creating these unique trees and I loved their enjoyment, as well as all the fine motor skills they practiced. And I of course love adding their new crafts to our Tu B’Shevat Shelfie for continued reminders about this wonderful holiday celebrating trees and nature!
Chag Tu B’Shevat Sameach!
We have a whole page dedicated to Tu B’Shevat, our Tu B’Shevat Hub. Check it out! It includes some of the Tu B’Shevat activities we plan to do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.
And don’t forget our Tu B’Shevat Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, a wonderful way to introduce Tu B’Shevat! And, now we also have all 13 Jewish holidays bundled together in A Year of Jewish Holidays 3 Part Cards.
If you want to have a ton of Tu B’Shevat early learner activities ready at your fingertips, try our Tu B’Shevat Activities Packet for Early Learners! I am so excited about all the Tu B’Shevat-themed literacy, fine motor skills, math, and play fun!
The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:
Chag Sameach!
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