Adorable Toilet Paper Roll Caterpillar Craft for Toddlers

This toilet paper roll caterpillar craft is toddler-tested and childcare provider-approved. I’ll walk you through how we did it, what we used, and a few of the hilarious hiccups along the way.

This craft wasn’t planned. At all.

I had zero intentions of pulling out the tissue paper bin, gluing down pipe cleaners, or busting out the hot glue gun while a two-year-old and a three-year-old hovered at my elbows. And yet… here we are. With the cutest little caterpillar art that turned into one of those magical, chaotic, unexpectedly educational afternoons. And I even made one myself because—honestly? It was that fun.

Supplies We Used For Our Toilet Paper Roll Caterpillar Craft

• 1 to 2 toilet paper rolls
• Construction paper (let the kids pick!)
• Tissue paper squares (we used 2×2 inch pieces)
• Googly eyes — the bigger the better
• Pipe cleaners
• Hot glue gun (because I don’t mess around with pipe cleaners)
• Glue bottles for the kids
• Green paint and a brush

Step 1: Cut Those Rolls

I started by cutting one toilet paper roll in half, then cut each of those halves into three rings. That gave me six little round pieces. We needed seven total, six for the caterpillar and one for the sun, so I snagged one more piece from a second roll.

You can totally make a longer caterpillar if you want, or a shorter one. Six felt like a good sweet spot between “adorable and doable.”

Pro tip: The rolls squish when you cut them, so you’ll need to pop them back into shape.

Then I hot glued the rings onto the paper in a little caterpillar curve.

Could you let the kids glue them on themselves? Sure. But I wanted the caterpillar form ready for them, not end in a puddle of frustration and sticky fingers. So I glued.

Step 2: Enter Glue Heaven

This was hands-down their favorite part. I gave them glue bottles and let them fill the bottom of each ring with glue. Not a dot. Not a dab. We went full coverage here.

We were not in a “dot dot not a lot” mood.
We were in a “fill the dang circle with glue like your life depends on it” kind of mood.

So.Much.Fun!

Step 3: Tissue Paper Time

This part made me laugh. My two-year-old is obsessed with tiny things. Everything is either tiny or giant in his world.

He pinched every piece of tissue paper into the smallest little crumples imaginable. Like, microscopic.

I told him, “Buddy, we don’t have to pinch it that small.” Didn’t matter. He packed ten of those baby crumples into one ring and still didn’t cover the bottom.

My other little one crumpled hers like I showed her, a light pinch, a fluff, and a gentle plop into the glue. Honestly, I just love seeing their styles come out.

They got to pick their tissue paper colors, too. My son is in a serious orange phase right now. Everything orange. He made a full-on orange caterpillar. My three-year-old? Pink, purple, teal. Rainbow garden glam.

I love that art gives them the space to choose, even when the structure of the project is the same.

Let them choose the construction paper, the tissue paper, the order of their colors. Even little choices help them own their creations.

Step 4: Unexpected Positional Word Bonus

We were basically done when my two-year-old declared, “I wanna paint!”

Sure, kid. Why not?

We’re winging it already.

I gave him some green paint and said, “Let’s paint the grass under your caterpillar.”

Now here’s where the moment hit me. He actually painted it under the caterpillar.

Not all over the paper. Not over the caterpillar’s face. Just underneath. And I was floored. This was a whole positional word win happening in real time.

I said “under” and he understood it. He followed the idea, painted with purpose, and then proudly declared he was done. It was beautiful.

These are the little moments you don’t see coming, but they stop you in your tracks.

Step 5: GOOGS

The googly eyes. Oh, the googly eyes.

I handed them each a Tupperware lid covered in googly eyes, big, small, purple, green, sparkly, eyelashed, you name it.

I have this big ol’ cookie jar in my cabinet filled with every googly eye I’ve ever owned. The bottom is full of mini ones that will haunt my vacuum forever, and the top has those comically huge ones the size of a quarter.

And guess what? They chose the big ones. YES. I was so proud.

I glued those on for them too (hot glue for the win!), right on the edge of the caterpillar head piece. They could’ve gone on top, but I loved the look of those big goofy eyes sticking out on either side. They looked hilariously perfect.

Step 6: Pipe Cleaner Antennae

Pipe cleaners are magical… and also terrible.

Do I trust glue bottles to hold pipe cleaners in place? I do not. I don’t even trust my older kids with that. So I hot glued them. Fast, firm, done.

Before gluing, I folded the pipe cleaner in half and curled the ends with a pen to make cute little curly antennas. Don’t use your good scissors to cut them—seriously, you’ll ruin them. I use my “outside scissors,” aka the ones that live in my garage and cut through weeds and mystery sticks.

Step 7: Don’t Forget the Sun

We realized something was missing in the top corner of our papers, so we added a sun.

Another toilet paper roll ring, filled with yellow tissue paper, glued right up in the sky. My kiddos pointed out it was a circle. We talked about the sun. More learning. More fun.

Let’s Talk Learning Because Every Moment Is A Learning Moment!

In this one little project, my toddlers practiced:

• Fine motor skills (cutting, gluing, crumpling)
• Color recognition (and expressing preference)
• Shape identification (everything was a circle!)
• Positional words (under, on top, next to)
• Creative decision-making (so many choices!)
• Patience and sequencing (step by step by step)

And maybe best of all? They felt proud. Their caterpillars looked like their work, their choices.

Want More Caterpillar & Butterfly Fun?

This craft was just the beginning. If you’ve got little bug lovers in your group (or kids who just can’t resist a glue bottle and some googly eyes), you’re going to love these other hands-on learning ideas:

🦋 Beaded Caterpillar Craft – A fun fine motor project using pipe cleaners and beads crawling on a painted leaf.

🦋 Butterfly Flower Matching Game – Practice color recognition and matching with this free printable.

🦋 Butterfly Symmetry Art – One of our favorite art projects! Fold, squish, open — surprise!

🦋 Feed the Caterpillar Printable Game – Your little one “feeds” the caterpillar! Perfect for early counting.

🦋 Bug Cutting Strips – Fine motor practice with a snip-and-glue twist. Toddlers love it. You’ll love the quiet focus time.

There’s no wrong way to explore bugs, butterflies, and caterpillars, especially when it’s hands-on, low prep, and full of toddler joy.

Thoughts from the Bug House

I hope this gives you a fresh, easy project to try, or at least a smile and some new ideas for giving your tissue paper a little extra personality. And next time you think “this might be too chaotic,” just know… it might turn into the highlight of your week.

Let the toddlers glue all the things. Let them pinch the tiniest tissue paper ball ever. And don’t forget the giant googly eyes.

You’ve got this. 💛