Impressive-yet-easy paper crafts for kids that won’t make too much of a mess 

Is there anything funnier than accidentally gaining some new paper limbs after your hands have got covered in sticky glue during craft time with your kids? Probably not, because even the walls are caked in glue, making some tissue paper craft ideas with your kids is something you’ll cherish forever.  

Here are a couple of easy paper craft ideas for kids that use things that you’ve probably got in the house already! 

Oh, and these tissue paper craft ideas involve scissors. So, adults: handle the cutting. Kids: Go wild with painting and assembling the crafts. Let’s go! 

Kitchen roll rocket | Recycled snake

Kitchen roll rocket paper craft

Looking for tissue paper craft ideas that will make time fly? It might never reach orbit, but this supersonic rocket recycling project is sure to keep your kids astronomically entertained! 

Takes about 2 hours

1. To create the body of your rocket, put the kids in charge of painting the empty Plenty tube with grey paint and leave it to dry. Then help them paint some circular pink windows and a green door, and leave to dry before outlining them with white and silver pens.
2. Next, draw and cut out four triangular pieces of scrap cardboard for the rocket’s fins, and paint them blue. Leave to dry.
3. Place a side plate on a sheet of red card and draw around it, then cut it out. Fold in half, and then cut along the folded line to make two semi-circles. Take one of the semi-circles and roll it into a cone shape big enough to fit the top of the tube and stick in place with glue.
4. Measure and cut four slits measuring 6 cm long at equal intervals around the bottom of the rocket, and slot the triangles in place. Add a little glue along the seams, then allow to dry. Cut a star out of some strong kitchen paper and colour it red and stick it on the front of the rocket.
5. Tear some soft tissues into thin strips and glue them to the inside of the bottom of the rocket, and you’re ready to blast off.

Super recycled snake paper craft

For this next paper craft for kids, you’ll need to raid your bathroom bin for some empty toilet rolls. It’s time to make a brilliant wiggly snake, featuring everyone’s favourite craft item: googly eyes.  

Takes about 1.5 hours

1. First, cut each Plenty tube into two or three shorter tubes of equal lengths. Then slightly flatten the new tubes and cut off the corners with scissors.
2. Next, paint the tubes green and orange, and leave to dry.
3. Use a drinking straw to paint spots on the green tubes with pink and yellow paints. Leave to dry.
4. Colour a section of kitchen paper with a red pen, and cut out a forked tongue shape (don’t worry, Plenty kitchen paper is strong enough to hold together, however much ink you colour it with).
5. Stick the tongue inside the end of one of the pieces, which will be the head. Then add two wiggle eyes to the top.
6. Make a hole in each end of each painted tube with a hole punch or bradawl. Take a length of string and thread it through the head piece, then thread it through the holes in the other tubes to string them all together. Finish off by tying a knot at the end so that the string can be used to drag the snake along.

And even though there wasn’t a step in those instructions telling you to make a mess – it’s totally cool if you did! You and your kids have come together to make some easy paper crafts, now it’s time to come together to figure how you got red food colouring on the ceiling…