Cardboard Roll Stamping on a Big Roll of Paper

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For today’s simple play, a giant roll of paper was required, which I sadly didn’t have on hand! So what is a mom to do? Make your own! I took 10 sheets of normal A4 paper and taped them together; problem solved.

Next, grab some empty toilet rolls or any type of cardboard tube and fold them into various shapes. Besides the already circular ones, we made a square, a rectangle, and hearts; attempted a triangle; and made one that I tried very hard to make a star! I also made some animal feet; these were either birds, ducks, or dinosaurs, dependent on which child was stamping!

Update: I see Imagination Tree also did one like this but got her star into the right shape! Check it out.

I added some base color tempra paint blobs to a baking tray and showed the kids that these were stamps and this is how they worked. They quickly took over.

Mr. 3-year-old “mess is my thing” also experimented with stamping on his hand but then decided that paper looked like more fun. Thankfully!
Cardboard Roll Stamping on a Big Roll of paper, oh, and on our hands

My toddler (19 months) even came to check it out and did some stamping.

My 4-year-old (who was still in his pj’s!) found it fascinating that the paint sometimes made a bubble.

This activity was tons of fun! You can either let the kids play freely or ask them to stamp a certain shape or hand you a certain stamp so that you can stamp too. (encouraging shape recognition) You could even ask for the stamp to be dipped in a certain color before handing it to you.

The shapes held up very well, and besides a small bit of refolding, we can use them again in the future.