Earth Day Week: Recycled Train Craft from Toilet Paper Rolls and a Toothpaste Box

Earth Day was on Sunday, so to celebrate, I'm posting a week's worth of Earth Day themed crafts: crafts made with recycled products or crafts related to Earth, etc. One of my favorite all time crafts I've ever made is this adorable recycled train. Read on to find out how we did it. 

Here's our finished product! Let's go back to the beginning: 

I gathered a bunch of supplies to start. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to use, but I knew I wanted to use cardboard rolls, and something box like to make the engine. I also needed construction paper in a variety of colors, tape, glue, and some markers. 

First, I took apart the baggie box and had Cocoa Puff color the whole thing with a black marker. This will be the wheels. 

While he was coloring, I cut the construction paper into rectangles to cover the cardboard rolls. We decided on 6 cars, so I cut 6 rectangles. 

Then, I let Cocoa Puff decorate the construction paper however he wanted. He chose to color them. 

He did a lot of scribbles and was very proud of himself! 

When he was happy with his creation, we put glue on the back of the paper and glued it around one of the cardboard tubes. 

Then, Cocoa Puff moved on to other rectangles. Every piece of paper needed to have pink on it, but I finally convinced him to use some other colors too. 

We repeated the process with the other pieces of paper. 

He really wanted to hold the paper onto the cardboard roll. 

But OH NO! It had glue on it, and his hands got all sticky. It was the END OF THE WORLD! 

Finally he calmed down enough to continue with the craft. 

He got more confident with each cardboard roll, and since we did six of them, the repitition was very good for him. 

He did really have a good time. He loves to color. 

Mama even added some coloring to the cardbaord rolls too. I like how they all turned out. They're very colorful. 

I asked what color the engine should be, and of course he said PINK, so I wrapped and glued a pink piece of paper around a paper towel roll. 

I used this end of a toothpaste box for the engine/conductor part of the train.

I cut a slight curve in the bottom so it would sit on the engine better. 

Then, I just taped it to the cardboard roll. 

To make the other part of the engine, I used the rest of the toothpaste box and cut it in half, then I sort of put the two halves back together and cut a curve in it so it would fit. 

I taped this part to the back of the cardboard roll. 

Then I realized I wanted to cover these with paper, so I did that. I definitely should have done this before securing them to the carboard tube. 

Then, Cocoa Puff said that it needed windows, so I drew some on. 

I used my paper punch to cut a bunch of wheels for the train.

Then, I taped four wheels to each train car...

...and six for the engine. 

We ended up with some super cute cars and engine! 

Cocoa Puff immediately lined them up for me. 

He could NOT wait to play with them, but he told me that they needed to be connected so it's more like a real train. 

I found some scissors, my hole puncher, and some jute string so I could connect the train cars.

I punched holes in the bottom of each car, one at each end. I also punched one in the back of the engine. 

I tied jute string to the back of the engine...

...and to the first train car. I just used a double square knot and trimmed the edges. 

Then, I repeated this process until all the cars were all connected. 

Tada! A colorful recycled train! 

Cocoa Puff immediately started playing with it, driving it all round the room. 

He even made bunches of train sounds as he was playing. His "choo choo" sound is adorable!!

He played with it for the rest of the day! It was a lot of fun to make and a lot of fun to watch him play with. Plus, it's recycled! 

When was the last time you rode a train?