DIY Preschool: Fun Use for Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Tubes

Daughter #3 and I have fun thinking up fun, creative, and cost-effective activities to do during our preschool time.  Not that this happens every day, but we try and sometimes succeed.  Such is the case with reusing and re-purposing paper towel and toilet paper tubes (wow, I think we may have almost gone green with this project  by reusing something generally thrown in the trash).  Arianna loves to get these rolls and run around the house pretending that they are instruments, spy glasses, and any other number of items.  My dad and I have seen this, so we both started saving up the tubes when we were finished with the paper products.  When we finally had amassed quite a number of the rolls, I decided it was time to put them to good use.  Arianna and I brainstormed uses for these tubes and she liked my idea of making a robot (I thought a geometric object would be easier in construction).  Armed with a hot glue gun (only used by Mommy), scissors, and yarn, we were able to assemble and connect all parts of the robot.  Arianna wanted to play with the robot more than I allowed because he wasn't as sturdy as was necessary for a rambunctious 4-year-old.  Here the robot is in the first stage. 

Now, we were all set to decorate this lovely robot.  Hands down, #3's favorite art activity is painting so she was thrilled to have an entire robot to paint on her own.  I just set her up and let her go to town.  It is fun to watch Arianna experiment with the paint by mixing different colors together and make choices as to where each color should go.  Here is her finished product.  

 He is now hanging off a hook on Arianna's ceiling as a decoration for her room.