We love Julia Donaldson books and The Gruffalo is definitely top of the list. It’s such a wonderful book to read aloud and is so brilliant for getting kids to join in. The simple patterning in the story is great for retelling so it makes a good story for children to tell themselves. I thought it would be nice to make some characters from The Gruffalo out of toilet rolls so the girls could act out the story.
First we painted the toilet rolls – but you could cover them with paper to make it less messy. I was really impressed with the fact Charlotte could recollect the characters. She knew what each of the cardboard rolls would be – although she wanted to paint a pink Gruffalo.
We used several green rolls cut in half and painted in two different shades of green to make the snake. Once dry all you need to do is to use a hole punch and put a hole in the ends of each cardboard tube and then thread together with a ribbon or woollen yarn. Then stick on google eyes and a forked tongue made out of craft foam.
The other characters were made using pieces of foam, googly eyes and pipe cleaners.
After they were made the best part was watching the girls act out the story. The Gruffalo had obviously stuck in their heads as he featured heavily – stomping around trying to eat the others. They also liked being the little mouse.
To find more crafts with cardboard rolls then watch this hangout I took part in hosted by Maggy from Red Ted Art.