DIY Wall Projectors

These easy homemade wall projectors are perfect for Halloween, Bonfire Night, Fireworks celebrations and more!

I get so excited when I find new crafts to do at home, especially craft ideas for kids with toilet paper rolls!

I’m always wondering what to make out of toilet paper rolls because we always seem to have some about the house!

Homemade projector projects a Halloween picture onto the wall in this example of craft ideas using empty toilet paper rolls

This cardboard craft is a great way to recycle too!

If you love fun and easy crafts for kids to do at home, you’ll love this toilet paper roll craft. It’s suitable for toddlers as well as older children, as you can help as much or as little as needed.

Even better, the setup for this activity is minimal, there is almost no mess (as long as no one goes too wild with the marker pens!) and your kids will love seeing their drawings and designs projected onto their bedroom walls.

If you like this craft idea, you might like our Baby Wipe Tie Dye activity.

Materials

Before we get into the instructions for this simple projector, have you grabbed your copy of our popular activity ideas eBook yet? It’s packed with fun home kids activities that our own kids love! You can get it for free here.

An idea of what to make out of a toilet paper roll - a ghost is projected onto a wall using a toilet paper roll projector

All you need for this recycled DIY craft activity is:

– Cardboard toilet roll tubes
– Elastic bands
– Clear plastic wrap or cling film (we rescued some from some food packaging – make sure it’s clean of course)
– Permanent marker pens (adults will want to support younger children in using these to avoid a big mess!)

Items needed to make this example of crafts out of empty toilet paper rolls - pens, elastic bands, wrap and toilet roll tubes

Instructions

Here’s how to make these fun toilet paper roll crafts for Christmas, Valentine’s Day or any other time of year:

1. Take a piece of plastic wrap or cling film and draw some art on it. You can use any colours you like or just black.

first step to make Halloween or Christmas decorations out of toilet paper tubes

We drew some cool Halloween pictures and some colourful fireworks, but you could draw Christmas-themed pictures or anything else you like.

Check the size of the pictures! They need to be small enough to fit within the circle of each end of the cardboard tubes.

Your kids can even practise their reading and writing skills by writing secret messages to each other.

This educational home projector craft makes a really fun and creative party activity too.

Examples of different drawing ideas for these homemade projector crafts

2. Once your kids have finished drawing their decorations, take the plastic wrap and cover one end of the empty toilet roll cylinder with it, making sure the picture is central.

Step 2 to complete this example of art activities for kids

3. Secure it with an elastic band.

Step 3 to complete this example of easy art and craft ideas for kids

That’s it! You’ve now got a simple Halloween, Bonfire Night or Christmas projector.

4. Now make the room as dark as you can and have fun projecting your drawings on the walls!

Your finished handmade projector activity for kids - one of our craft ideas for kids for Christmas or Halloween

You can shine a torch through the open end of the toilet roll, or use your phone flashlight like I did. The tube projects whatever image is on the plastic wrapping – amazing!