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At GoStudent, we think it’s important to teach kids to look after the environment and to appreciate the wonderful gifts that nature has given us. Therefore, learning how to live as sustainably as possible is essential if we want to set a good example for future generations.
While it’s tempting to buy new things, we often already have items in our homes that we can re-use or re-purpose. So, before you throw out those empty toilet roll tubes and scraps of wrapping paper, take a peep at our latest DIY video where we craft something that’s sure to put a smile on your child’s face. 😀
How to make your very own pencil holder
Does your child love stationery and making things from household "rubbish"? If the answer’s ‘yes’, check out our crafty little DIY video where we reveal a step-by-step guide to making a funky pencil holder. And the bonus is, you’ve probably got everything you need to make it right at home. 🙌
For your pencil holder, you’ll need:
- 2 empty cardboard toilet rolls
- 1 empty cardboard kitchen roll (this should be narrower than the toilet roll)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Tape measure
- 2 small-ish pieces of colourful wrapping paper
- Small piece of card
- Pen
- Stanley knife ⚠️ please be careful when handling knives ⚠️
OK, let’s go!
- Take one of the toilet rolls, slide it over the kitchen roll to the end.
- Wind the tape measure around the kitchen roll, lining it up with the edge of the toilet roll and draw small pen marks around the kitchen roll at either side of the measuring tape.
- Pierce the Stanley knife through the kitchen roll and cut all the way round following your pen marks that are closest to the bottom of the kitchen roll.
- Apply a generous amount of glue to the kitchen roll up to the second set of pen marks. You should have about an inch of kitchen roll that is not covered in glue at the end. Slide the toilet roll back onto the glued part of the kitchen roll and let it set.
- Take your small piece of card and draw around one end of the other toilet roll and make two circles.
- Cut these out with scissors or a Stanley knife.
- Apply glue around the edge of each card circle and fix one to the end of the single toilet roll.
- Fix the other card circle to the end of the toilet roll that’s glued to the kitchen roll.
- Apply glue around the toilet roll that’s fixed to the kitchen roll and roll into one piece of the wrapping paper.
- At the bottom where you have extra wrapper paper, make small cuts all the way around.
- Apply glue around the edge at the bottom and fold the excess paper in.
- Cut a circle of the wrapping paper and glue this to the end so that there’s no exposed card.
- Repeat steps 8-12 for the single toilet roll. – this is the lid to your pencil holder. And voila – now you have a cheap, easy and sustainable place to keep your child’s pens and pencils. ✏️
How can we be more sustainable?
There are many ways that you can weave sustainability into your daily life – here are some tips. We encourage you to share these suggestions with your child so that they can develop a sustainable approach to looking after the environment.
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Save energy 💡
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Don’t waste water 🌊
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Drive less 🚗
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Don’t throw it away, give it away 🗑️
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Never waste food 🥗
If you and your child liked making pencil holders together, why not give our homemade friendship bracelets a try? Or if your kid loves science, a tornado in a bottle will be right up their street – enjoy!
