Pipe cleaners are a staple of any craft storeroom across the country, so it’s no wonder that these crafts are so popular among both teachers and kids. We’ve gathered 54 of the most amazing pipe cleaner craft ideas to make your craft time fun and exciting for your kids. Grab your different colored pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and glue- let’s get started!
1. Pipe Cleaner Animals
With a variety of adorable little animals to choose from- let your kiddos choose their favorite and get crafting! For these simple and easy-to-follow crafts, you’ll just need some quality crafting pipe cleaners, glue, and googly eyes.
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2. Pipe Cleaner Bees
Get your classroom buzzing with these pipe cleaner bumble bees! This activity can spark an important conversation between your students about how to protect the bees and have a lasting impact on the environment.
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3. Pipe Cleaner Easter Eggs
Bring some creativity to your egg hunt this Easter! Let your students design different patterned and colored eggs without getting their hands dirty. Each egg will be a unique decoration to display!
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4. Flower Bookmark Craft
Your little readers will love personalizing a flower bookmark to save their place in a book. With one or two buttons at the center; have them form colorful flowers using the pipe cleaners before attaching them to a craft stick.
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5. Rainbow Jellyfish
These rainbow jellyfish are sure to brighten up any classroom. Start the project by having your students cut a styrofoam ball in half. Have them then paint the body and glue googly eyes onto it. Then they can use different colored pipe cleaners to replicate trailing tentacles. When finished, bring the sea to life by hanging your kiddo’s jellyfish around your classroom!
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6. Bendable Monkeys
This simple craft uses basic supplies and is a favorite among younger kids. They can stick their monkey template together using pipe cleaners and have fun hanging the finished product in silly places for others to find.
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7. Pipe Cleaner Starfish
Create underwater creatures like this amusing pipe cleaner starfish! This easy craft, requiring just pipe cleaners and googly eyes is ideal for younger kids who can follow simple steps. Provide glitter pipe cleaners for a little more pizzazz!
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8. Painted Fireworks Craft
This activity is a super activity for around the 4th of July as your students can create their very own fireworks display. Guide your students in shaping their pipe cleaners to look like a firework stamp. Then, you’ll have them dip the shapes into paint and stamp them onto a piece of black paper to really make the colors pop!
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9. Pipe Cleaner Letters
Pipe cleaners are a great tool for not just crafting, but learning as well. Teach your kiddos lowercase and uppercase letters by having them mold them out of pipe cleaners.
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10. Make Forky from Toy Story 4
This craft is sure to be a hit among all children who are Toy Story fans. Your kids can make their very own Forky from Toy Story 4! Forky is a super easy companion to make and only requires a few materials.
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11. Pipe Cleaner Rainbow
Teach your little ones the colors of the rainbow with this craft! To begin, let them cut a cloud out of durable white construction paper. Using a hole puncher- they will then punch a line of holes across the bottom of it. Next, they’ll get some motor skills practice by crafting a rainbow chain below the cloud by linking four of the same colors together. Ta-da! Rainbow complete!
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12. Stamped Heart Print
This clever technique invites your kids to use pipe cleaners to create a shape that can then be used as a stamp! This activity uses love hearts as the shape, but your students could create any design they’d like.
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13. Pipe Cleaner Rainbow Tree Color Matching
Use a bundle of rainbow pipe cleaners to make this twisted tree and then give your students different colored plastic beads to thread onto the branches. Ask your kiddos to match the colored bead to the same colored pipe cleaner as they go!
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14. Pipe Cleaner Turkey
Gobble Gobble! Looking for a cute craft this Thanksgiving? Your students can make these adorable turkeys with pipe cleaners, construction paper, glue, and googly eyes. Write the names of your Thanksgiving guests on each of them to turn them into name holders around the table.
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15. Valentine’s Garland
This Valentine’s garland is an endearing way for your students to decorate their classroom leading up to this special day. Using bendable pipe cleaners, have each of your kiddos create a few hearts to then link together.
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16. Fairy Princess Wand
What’s better than homemade accessories for dress-up time? These fairy princess wands call for some pipe cleaners, bow tie pasta, paint, and a stick! Your kiddos will certainly have a blast crafting colorful bows and adding their magical touch to their wands!
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17. Pipe Cleaner Snail
Have your students follow this DIY video to create swirly snails! Pipe cleaners and googly eyes are all they’ll need to make these sweet desk buddies.
Learn More: YouTube
18. Pipe Cleaner Snowman
If you can’t be outside playing in the snow; bring the snowmen into your classroom with this cool pipe cleaner craft! Have your littles dress their 3D snowman with a top hat and scarf and add two eyes to complete his look and bring him to life.
Learn More: YouTube
19. Pipe Cleaner Cacti
These cool cacti are a great craft to get your students thinking about how structures work. Depending on how sturdy your pipe cleaners are, your learners will need to consider how best to shape their cacti to get them to stay standing tall!
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20. Pipe Cleaners and Paper Crab Craft
This super simple and fun craft is ideal for kids of any age. You can give your younger students the shapes already cut out; whereas your older students can design and cut the crab’s body parts themselves. The pipe cleaner legs will act as a tripod to allow their crab crafts to stand on their own.
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21. Handprint Flower Craft
This sweet flower craft is a great keepsake for your students to take home for their parents. You’ll need to paint your children’s hands so that they can print them onto a few pieces of construction paper. Next, your kids will cut out their handprints and glue each one onto a green pipe cleaner. Finally, they will place the bouquet into a pot before adding something to act as a weight- like candies or rocks And voila, they’ve got a sweet gift!
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22. Pipe Cleaner Hedgehog Craft
Mixing different mediums of art; your little ones can create these awesome hedgehogs with just playdough and pipe cleaners. They can then add googly eyes to make these little animals come to life!
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23. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft
Everyone loves the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and your kiddies are bound to love this cute and simple craft too! These easy-to-follow steps ensure that this pipe cleaner craft is ideal for anyone to complete after reading this classic book!
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24. Carrot Pipe Cleaner Craft
These realistic-sized, pipe cleaner carrots would be a great addition to your Easter crafts. Pair them with an appropriate story and let your kids use their motor skills to fashion these sweet props.
Learn More: YouTube
25. Pipe Cleaner Mazes
Your kiddos will love building these mazes with pipe cleaners and a shoe box. Once they’ve constructed their maze, they can ask another student to use a Polly Pocket or Lego figurine to make their way through the labyrinth. If they don’t have a shoebox- they can create their mazes on construction paper and then draw their way around the obstacles using these activities to help develop their pen/pencil control.
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26. Fine Motor Pipe Cleaner Activity
Are you looking for a fine motor activity for your little learners? Look no further than your kitchen! All you need is a pasta colander and some pipe cleaners for long-lasting fun. Your children can thread pipe cleaners through the holes and create patterns or designs as they fill the empty spaces.
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27. DIY Bunny Ears
These cute bunny ears are the perfect craft for Easter. Get your hands on some large pipe cleaners and a headband and help your kiddos get crafting and get into the holiday spirit!!
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28. Pipe Cleaner Dream Catcher
This intricate dream catcher is perfect for your more experienced crafters. Your students can make their designs as simple or as complex as they’d like. Before they begin; you can have them research the significance of the number of points to decide how many they want to include. Provide feathers and beads to enhance their craft that much more!
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29. Valentines Glasses
Did you know you can wear pipe cleaners? Have your kiddos fashion glasses with different colors and shapes. We guarantee that they’ll love adding their own flair to their soon-to-be new favorite accessory.
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30. Pipe Cleaner T-Rex
This DIY crafting tutorial is great for the dinosaur fans in your class! This cute pipe cleaner T-Rex is just the thing to pair with a sweet dino read so that your kiddos can use theirs to reenact the story.
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31. How To Make A Pipe Cleaner Basket
This springtime craft will undoubtedly add some beauty to your classroom! Let your students follow this DIY video which shows how to make a colorful flower basket using loads of pipe cleaners!
Learn More: YouTube
32. Pipe Cleaner Chairs
These intricate, hand-woven pipe cleaner chairs will make a funky addition to your children’s doll houses. Once your learners complete their chairs, have them make fun creatures or animals mentioned in the activities above to fill their seats.
Learn More: YouTube
33. Junk Model Robots
Building junk model robots has never been cooler! Have your students collect old cans, baby food lids, and water bottle caps; as well as other materials like pipe cleaners, pom poms, and foam to begin constructing their robots!
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34. Pipe Cleaner Ants
This ant craft is perfect when you’re covering a topic involving bugs. Your little learners will simply need to take black pipe cleaners to wrap the handles of two black spoons. Once the spoons are attached and the body’s been created, they can attach 6 pipe cleaners for legs and finish things off with 2 googly eyes.
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35. Button Bracelets
Here’s the perfect afternoon craft! Your students can get creative using different color combinations of buttons to thread onto a pipe cleaner to create a funky bracelet. Have them proudly wear their creation once completed!
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36. Pipe Cleaner Crown
Let your students add a bit of their own creative spark to dress-up time or costume parties by getting them to make their own crowns out of pipe cleaners. Glitter pipe cleaners and pom poms will certainly take this craft to the next level!
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37. Fine Motor Counting Activity
This active math activity relies on pipe cleaners and plastic beads to get your students to count. Easy to set up; you’ll put a flag of tape with a number written on the end onto each pipe cleaner. Give a cup of beads to your little ones and have them add the same number of beads that the flag suggests. Encourage your kiddos to count out loud as they work!
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38. Ring Stacking Activity
We have another great fine motor skill activity for your toddlers. Create small rings with short pipe cleaners, and a stand fashioned from a pipe cleaner sticking out of playdough. Your kids can then get to work stacking the rings on the pipe cleaners!
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39. Paddington Bear Pipe Cleaner Craft
Are you ready to take your kids on an adorable venture into the world of Paddington Bear? With some basic crafting supplies, your students can take a mini-trip to London without leaving the classroom. Your little ones will love crafting this cuddly companion; which can sit on their desk as they read the classic!
Learn More: YouTube
40. Dr. Seuss’s Cat In The Hat Craft
Ready for some poetic creativity? Hand over some pipe cleaners to your little Seusses and watch them mold their very own Cat in the Hat. You’ll need black, red, and white pipe cleaners, as well as white pom poms, thick yarn, and small googly eyes to make this whimsical character come to life!
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41. Pipe Cleaner Pete The Cat
After reading the infamous story of Pete the Cat, get your students to create their own Pete! Your kiddos can use construction paper to design the head and his iconic boots and then twist and glue a blue pipe cleaner to shape the body and tail!
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42. Winnie The Pooh Pipe Cleaner Craft
Get your kids ready to journey to the Hundred Acre Wood! By twisting and bending pipe cleaners, they’ll quickly bring Winnie the Pooh to life!
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43. Gruffalo Pipe Cleaner Craft
Fancy a story craft? Your students can construct their own Gruffalo, complete with terrible tusks and claws. With empty toilet paper rolls, construction paper, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners, they can develop more of the storybook characters, like the snake and owl too! In the end, they’ll have a whole set of characters to act out the story the next time you read!
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44. Elmer The Elephant Pipe Cleaner Craft
Step into a kaleidoscope of colors! With a palette of vibrant pipe cleaners, your kiddos will be all set to create Elmer, the patchwork elephant. Guide them in joining an array of colored pipe cleaners before watching the easy-to-follow video tutorial to shape their Elmer.
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45. Green Eggs And Ham Pipe Cleaner Craft
Breakfast is served, and it’s out of this world! Your students can twist and form their own culinary masterpiece of green eggs and ham. They’ll love this Dr. Seuss inspired craft!
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46. Pipe Cleaner Princesses From Disney Books
Ever dreamt of a royal crafting session? By shaping various pipe cleaners, your little ones can bring their favorite Disney princesses and linked elements to life.
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47. Where The Wild Things Are Pipe Cleaner Craft
Time to rumpus! Supply your students with pipe cleaners and various recyclables and watch them channel Maurice Sendak; creating their own scary storybook monsters and scenes! Let them bend and loop their inner wild things!
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48. Pipe Cleaner Pigeon
Hop on board for a crafty adventure! With pipe cleaners in hand, your students will construct their very own Pigeon from the humorous book, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.”
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49. Rainbow Fish Pipe Cleaner Craft
During this Rainbow Fish-inspired craft; celebrate unity and sharing by letting your students weave together multi-colored pipe cleaners. We suggest letting them include some glitter pipe cleaners to resemble the shiny scales of their favorite book character.
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50. Alice in Wonderland Pipe Cleaner Craft
How about a trip down the rabbit hole? Your students can craft their own Wonderland adventure with Alice, a card, the White Rabbit, and a miniature pipe cleaner tea set. Let their imaginations run wild with other story elements that they can form with the remaining pipe cleaners.
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51. Frog And Toad Pipe Cleaner Craft
@littlehippiecoda Read “Frog and Toad are Friends” Then craft along with us! •Peep avery reading a snippet at the end! We used recycled/random craft box supplies for this project. ⬇️ •Toilet paper roll •bits and pieces of old paper •Googly Eyes •Pipe Cleaners •glue •scissors 🥰🐸🍄 #crafting #crafttime #homeschooling #homeschool #boymom #frogs #toads #friendsforever #artclass #artwork #sweetheart ♬ Little Things – Tiqta
Your little ones will have a ball shaping this famous duo; Frog and Toad! Supply them with pipe cleaners and guide them in crafting their own characters. They can then act out dialogue with their friendly characters.
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52. Peter Rabbit Pipe Cleaner Craft
Every twist of the pipe cleaner is a hop in the right direction! Hand your students pipe cleaners and watch as they craft Peter Rabbit, complete with a blue jacket to top things off.
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53. The Lorax Pipe Cleaner Craft
Time for your students to become environmental champions by crafting their own Lorax. They’ll need some yarn to form the body and pipe cleaners for the legs and facial features as well as a pair of googly eyes.
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54. Whale Egg Carton Craft
Upcycled art is always appreciated and this is an ideal craft to add to your ocean unit! Have your students bring in empty egg cartons and create these cute whales! You’ll need to provide them with paint, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and markers to tie everything together.
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