Critical Tips for Industrial and Manufacturing Professionals and Consumers

If you use mailing tubes for your business, you may have a lot laying around the home. Similarly, if you're looking for fun crafts to do with your child, you may want to buy some mailing tubes from a store that sells industrial supplies. Once you have the tubes, here are some fun projects to do with your kids.

Moveable Marble Tracks

Marble tracks are great fun for kids, but the fancy wooden sets can be expensive. To save some money, cut some mailing tubes to different lengths. You may want to cut some tubes lengthwise to make open tracks. Then, place some hook and loop closures on one side of the tubes, and cover your wall with a sheet of material that the hook and loop closures attach to.

Now, your kids can move the tubes on the wall around to create a marble run. If you want a convenient place to store the marbles, cut a small piece of mailing tube, and put the lid on its base. Then, attach that to the bottom corner of your velcro wall, and pop the marbles inside.

Ball Shooter

If you have two mailing tubes, you can turn them into a fun ball shooter. First, make sure that one tube fits inside the other tube. It should have enough room to move up and down. If you don't have two tubes that fit inside each other, use a couple of paper towel rolls for the inside tube.

Punch two holes in the base of the outer mailing tube. Run long rubber bands through those holes, and then attach the rubber bands to holes on the base of your smaller mail tube. At this point, the smaller tube should be inside the larger tube.

When you pull back the smaller tube, that should create tension with the rubber bands. Pop a lightweight ball like a ping pong ball inside the larger tube so that it rests on the end of the smaller tube. Now, pull back the inside tube, release it and watch the ball fly. Your kids will love this ball shooter.

Piggy Bank Mail Tube

This is a project that the kids can help create, and it's a great way to promote savings. Simply let your child decorate the outside of the mail tube. You can go for spots, stripes or solid colours, or turn the mailing tube into a nutcracker, a robot or something fun. You can even tie the design to what you're saving for.

Use construction paper, pipe cleaners, ribbons, googly eyes and other elements to decorate the tubes even more. Then, pop on the lid, cut a small slot into it and start to save for something fun.