Author Archives: GPL

I stood in the grocery store aisle not long ago perusing the long rows of empty shelves that, just a few weeks before, had been stacked high with hundreds of packages of extra strong, extra soft, ultra absorbent, pillowy, billowy, good enough for angels and bears toilet paper. This “white gold” was suddenly at the top of everyone’s shopping list, and I wondered what exactly everyone was doing with all that excess tp.   It struck me that, as we shelter in place, someone had stumbled upon one of the best kept secrets of the paper goods trade—the educational and entertainment value of toilet paper.  A little research confirmed this versatile household product will provide hours of fun for the whole family!

So what exactly can you do with a collection of toilet paper rolls?  Have a TP Engineering Throwdown Challenge!  Who can build the tallest tower?  The biggest wall?  The best castle?  How high and wide can you build a tower using a single roll as a base?  Who can knock it down first with a well-lobbed wiffle ball?

Sharpen your pencil or pull out your calculator and get ready to do Toilet Paper Math!  Skip the 9=36 and 12=48 claims for the moment and go straight for the sheet count (listed on the package.)  How many sheets are in a roll?  How many rolls are in a package?  What is the total number of sheets in a package?   Pull out your ruler and get ready to measure!  What are the dimensions of  a single sheet?  How many sheets are on a roll?  How many feet long would a roll be if unrolled?  How many rolls would it take to reach a mile? 10 miles?  The moon?

If you have a kitchen scale you can weigh two different brands or types.  Is there a weight difference  between a roll of ultra soft compared to a roll of ultra strong?  Which roll contains the most sheets?

We won’t need a lab coat to run this kitchen science experiment to discover how absorbent a certain brand is.  Our friends at Lemon Lime Adventures have an easy To Do at Home experiment using 3 jars, several squares from two or more brands of toilet paper, 3 rubber bands, 3 cups of water and a handful of pennies.  Check it out here:   

And of course, toilet paper rolls begat toilet paper tubes. With spring here, one of my favorite recyclable uses for these handy little leftovers is to use them as seedling pots.  They are easy to make, and you can find a quick tutorial here from the folks at Kitchen Counter Chronicles.

You can easily make a fun toy launching machine as well using 2 toilet paper tubes (or 1 paper towel tube cut in half), 2 rubber bands, a pencil, some tape, and a cotton ball.  Challenge someone to a Cotton Ball Launching Contest to see just how far you can send your fluffy missile flying.

Or, come up with your own projects and share!  Let us know what fun and creative ways you find to use this staple with other common, household items at hand.   If you are interested in learning more about engineering and inventing, toys and games, science projects or even planting and seeds, please check out the wonderful resources of Overdrive  hoopla and kanopy kids on the GPL website.