Cardboard Tube Marble Run Building Activity for Kids

Do you save cardboard tubes from paper towels, toilet paper, and whatever else comes on a cardboard roll? I do! I have quite a collection saved just for the purpose of making a cool cardboard tube marble run on our wall. What a great rainy day or anytime kind of activity. Simple to set up, easy to do, and full of learning possibilities! Next time you find yourself holding an empty cardboard tube roll heading to the trash, save it instead! Our cardboard tube marble run is reusable fun!

Cardboard Tube Marble Run Building Activity

We have been on a roll lately with wall activities! We recently did a pool noodle marble run and a super fun homemade water wall. I love finding creative and inexpensive ways to make fun activities that encourage playful learning. To set up for our cardboard tube marble run, I chose a blank wall. You can also use the refrigerator or door! I set out a box of tubes and painters tape. I love using painters tape for activities since it doesn’t stick to the wall. The tissue boxes were used to collect the marbles at the end of the marble run.

 

How will you start your cardboard tube marble run? You have to think about the angles and plan ahead!

Now it’s time to make your cardboard tube marble run! Start your design. We cut pieces of tape so that we had plenty waiting once we got going. The cardboard tubes were easy to stick to the wall, and we had fun designing our cardboard tube marble run. He also wanted to make a second one to drop into the first one.

This leads us to my favorite point in the project! Testing the cardboard tube marble run. This may look like a simple play activity that even the youngest child can help with and enjoy, but it’s so much more. My son is learning about angles, gravity, slopes, engineering and problem solving. He is creating, testing, problem solving, creating and testing again. A young child may enjoy dropping pom poms down a single tube. You might think they are just playing, but even the youngest child is learning about how the world works.

Our cardboard tube marble run is the perfect reusable activity made new each time it’s put together. Keep adding tube to your supply and you could make a floor to ceiling marble run! That would be pretty cool. This keeps everyone occupied even the adults on an indoor day.

Try a simple cardboard tube marble run today!

What else could you add from the recycling bin or save from the trash.

 

More Simple Ways To Play and Learn. Click photos for more.