Pringles Can Binoculars Craft for Preschoolers

Make a pair of Pringles Can Binoculars for pretend play, scavenger hunts or “I Spy”.  All you need are two Pringles cans, some paint and a stapler and a piece of yarn.  

See our Pringles Can Santa Telescope here.

My preschoolers had fun making these Pringles can pretend binoculars and then using them on a walk around the neighbourhood.

Much better than tp roll binoculars

Normally we would make toy binoculars out of toilet paper rolls, but we made this set using a couple of Pringles cans, and I have to day, they are so much better than toilet roll binoculars.

We love crafting with Pringles cans. They’re really sturdy, unlike tp roll binoculars, so little hands can really grip them without crushing them.  I think it’s safe to say they’ll hold up for quite a long time.

The other neat thing about this binoculars craft is that our binoculars have “lenses”.

Instead of the open ends that you get with a tp binocular craft, we have the clear, plastic lids on the ends of our tubes which makes our binoculars feel a little more real.

Fun for make-believe or nature hunts

These binoculars are fun for make-believe play in the toy room or for going on a nature hunt outdoors. That’s what we did with ours.

Let me show you how we made them.

How to Make Pringles Can Binoculars:

Supplies:

• 2 Pringles cans with lids
• serrated knife
• paint
• thick yarn or shoelace
• stapler
• skewer (or something similar to punch the holes)
• Cut your Pringles cans:

Instructions:

Remove bottom Pringles cans

First, cut the bottom off of your Pringles cans so that each can has two open ends.  I used a serrated bread knife and a sawing action to cut through the cans.

Remove the lids if you haven’t already, and set those aside for now.

Paint the cans

Paint your Pringles cans with acrylic craft paint or poster paint.

Sidenote: We actually painted our cans several weeks ago.  We were going to make bird houses out of them, but we never got around to it.

Today when the 4 year old asked if we could make binoculars, I remembered our painted Pringles cans. They would be perfect!

Staple the cans together:

Pop the lids on the top ends of your cans, and staple the cans together.

Your child might need help with this step as the cardboard cans are fairly thick, and it requires some muscle to get the staple them together.

We put a couple of staples just inside the cans’ openings, and then we pushed the stapler down as far as it would go, and stapled again.

You could probably tape your binoculars together, but using a stapler seemed like an easier option.

Attach the neck strap:

We used a soft, thick piece of yarn for our neck strap.  A long shoelace or a skate lace or even a length of ribbon would work as well.

Use a metal skewer to poke a hole in the outside of each can. Push your yarn strap through and knot it in place.

Now you’re ready to put your binoculars into action!

Aren’t they great?

This is what it’s like to look through them.

Cool, eh?

We couldn’t wait to get outside to test them out!

We walked around the yard, and had a stroll through the neighbourhood, and we stopped to examine lots of things with the binoculars on our way: 

the fish in our pond,

the flowers in the garden…

..and Nelson the cat, to name a few.

Close supervision required (neckstrap)

Because of the the neck strap, it’s important to always supervise your child when he or she is playing with these binoculars.

To avoid any worry, you can leave the neck strap off entirely.

More Pringles Can Crafts and Activities

Pringles Can Santa Telescope

Pringles Can People

Pringles Can Windsock

Pringles Can Drop Box Activity

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