It’s amazing how much personality you can get with some pipe cleaners, beads, and

straws! This fun craft for kids is also a fun homemade toy!

Ready to make some Pipe Cleaner Superheroes?

First, grab your supplies:

o Pipe cleaners o Felt, for capes o Straws – we used paper straws, but regular straws are just fine (and

much cheaper) o Googly eyes o Pony beads o Wooden beads – we used 3/4 inch diameter beads o Tacky Glue o Hot glue o Scissors o Markers – we used Sharpie oil based paint markers. They bleed less on

wood than regular Sharpies.

Step 1: Start by drawing hair and superhero masks on the wooden beads.

Step 2: Glue on googly eyes – SO CUTE! Then draw a little mouth.

Step 3: Grab three pipe cleaners. Twist them together in the middle. I found that three

“twists” was enough to hold them securely together. Then adjust them so that they are

in the arrangement shown.

Step 4: Slide three pony beads onto BOTH of the bottom two pipe cleaners. This will

form the body.

Step 5: Cut a straw into 8 one inch segments. (Or feel free to adjust the size!) We

found that we could get 7 segments out of each straw, so you’ll need two straws per

superhero, with quite a bit left over.

Step 6: Build each limb by sliding on a straw segment, then a pony bead, then another

straw segment.

Step 7: Bend the ends of the pipe cleaners into hands and feet. I found that it helps to

wrap some of the excess around the wrist or ankle to make it secure. Then trim off any

excess ends.

Step 8: Slide the head onto the final two pipe cleaners. Then trim off the excess.

Step 9: To make the head more secure, attach it with Tacky Glue. Squirt some glue

onto the pipe cleaners. Then slide the head on. We had a little bit of glue ooze out at

the bottom of the head. Just wipe off the excess with a paper towel.

Step 10: Cut out a cape from felt and use hot glue to attach it to the backs of the arm

segments.

I made an S for the back of this cape, but we didn’t decorate any of the other capes.

They are cute either way!

Then make more superheroes with different colours! I thought the paper straws really

increased the fun level on this craft. They come in such fun prints! However, they

definitely cost more than regular plastic straws.