Crafting with Wheels, Casters, & All things that Roll

There are so many fabulous ideas to get crafty in unique ways. So when Craftulate came up with the Ultimate Guide to 50 Craft Materials, I decided I wanted to be a part of the series with a material that was unique and off-the-wall! We are a family that recycles everything and we are always on the lookout for creative ways to use what would otherwise be trash. Hopefully this will inspire you to start crafting with wheels whether they are huge tires from your car or tiny toy wheels or even homemade wheels. Don’t forget to check out the bottom of this posts for more ideas on crafts with wheels from some other bloggers and to check out the series!

Crafting with Wheels

There are lots of fun ways to utilize wheels. I see ideas all the time utilizing old car tires as beautifully painted garden planters or inventive covered tables and ottomans. I have even seen and envied a cute upcycled car tire as a child’s rocker.

Small scale, there are still a lot of wonderful ideas to use and re-use wheels.

• We painted with some spare wheels in a unique way by working on some pendulum art. My daughter loved it! The swinging was such a fun element to the art, plus the wheel rolled every time it went past which made for some interesting “strokes” in her artwork.
• Painting with toy vehicles  is a fun way to extend learning into the art world.
• If you have some spare wheels around, you can make a drag racer Pringles Can car like this one at Craftulate.
• You can even make a homemade pin wheel or whirligig!

Playing and Crafting with Casters and Things that Roll

• It is always a fun occasion to break out a rolling pin and explore with it. We loved the idea from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds to wrap your rolling pin in bubble wrap to create some process art with your little ones!

• Explore what you can do with Casters and wheels on Play-Doh and as stampers! We used some old casters from a bed frame and used some hot glue to make patterns and designed for imprinting into play-doh. The same can be done with foam pieces to make your own DIY rolling stampers.

Making your Own Wheels

• Get creative with your food and make wheels out of grapes or make some banana cars like Craftulate did!
• I love these recyclable racers from Nerdy Science. What a fun way to get creative and build some fun cars and wheels to explore science and transportation.
• Use pouch caps to make your own wheels. Lalymom made a shrinky dink truck with pouch caps, and I made a simple car with pouch caps and the twist-base.

Check our more great Craft Materials and ideas on how to use them by visiting the guide! And for more on crafts using wheels, check out the links from other bloggers below.