Creative from Home: Toilet paper roll smartphone speaker

Creative From Home is ARCK's new weekly series of arts and crafts tutorials kids can follow at home during quarantine. 

True to our mission and the aims of regular curriculum, we're bringing you projects that integrate the arts with literacy and STEM.

Share pictures of your creations on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by tagging @arckboston and #creativefromhome to be featured on our social media!

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It’s been a month since the COVID-19 shutdowns. Staying and cooking at home more has translated to using up household supplies such as toilet paper, cling wrap, aluminum foil, and paper towels more quickly. What to do with the paper rolls that come with such products?

This week’s craft project is a way to use them up as well as a science lesson on sound and the properties of waves. We’re making very simple smartphone speakers out of paper rolls. The roll increases the amplitude of soundwaves beamed into and out of it, leading us to hear the music from the phone at higher volume. 

A Gallery System Art Displays team member shared their kindergartener son's version of the speaker.

How to make

Materials you'll need:

• paper roll (from toilet paper, cling wrap, aluminum foil, or paper towels)
• scissors or box cutter
• 2~4 pushpins
• art supplies such as paint, colored paper, or decorative tape (optional)
• a smartphone

Let's get started!

Step 1

Take your phone and set the side where your phone speaker output is on the paper roll. Draw a rectangle on the roll to mark where you are going to cut the opening in which to rest your phone. Err on the side of making the opening smaller, as you’d want your phone to fit in quite snugly.

Step 2

Carefully cut out the rectangle and slip your phone into the opening to check if it fits. If it doesn’t, enlarge the opening.

Step 3

This is an optional step. Decorate your speaker with paints, colored markers, paper cutout shapes, decorative tape. etc. Make sure to not cover the opening rectangle and let all wet paints and glues dry before proceeding to the next step.

We used two pushpins, but you can choose to use four

Step 4

Stick the pushpins into the bottom of the roll to make legs to help the speaker stand. Play your favorite song on your phone and load the phone into the speaker. Observe how the volume changes. 

Step 5

Take a picture, or better yet, a video of your speaker and share by tagging @arckboston. As an extension to this project, experiment with further adjustments, such as cutting holes in one side of two paper cups and slipping the open ends of the roll into them.