By George, what holiday is this? It’s Presidents’ Day! The day falls on the third Monday of every February in the United States. In 2024, it is on February 19. When the holiday began, it celebrated just one president — the first, which was George Washington. Later, the day came to include other presidents, especially Abraham Lincoln.
Both Washington and Lincoln had birthdays in February. And that deserves a birthday potty. Let’s study the leaders’ looks and learn how to make the presidents out of toilet paper rolls!
What You’ll Need
2 toilet paper tubes
Black, blue, white, pink, and beige paint
Paint brushes
Cotton balls
Black paper
Scissors
Tape
Glue
Pen or marker
: Googly eyes
Washington Steps
1. Using blue paint, draw the outline of a face at the top of the toilet paper roll. Have the blue go down the sides of the face and curve inward to meet at the chin. Either paint the face beige for Washington’s skin, or leave it the color of the roll.
2. Leaving the face as is, paint the rest of the roll blue. This color represents Washington’s blue military uniform. Before he was president, Washington led the colonial army during the (1775–1783).
3. In Washington’s time, men wore shirts with ruffled fronts. Using white, paint a ruffled shirt underneath your TP roll face. This can have the shape of a sideways cloud.
4. Decorate the face with paint, pen, or marker. Draw a smile, a nose, and two eyebrows. If you have googly eyes, stick them on! If you don’t, just draw your own peepers. You could also add a touch of pink if you want rosy cheeks.
5. In the 1700s, some men wore wigs powdered to be white. Washington didn’t wear a wig. But he did cover his red hair with white powder! The leader kept his hair in a low ponytail, with curls on each side of his face. To create his hair, take one or two cotton balls and pull them apart. Glue the stretched-out cotton on top of the head.
Lincoln Steps
1. Using black paint, outline a rectangle at the top of the roll. This will be Lincoln’s face. Fill it in with beige or leave it the color of the tube. Paint the rest of the body black. This president lived in the 1800s and is known for his black suit.
2. Use white paint to draw an upside-down triangle under the head. This is Lincoln’s white shirt peeking out from his suit. Add a bowtie in black paint. One easy way to do this is to draw an ‘X’ under the face. Then, connect the top and bottom of each side. Fill in the two triangles with black.
3. Decorate the face with paint, pen, or marker. Lincoln is often shown with a dark beard and no mustache. So, draw a curly beard and some sideburns around his face. Add a smile, a nose, eyes, eyebrows, and cheeks.
4. Another famous part of Lincoln’s look is his tall black top hat. To make it, grab a sheet of black paper. Cut a strip along the short end. The wider you make the strip, the taller the hat will be!
5. Roll the strip into a tube shape and tape it closed.
6. Use the rest of your black paper to cut a circle wider than the end of the black tube. This will be the hat’s brim.
7. Glue or tape the hat to the brim. Then, glue or tape the brim to the toilet paper roll!
Updated February 16, 2024, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
By Amanda Salazar
