Paper Plate Animal Crafts

Paper plate animals make the perfect kids craft idea. Most are very easy and inexpensive and kids can pick their favorite animal. You can make masks, wall hangings, animal mobiles and standing animal crafts.

The great thing about making animals from a simple paper plate is you can make anything - from aardvarks to zebras and everything in between. Here are just a couple ideas for your animal crafts your kids can make.

3-D Paper Plate Elephant

Using sturdy paper plates, you can give your animal a fun 3-D look. The supplies and instructions below are for making an elephant.

Supplies

8 Sturdy Dinner Size Plates 2 Flexible Dinner Sized Plates 4 Toilet Paper Cardboard Rolls Black and White Construction Paper Paint Black Marker Pipe Cleaner Scissors Glue

Directions

1. Paint the sturdy plates the color of your choice for the elephant's body. Let these dry completely.


2. Glue 2 plates together at the rim (front to front) to form one section of the body. Repeat this with the other plates until you have 4 body sections.


3. Glue each of these sections together, back to back, to form the elephant's body.


4. Using white paper cut out two large circles for the eyes. Cut out two smaller circles with the black paper for the pupils. Glue these to the front plate. Cut out some small strips with the black paper for eye lashes and glue these above the eyes.


5. With the flexible paper plates, paint these the same color as the body and let dry. Cut a large arc on one side of the plates to create the ears. Glue these to the side of the front plate (in between the first and second section of the body).


6. Use one of the cut out arcs for the elephant's trunk. Glue this under the eyes. Cut out a mouth using black paper and glue under the nose. You can give your elephant a fun look by cutting out a cute bow tie (for a boy elephant) or hair ribbons (for a girl elephant) and glue these one.


7. Next, paint or cover your cardboard rolls with paper to match the color scheme of you elephant. Glue these on at the bottom of the elephant's body in the front and back, placing them in between two of the sections. With the black marker, give his feet some toe nails.


8. Lastly, take the pipe cleaner and shape into a tail. Poke a small hole in the last plate (in the back) and stick the pipe cleaner in the slot. You may need a little bit of glue to help hold this in place.

This cute paper plate animal will stand on its own and will look great on any table. You can even make more zoo animals and dedicate a whole table for creating your zoo.

Paper Plate Rocking Horse

Every one of all ages love rocking horses. These were classic toys for many of us. So get some of this nostalgia back by making this cute animal craft.

Supplies

Two Flexible Dinner Sized Paper Plates Brown, Black and Tan Paint 2 Wiggle Eyes Yarn Scissors Glue Ruler

Directions

1. Paint the bottom of the paper plate with brown, black and tan spots. Leave some of the white show as well to create white spots for this horse. Let the plate dry.


2. Turn the plate over to the unpainted side and mark the center of the plate. Using the ruler, measure 1 1/2" to 2" from the center on either side. Draw 2 straight lines (one on each side of the middle). Fold the plate along these lines to create the "rocker".


3. Take the second paper plate and paint it for the horses head. We used the tan color but you can use any of the colors to match the body.


4. Once this plate is dry, cut out a horses head and neck from the center of the plate. Make the neck about 1 ½ to 2" wide.


5. Glue on wiggle eyes or use paper to create the eyes. Using a marker, draw in the details of the horses face (i.e. nose, mouth, ears).


6. Cut a 1 ½ to 2" wide slit in the rocking paper plate (horse's body). Make this slit the same size as the neck. Slip the neck into this slit and fold over to hold in place. You may need to add a bit of glue to help hold it in place.


7. Lastly, using the yarn, cut several strips and glue on the back end of the horse for the tail. Repeat this with smaller strips and glue to the horses head to create the mane.

If your paper plate horse is too heavy on one end of the other, causing it not to rock properly, just tape a paper clip on the inside to the side that is too light. This will help balance out the rocker.

The ideas are endless when it comes to fun and easy paper plate animal crafts. So get out the paper plates, craft supplies and your imagination and have fun.

Check out these other fun paper plate animal crafts.

Julie is the author and creator of Cool Kids Craft Ideas

Arts and Crafts Project - Simple Halloween Mask

Arts and Craft: Halloween Mask.

What you need: Popsicle stick, white paper plate or stiff construction paper, yarn, glue, scissors, crayons or markers. (If using paper plate that curves in corners: Make face on front of plate and glue popsicle stick to back. If you would rather use elastic then put face on back of plate.)

Either use a paper plate or if using construction paper make a circle as big as your child's head then cut circle out. This is the mask. Cut eye holes out of the mask. You can also cut out a nose hole and mouth hole. For the mouth hole you can show emotion by cutting the hole into a smile, a frown, an angry look, etc. Or you can just draw the mouth on. For a scary Halloween look, draw big pointy teeth on the mouth with a scar nearby. Draw mean bushy eyebrows or make eyebrows out of yarn. For the nose you can make a long beak out of construction paper. Glue green and orange yarn on top of the mask for hair.

If your child wants to look like a cat, draw whiskers around the nose and make pointy ears out of construction paper and glue them on top of the mask. Draw pretty long eyelashes around the eyeholes. Use your imagination. When you are done, glue the popsicle stick to the bottom of the mask, making it a handle to hold up the mask in front of the face.

Alternative: For children over five-years-old. Instead of holding the mask up with a popsicle stick you can also keep mask in place with an elastic band. But YOU MUST MAKE A BIG NOSE HOLE AND MOUTH HOLE IN MASK so your child is sure to be able to breathe. Just having eyeholes will not allow your child to breathe. If you decide to use elastic you might want to use a paper plate that is not incredibly stiff. You can staple the elastic on the sides. Have your child try the mask on to make sure the elastic is NOT too tight around their head. (NEVER use shoe lace, string or anything that can be tied too tight around their head! Your child must be able to take off mask quickly and easily. You do not want the mask to get stuck, covering their nose, as they are taking it off.) You can put masking tape over the staples. This could lessen the chance of faces scratches and also from the staples getting caught in your child's hair. If you are concerned about using staples you can make tiny holes on the sides of the mask to tie the elastic band in place. Note: It can get hot under a mask. Do NOT wear mask in extreme heat or near a fire/sparks. Keep mask out of reach when not in use.

To find Informative Parenting Articles, Useful Tips, Fun Activities, Art/Food Projects, Family Movie Reviews, Children's Book Reviews and starting in November a Monthly Science Experiment Day follow my BLOG parentingtipsandmore.blogspot.com

Jay Marie has a B.A. in the Behavioral Sciences, Sociology. She is a Former Nanny to children with parents in the Entertainment Industry. Find parenting programs to help you and your child at Harmony in the Home

Tips For Preschool Halloween Crafts Project

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Brainstorming for preschool Halloween crafts ideas could be a bit tricky especially if you're planning it for kids who have short attention span. You have to make sure that the projects are fun and exciting for them. There are many ideas surrounding Halloween crafts for preschool projects though, and you can easily find them online. This article will show you basic projects for preschoolers and how to add some excitement to them.

When brainstorming for preschool Halloween craft ideas, consider the following:

- Safety - Always keep the kid's safety in mind. When planning for a preschool Halloween craft, choose projects that don't involve needles, cutters, glue guns and other items which can be dangerous to kids. Those tools can easily poke the eyes, cut, and burn. Have your students use children's scissors instead, as they are more blunt. Also, it's good to have projects that utilize materials such as punchers, non-toxic glue, tape, and small staples as these don't pose much risk.

- Difficulty level - Ideal Halloween crafts for preschoolers are those that are colorful, catch children's attention, and most especially easy to do for them. A project can be too tiring or difficult for preschoolers to do. Instructions should be kept short and simple.

- Interest - Although Halloween projects are generally interesting, teachers would know better and always add a bit more twist, fun and color to ordinary projects especially since these projects are designed for kids to do. Kids get bored easily so try to make projects more out-of-the-ordinary.

Mask

Masks are great for preschool Halloween crafts project. They are pretty versatile, too. You can make hero Masks, animal Masks, and monster Masks. All you need are paper plates, crayons, punchers/staples, and garters.

For the materials, all you will need are some paper plates and crayons which you would want to distribute. Then, instruct your preschoolers to draw two big eyes in the middle of their paper plate. Then instruct them to draw anything they like around those eyes. Show them examples of simple animal faces like bunnies and cats using coloring books and other kids' books, so they have an idea of what to draw. Your students can draw a witch face, bat outline, or practically anything.

Then, give them time to color their drawings. You may also suggest stripes, spots, hearts, stars, and designs that are easy for the kids to draw. For more interest, you can use glue sticks or Elmer's glue to stick glitter and sequins on their masks. The kids will absolutely love this idea. You can also purchase colorful feathers so your students can stick them to their masks. Remember to keep your projects interesting!

Wings

Another interesting Halloween crafts for preschoolers are Halloween wings. You can create bat wings, angel wings, or butterfly wings out of cardboard. You may pre-cut the shapes to make the project easier for the kids. Just punch two holes on each wing so you can attach a string where the arm can go through and stay secured to the wing.

Once the cut out wings are distributed, you can suggest easy designs for your pupils to follow. Give them time to draw, color, and explore their imagination. Also have them glue sequins, glitter, and feathers to add interest.

Planning Halloween crafts for preschool kids is easy when you have these three secrets to keep in mind: simplicity, safety, and of course, fun.

Running out of Halloween crafts for preschoolers for this year? Discover how great teachers can add a new twist to your old child Halloween crafts.