Category: crafts

Fall

Thanksgiving Stick Puppets

Jennifer

Create your own Thanksgiving stick puppets with this pie and turkey template. The template (found below) is a free, downloadable PDF for your personal use. Are you team pie or team turkey? I am definitely team pie! Make both and ask your family and friends to vote for their favorite Thanksgiving stick puppet. Find more fall crafts to make together: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/fall-crafts/

Thanksgiving Stick Puppets of a slice of pie and turkey

Supplies:

  • Free template
  • 2 craft sticks  (We used the 6″x3/4″ craft sticks)
  • 1 cotton ball
  • markers or crayons
  • scissors
  • glue
  • tape (optional)

Instructions:

Print the free Thanksgiving stick puppets template. Cardstock works best, but regular copy works too. Color your pie (I chose a pumpkin pie) and your turkey. Then cut around the dotted circles. Grab your two craft sticks and with glue or tape one stick to the back of each picture.

For the “whipped cream,” I added a cotton ball to the pie. I gently pulled on the cotton ball to make it look fluffier before gluing it on. Now your pie is complete! Let it dry before playing with your stick puppets.

Template:

Thanksgiving Stick PuppetsDownload
Spring

Hanging Bee Paper Chain Craft

Jennifer

This hanging bee paper chain craft was easy to make and turned out adorable! It is perfect for preschoolers who want to make spring decorations. I love this craft because it doesn’t make much of a mess (outside of glue). Plus it can be assembled pretty quickly so children don’t lose interest in the activity. 

hanging bee paper chain craft

For more bee fun, try our toilet paper roll bee craft! There is also a printable bee maze, a bug graphing STEM activity (which has a cute little bee), and fun selection of bug stories that your preschooler will enjoy.

Supplies Needed:

How To:

Print the free Hanging Bee Paper Chain Craft template.

Color your craft. Then, cut out all of the pieces: 6 chain pieces, 1 beehive, and 1 strip to attach hive to the chain.

Begin making your chain by folding your first strip of paper into a circle and glue the ends together. Next, take your second strip and stick it through your circle. Glue the ends of the second strip together forming a circle. Repeat this process with the remaining strips of paper until all 6 pieces are connected in a chain.

To connect the beehive to the chain, take your connect strip and connect it to the bottom of your chain. Glue your beehive onto this strip to finish forming your craft.

We used a pipe cleaner to hang our craft, but ribbon or yarn will work too. Loop your hanging material through the top chain to compete your project. Find a great spot to hang up your craft!

Free Printable PDF Template:

Hanging Bee Chain Craft (1)Download
Christmas

Christmas Wrapping Paper Collage

Jennifer

After you open Christmas presents, instead of quickly tossing the torn wrapping paper, let your child cut out pieces to make a collage. Not only this a fun way to upcycle materials, but this Christmas wrapping paper collage lets little ones hold onto the magic of Christmas a little longer as this craft project helps preserve some of the Christmas memories. My son had a hard time parting with the wrapping paper he really liked, so making a collage helped with to be able to part with the big pieces of wrapping paper. He was able to reuse some of the bows and gifts tags too!

Supplies and How To:

Christmas wrapping paper collage
Christmas Wrapping Paper Collage

This project is pretty quick and easy. All you need are wrapping paper, scissors, glue (we used a glue stick), and a piece of construction paper or cardstock — you want sturdy paper to support the collage. My son picked white card stock to glue his pictures onto, and it actually took 3 sheets for him to be able to fit all of the pieces he had cut out from the wrapping paper.

Cut out pictures from the wrapping paper. Once you have cut out all of the pictures you want, glue them onto a piece of construction paper or cardstock. Overlap the pictures, let them hand off of the sides of the paper, add bows and gift tags, and embrace the art of collage! Once your project dries, you will have your own Christmas wrapping paper collage to display!

You don’t have to wait until after Christmas to make this collage. If you have left over pieces of wrapping paper, your child can make a collage before Christmas too. For more Christmas crafts, check out my Winter Crafts page — I have more quick and easy, low-prep ideas to keep your child entertained and their imaginations running wild!

Animals, Fall

Secret Hiding Squirrel Craft

Jennifer

This moveable secret hiding squirrel craft is easy and fun to make! I think your preschooler will love this one. It’s an adorable fall craft with a fun twist on the squirrel hiding acorns — this time the acorn is hiding the squirrel!

secret hiding squirrel craft

Supplies Needed:

How To:

After you print the template, color the squirrel and the acorn. Be creative! Don’t forget to give your squirrel and cute little face.

Cut out the acorn and the squirrel. Once you have your acorn cut out, cut along the dotted zigzag line, turning your acorn into two pieces.

Stick the brad through the dark circle (on the left side) of the top acorn piece. Then stick the same brad through the dark circle of the bottom acorn piece. Close the brad. Now you have created a hinge that allows your acorn to open and close.

secret hiding squirrel craft

It’s time to attach the squirrel! Add glue to the front side of the squirrel’s body and then stick it onto the backside of the bottom acorn piece. Make sure to leave the squirrel’s head sticking up so that you will see it when you open the acorn. Let your project dry before having lots of fun opening and closing your acorn to reveal the secret hiding squirrel.

Read some squirrel stories together to go with your craft. Here is a list of 10 adorable squirrel stories for preschoolers. Be on the lookout for acorns in these books!

PRINTABLE TEMPLATE:

secret hiding squirrel craftDownload
Fall

Farmer Paper Bag Puppet Craft

Jennifer

It’s harvest time! Here is a cute farmer paper bag puppet craft that you and your preschooler can make together. I love paper bag puppets because they are easy to make and allow for creative play.

Farmer paper bag puppet craft

Supplies Needed:

How To:

Print out the farmer paper bag craft template. I made it available as a free PDF download.

Color your farmer template. The template has three pieces: 1 head, 1 body, and a chicken.

Grown ups can cut out the three pieces.

Now it’s time to glue! The side of the bag with the flap is the front. Glue the body onto the main part of the bag. Glue sticks work best because they don’t bleed through the paper. The farmer’s head will go on the flap of the bag so when you stick your hand in the paper bag, you can move the flap and make it look like the farmer is “talking.” Glue the head on to the flap carefully, making sure that you don’t accidently glue it onto the main part of the bag.

Let your project dry before playing with your farmer paper bag puppet. Once dry, show your farmer some of your favorite foods! Do you think your farmer grows any of your favorites on their farm?

farmer paper bag puppet

More Farm Fun!

Pair this craft with some awesome vegetables stories to get your kid excited about vegetables. This is a great opportunity to talk about where food comes from.

Love tractors? Here 8 preschool-level tractor stories. What’s a farm without a tractor!

FREE TEMPLATE:

farmer (2)Download
Animals, Spring

Frog Hand Puppet

Jennifer

Make this cute frog hand puppet with your preschooler! This craft is perfect for spring time and fits in perfectly with any pond-themed lesson plans. Download and print the free template and then follow the step-by-step instructions. I have included pictures with the instructions to help this craft assembly go smoothly.

Frog Hand Puppet Craft

Supplies Needed:

Frog Hand Puppet Template

How-To:

  • print the free frog hand puppet template.
  • color your frog puppet.
  • cut out along the outer lines. Ignore the dotted lines right now.
  • fold the frog in half, face down, at line 1.
frog hand puppet instructions
fold in half at line 1
  • fold the top and bottom pieces back at lines 2 and 3.This makes the frog’s face show, while the mouth looks closed.
frog hand puppet instructions
fold top and bottom pieces at lines 2 and 3
  • cut out straps and fold ends back at the dotted lines.
frog hand puppet instructions
fold the X piece backward
  • glue the X side of straps to backside of puppet. Glue one strap above line 1 and the other strap below line 1 to help hold fingers in place to make the puppet talk.
frog hand puppet instructions
straps glued above and below line 1
  • let your puppet dry before playing with it!

Check out our crafts page for more fun things to make together! https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/crafts/

TEMPLATE

frog-hand-puppetDownload
Animals, Easter, Spring

Paper Bag Bunny Puppet

Jennifer

Here is a quick and easy paper bag bunny puppet craft to make with your little one. Print the free template, color, cut, and glue to make your own puppet. Paper bug puppets are one of my favorite things to make with preschoolers because it allows for imaginative play! This isn’t a craft they just make and set aside, but something that is interactive and fun to play with.

paper bag bunny puppet

Supplies Needed:

How To:

Print out the paper bag bunny puppet template. I made it available as a free PDF download. You can always make your own out of construction paper if you don’t have a printer.

Color your bunny template. The template has four pieces: 1 head, 1 body, and 2 ears.

Cut out the four pieces.

Now it’s time to glue! The side of the bag with the flap is the front. Glue the oval body onto the main part of the bag. We used a glue stick, but white school glue will also work. Then glue the circular face to the flap. Be careful not to glue the flap shut as the circle will hang over the flap slightly. Glue the ears to back of the bag, so that they stick up over the head.

OPTIONAL: add a fluffy bunny tail to the back by gluing on a cotton ball!

Let your puppet dry before playing with it and having lots of fun adventures.

Bunny-Paper-Bag-Puppet-1Download

More Bunny Activities!

Adorable Paper Plate Bunny: make this super cute spring bunny craft out of a paper plate and free template!

Aesop’s Fables: reenact the famous fable The Hare and the Tortoise with stick puppets!

Easter Bunny Words Tracing WORKSHEET: trace all of the letters in the words Easter Bunny and then color the pictures.

Rhymes and Poems, STEM, Teaching themes

St. Patrick’s Day Preschool Theme

Jennifer

My family loves St. Patrick’s Day! Every year the leprechauns visit and stir up some trouble while we are sleeping. It is such a fun adventure to see what they got into during the night! My son always makes a leprechaun trap that we leave out, but so far, the leprechauns have outsmarted us! Even if leprechauns don’t come make mischief at your home, you can still get into the spirit by wearing green and incorporating some of these fun St. Patrick’s Day preschool theme books, activities, and worksheets into your little one’s learning.

St. Patrick's Day March 17

Preschool St. Patrick’s Day Theme Resources–

BOOKS

St. Patrick’s Day — 17 stories about leprechauns, St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, and lucky four-leaf clovers!

Rainbows — 5 stories about rainbows!

CRAFTS

Paper Chain Pot O’ Gold Rainbow: form a rainbow out of a paper chain and hang your pot of gold from the end.

Leprechaun Paper Bag Puppet: create a cute leprechaun puppet from a paper bag and construction paper.

Tissue Paper Rainbow: make an awesome rainbow out of tissue paper, cotton balls, and construction paper!

Shamrock Friend: print out the free template to make your own shamrock friend craft.

Rainbow Cloud: make a cute cloud rainbow craft out of a paper plate and crepe paper.

RHYMES

Five Little Leprechauns: In this cute little rhyme, the leprechauns are on the hunt for a rainbow. Try this one with your preschooler and see if they find their rainbow!

Five Little Shamrocks: Find out what shamrocks need to grow.

Leprechaun, Leprechaun: movement rhyme set to the tune of Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.

STEM

Color green hunt

Edible Rainbow: Make a free-standing rainbow out of marshmallows, a pipe cleaner, and cereal. This a yummy and fun STEM activity!

Color Green Hunt: Take a look around your home for green things. Try and find something green that you can wear, a green fruit or vegetable that you eat, something green to play with, and something green for drawing or coloring. What other green things can you find?

WORKSHEETS

Clover Counting: color the number of clovers as shown (#1-5).

St. Patrick’s Day Number Matching: Draw a line from the number to the box with the same amount of pictures.

“I Spy” St. Patrick’s Day: Count how many of each picture you spy.

Follow the Line: Find out which leprechaun finds the rainbow by following the lines.

Leprechaun Hat Maze: Make your way through the leprechaun’s hat!

Rainbow Tracing: Trace the letters in the word Rainbow and then color the picture.

St. Patrick’s Day Tracing: Trace all of the letters in the words St. Patrick’s Day and then color the shamrock.

Coloring Sheets: 3 St. Patrick’s Day coloring pages.

Christmas

Hidden Santa Surprise Craft

Jennifer

I love this hidden Santa surprise craft! It is so much fun to make and fun to play with too. Open and close the gift box to reveal Santa!

Hidden Santa Surprise Craft

Supplies Needed:

How To:

After you print the template, color the giftbox and Santa. Be creative!

Cut out Santa and the giftbox. Once you have your giftbox cut out, cut along the dotted zigzag line, making your giftbox into two pieces.

Stick the brad through the dark circle (on the left side) of the top giftbox piece. Then stick the same brad through the dark circle of the bottom giftbox piece. Close the brad. Now you have created a hinge that allows your giftbox to open and close.

It’s time to attach Santa! Add glue to the front side of Santa’s beard and then stick it onto the backside of the bottom giftbox piece. Make sure to leave Santa’s head sticking up so that you will see it when you open the giftbox. Let your project dry before having lots of fun opening and closing your craft.

Happy Crafting!

Hidden-Santa-Giftbox-CraftDownload
Fall

Turkey Scene Stick Puppet Craft

Jennifer

Who doesn’t love playing with puppets? Puppet crafts are so much fun for children to make and to play with! I love when we are able to make a scene on a paper plate for stick puppet to explore. Make this cute turkey stick puppet craft with your little one and enjoy watching your puppet explore the straw and fall leaves in this scene. This interactive craft is tons of fun and lends itself well to imaginative play.

Turkey Scene Stick Puppet Craft

Supplies Needed:

How To:

Print off the turkey scene stick puppet craft template (free PDF download). Color the turkey, rolled up straw bales, haystack, and fall leaves. After coloring, cut out your pictures. I try to keep things simple by cutting a border around the pictures rather than exactly along the lines. Once you glue them onto a white paper plate, you really can’t see the white borders around the pictures anyway.

paper plate

Have an adult use a box cutter to cut a slit along the smooth center of the plate. The slit in the example is a little less than halfway up the plate. Before slicing, make sure that the craft stick will be able to stick up through the proposed slit and move around. The slit should go all the way along the smooth part of the plate, stopping before both ridged outer edges.

Now that you have colored all of your pictures, glue them onto your plate. Check to make sure that all of the pictures are glued down tight so that your turkey stick puppet doesn’t get stuck under any edges that may be sticking up.

Make a turkey scene stick puppet craft

Glue your turkey to end of a craft stick and let’s play! Slip your puppet through the slit and move your puppet around so that your turkey can play in the straw.

More Turkey Fun!

-Check out my lists of Turkey Stories and Thanksgiving Books to read with your preschooler!

–Turkey Paper Bag Puppet: turn a paper lunch bag into a puppet!

–Toilet Paper Roll Turkey: make a cute turkey out of a toilet paper roll, paper plate, and feathers.

TURKEY SCENE STICK PUPPET CRAFT TEMPLATE:

Turkey-Stick-Puppet-Craft-2Download