Category: crafts

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
Animals, Fall, Uncategorized

Owl Headband Craft

Jennifer

This owl headband craft is a perfect way to have some crafting fun together and get in the autumn spirit. I love how cute these headbands turn out! This fun activity is great for preschoolers, kindergarten, and early elementary aged children. The free craft template includes the adorable owl and two bands for making the headband.

OWL HEADBAND CRAFT

Supplies Needed:

How To:

Print out the free owl headband template and color the owl. We colored the bands too!

Cut out all of your pieces.

Glue or tape the bands to the sides of the owl. If using glue, let your project dry. Then wrap the bands around your child’s head and then glue or tape the bands together at the back of your child’s head (forming a circle).

Now you have an adorable owl headband to wear! Check out my list of owl stories, Owl Spot the Differences worksheet, and take a look at this fun pompom owl craft that you can make together 🙂

Free Owl Headband Template:

owl-headbandDownload
Fall, Halloween

Hidden Cat Pumpkin Craft

Jennifer

Are you ready for a fun, interactive Halloween craft? Check out this super cute hidden cat pumpkin craft! I love that the pumpkin opens, revealing the hidden cat. It was pretty easy to make and turned out great! I think your preschooler will love this one.

Hidden Cat Pumpkin Craft

Supplies Needed:

How To:

After you print the template, color the pumpkin and the cat. Be creative! We added a jack-o-lantern face to our pumpkin.

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

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

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

Happy Halloween!

hidden-cat-pumpkin-craft-1Download
Fall, Halloween, Uncategorized

Halloween Stick Puppets Craft

Jennifer
Halloween Stick Puppets

I was looking at Halloween images on Canva and I came across these cute pictures of children dressed up for Halloween (and the cat too!). They were too adorable to ignore so I turned them into a Halloween stick puppets craft! Stick puppets are one of my go-to kids’ crafts. They lend themselves well to imaginative play. I love seeing children act out adventures with the there stick puppets! Are you ready to make your own stick puppets?

Supplies Needed:

How To:

This Halloween stick puppets craft is pretty quick and easy. Begin by printing the template — it is a free, downloadable PDF.

Color your six Halloween pictures. (I love the cat!)

Cut out the oval stick puppet pictures.

Then glue a craft stick to the back of your pictures. Once they are dry, let the puppet fun begin!

Free Halloween Stick Puppets Craft Template:

Halloween-Stick-PuppetsDownload

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More Crafts:

Do you like puppets? My son and I think puppets are a lot of fun! We’ve made quite a few together. Check out some more of our puppet ideas:

Animals

Narwhal Stick Puppet Craft

Jennifer

Puppet crafts are so much fun for preschoolers to make and to play with! Here is a super cute narwhal stick puppet craft that you can make with your little one. Watch as they make their narwhal swim through the sea on the paper plate! This interactive craft is tons of fun and lends itself well to imaginative play.

Supplies Needed:

Narwhal Stick Puppet Craft

How To:

Preschoolers can start this project by painting the paper plate blue using water color paints. Let the plate dry.

Print off the narwhal craft template (free PDF download). Color the narwhal, kelp, starfish, and clam. After coloring, cut along the dotted lines.

Once the plate is dry, an adult can 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. Make a nice ocean scene for your narwhal to visit! Check to make sure that all of the pictures are glued down tight so that your narwhal stick puppet doesn’t get stuck under any edges that may be sticking up.

Glue your narwhal to end of a craft stick and let’s play! Slip your puppet through the slit and move your puppet around so that your narwhal can swim in the sea. Read some narwhal stories to go along with your craft!

Animals

Dory and Nemo Stick Puppets

Jennifer
Dory and Nemo Stick Puppets

Dory and Nemo are so cute and fun. Preschoolers and grownups both love these two fish! I created free stick puppet templates of them for children to make. I love stick puppets because they are so easy for preschoolers to make and hold, and are lend themselves well to creative play. Print off my free Dory and Nemo stick puppets  craft template and make your own stick puppets and create lots of fun adventures for Dory and Nemo.

Dory-Nemo-Stick-Puppets-1Download

Supplies Needed:

  • template
  • crayons
  • scissors
  • glue or tape
  • craft stick (I used the jumbo sized craft, but the skinnier one should work just fine)

How To:

This Dory and Nemo stick puppet craft is pretty quick and easy. Print the template — it is a free, downloadable PDF. Color your fish and then cut them out following the dotted circle outlines. Next glue or tape a craft stick to the back of each picture. Once they are dry, let the puppet play begin!

More Crafts

Do you like puppets? My son and I think puppets are a lot of fun! We’ve made quite a few together. Check out some more of our puppet ideas:

Animals

Paper Plate Flounder Craft

Jennifer
paper plate flounder craft
Paper Plate Flounder Craft

Flounders are kind of funny looking fish because you can see both of their eyes at the same time while they are sideways; it makes them look smushed. My son saw a flounder at the aquarium and was intrigued by this weird looking fish. So when I suggested we do a fish art project, he wanted to make a paper plate flounder craft.

Supplies Needed:

– 1 paper plate

-scissors

-stapler (optional)

-glue stick

-tissue paper squares (about 1 inch x 1 inch)

– large googly eyes

-(optional glitter glue)

How To:

-To make your fish, have your child cut out a triangle from the paper plate. This makes it look like the fish’s mouth is open. My son loves being able to use scissors, so he liked this craft.

-Staple the triangle to the back of fish to make a tail. You can always glue the tail on, but then you have to wait for it to dry.

-Now it’s time to decorate the fish! Using the glue stick, glue tissue squares all over the plate to make the fish’s scales.

-Finish your fish by adding googly eyes.

My son thought it needed some sparkle, so he added blue glitter-glue polka dots to his fish.

More Ocean Creatures:

My son and I also made a Toilet Paper Roll Octopus craft and a Spouting Whale craft.