Tag: Paper Plate Crafts

paper plate donut craft
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Paper Plate Donut Craft

Jennifer
paper plate donut craft
Paper Plate Donut Craft

D is for donut! Let’s make a donut out of a paper plate. What kind of “icing” will your paper plate donut have?

Paper plate crafts are much more than a fun afternoon activity—they help children develop important skills that support learning, creativity, and everyday development. Here are some of the biggest benefits:

  • 1. Fine Motor Skills
  • 2. Hand-Eye Coordination
  • 3. Creativity and Imagination
  • 4. Problem-Solving Skills
  • 5. Following Directions
  • 6. Patience and Perseverance

Supplies Needed:

  • 1 paper plate
  • watercolor paint
  • paintbrush
  • construction paper (we used pink)
  • scissors
  • white glue
  • sprinkles

Instructions:

1.Children need to paint their entire plate. My son painted his plate light brown using watercolor paints.

2. While it was drying, we picked our construction paper for the donut icing. We went with the classic pink for our donut, but also strongly considered brown for a chocolate icing. Adults can cut out a wavy shape in the pink paper.

3. After the donut plate is dry, adults can cut out the center to give it the donut shape.

4. Now it’s time to glue on the construciton paper icing. My son used white, school glue to attach the icing to the plate.

5. No donut is complete without sprinkles! Grag your rainbow sprinkles and glue and glue on sprinkles to complete your paper plate donut.

Check out the Learning Letter D page for donut stories and more Letter D learning activities!

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.

Christmas

Peppermint Paper Plate Craft

Jennifer
paper plate peppermint craft

This peppermint paper plate craft is fun and easy to make. Plus, you get to use your child’s handprints as the candy’s wrapper! I am a sucker for handprint crafts and I am always looking for ways for my child to personalize the crafts we make together 🙂

Supplies Needed:

-paper plate

-red, washable paint (I like to use Crayola Washable Paints)

-paintbrush

-white paper

-pencil

-scissors

-glue (we used a glue stick, but white school glue is okay too)

How To:

First thing I did was show my son what a peppermint is, because he apparently had no idea that’s what those little mint candies were called! Once he got the image in his mind, his creativity took over. He came up with all sorts of ways to make the candies. We ended up making 2 paper plate peppermint crafts: one with paint and one with a color pencil spiral.

Using red paint, he painted a spiral around his plate. He started in the middle and worked his way around to the outside. It was a little difficult to paint on the ribbed part of the plate. My son had to go back and touch it up a little bit so that it looked more like a solid red line. Then we let the plate dry.

While the plate is drawing, I traced my son’s hands on white paper. Then I cut out the handprints.

My son glued his handprints onto either side of the paper plate to look like the candy’s wrapper. Using a glue stick, rub some glue onto the underside of the plate and onto the handprints to make sure that they really stick onto the plate.

Let your project dry completely before showing off your cute peppermint paper plate craft 🙂

More Winter Crafts!

Christmas Cookie Cutter Coloring: Since my waist line can’t handle too many Christmas cookies, I found another way for my kiddo to use cookie cutters: a Christmas cookie cutter coloring craft!

Fingerprint Winter Tree: finger paint some “snow” on a barren tree!

Sparkly Snowflake: craft sticks, markers, and sequins come together to make an awesome sparkly snowflake craft!

Animals, Easter, Spring

Hatching Chick Craft

Jennifer
Hatching Chick Craft

With so many animal babies being born in the springtime, this hatching chick craft is a great way to incorporate some of that baby-cuteness into your preschooler’s activities. Use a brad to connect the top and bottom pieces of the plate to turn this into a moveable craft. Gently pull the top of your plate and watch your chick hatch!

Supplies Needed:

  • paper plate
  • scissors
  • yellow construction paper
  • glue stick
  • feathers
  • googly eyes
  • brad

How To:

First turn your paper plate into an egg by cutting a zig-zag line across your paper plate. Connect the two plate pieces with a brad on one side. This allows the plate to open and close so you can pretend the chick is hatching! Movable crafts are tons of fun and a great way to show “hatching.”

Next, cut an oval shape out of your yellow paper. This will be your baby chick. Glue feathers onto your chick. Our feathers were large and covered a lot of the chick so we didn’t need a beak. My son added two googly eyes and called his chick done.

Now that you chick as feathers and eyes, glue the bottom part of your chick onto the back of the bottom plate piece. Let your project dry before showing off your hatching chick craft.

For more fun spring crafts try:

Paper Plate Bunny— print off the free template, color and cut out the pieces, and glue them all onto a paper plate to make a bunny.

Mosaic Egg— use left over scraps of paper to make a beautiful mosaic egg.

Torn Paper Nest–tear up construction paper and use the pieces to make a nest.

Animals, Easter, Spring

Adorable Bunny Craft

Jennifer
Adorable Bunny Craft

There are so many cute bunnies pictures/crafts/decorations popping on my social media feeds this spring! I was inspired to make a bunny craft by a picture I saw of a rabbit with a flower crown. The flower crown turned a boring paper plate into an adorable bunny craft! I love how this turned out 🙂 Whether you are looking for an Easter craft or a spring activity, this bunny craft is fun and easy to make with your little one.

Supplies Needed:

  • 1 paper plate
  • 2 pipe cleaners
  • pompom
  • bunny craft template (free PDF)
  • glue stick
  • white school glue
  • scissors
  • crayons/markers
  • 2 googly eyes (optional)

How To:

Print the free bunny craft template. It includes the ears, flowers, and leaves that you will need.

Color the ears, flowers, and leaves. While I usually have my son use crayons, the bold color of the markers prompted us to use them instead. After you color everything, cut out your pieces. The designs are pretty intricate so an adult should do the cutting.

Flip your plate over so that the center is now raised. Using your glue stick, glue your ears on the underside of the top of the plate. Glue your flowers and leaves around the top of the plate, making a cute crown.

For the bunny face, you will need 2 googly eyes (or draw your own), 2 pipe cleaners, and a pompom for the nose. We started by gluing on the nose. We used the white school glue to make sure that the pompom is securely attached. Then we folded our pipe cleaners in half (makes a V shape) and glued them on either side of the nose. We put a small amount of white school glue on the pipe cleaners and held them down onto the plate for a few seconds. To finish the bunny face, draw a mouth.

Let your bunny craft dry before showing off how cute it is! While your project is drying, read some EASTER STORIES together 🙂

For more spring craft ideas, check out my SPRING CRAFTS page. Happy crafting!

Spring

Spring Wreath Preschool Craft

Jennifer
Spring Wreath preschool craft
Spring Wreath

I love making floral wreaths for our home, and enjoy having my family help with the project. Unfortunately, other than help pick out flowers, there isn’t a lot my son could help with because he is so young. I wanted a wreath that my son could make on his own (that didn’t involve a hot glue gun) so we created a paper spring wreath. My son picked out the pictures–a bunny, carrot, and flower–and created his own craft!

Craft Supplies Needed:

How To:

1. Cut out the center of your paper plate to make your wreath.

2. Paint your wreath green. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints (Amazon Affiliate link*) because they easily wash off of my kid’s hands and our table.

3. While your wreath is drying, print out the spring wreath pictures template (free PDF) and color them.

4. Cut out your spring pictures.

5. Once your wreath is dry, arrange the pictures how you like them on your wreath and then glue them on.

6. Finish your spring wreath craft by tying a ribbon on so that your kiddo can hang their project! I used a hole punch, but you can also just loop your ribbon through the wreath and hang it that way.

*I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support!

More Spring Crafts

Looking for more craft ideas? Check out my Spring Crafts page for inspiration and instructions!

Christmas, Winter

10 Preschool Christmas Crafts

Jennifer

Christmas is just around the corner and kids are getting so excited! Help channel that excitement into some fun Christmas crafts. We rounded up our favorite 10 preschool Christmas crafts to share with you.

preschool Christmas Crafts
Preschool Christmas Crafts

10 Preschool Christmas Crafts:

Decoupage Santa Hat: make a Santa hat out of craft sticks and red tissue paper.

Christmas Owl Craft: adorable owls made from empty toilet paper rolls and construction paper.

Paper Plate Peppermint: a cute, winter handprint craft to make with your preschooler.

Christmas Cookie Cutter Coloring: a fun way to use cookie cutters without the calories!

Candy Cane Craft: quick and easy candy cane craft out of construction paper and cotton balls.

Mosaic Gingerbread Man: use pieces of construction paper to make a cute gingerbread man craft.

Christmas Fireplace: make a festive Christmas fireplace for your toys!

Christmas Wreath: cute little wreath out of a paper plate that combines painting and coloring for lots of fun.

Candy Cane Reindeer: make a cute and yummy candy reindeer by adding pipe cleaner antlers, googly eyes, and a pom pom nose!

Fingerprint Snowy Tree: draw a barren tree with a marker and then your preschooler can paint on the snow with their fingerprints.

Craft Supplies:

I try to make crafts with supplies I already have at home because I hate having to put a project on hold to run to the store and get supplies. So if anytime you don’t have one of the things I mentioned, feel free to substitute it with something you have at home — there’s no wrong way to craft!

My go-to supplies are: construction paper, craft sticks (popsicle sticks), tissue paper, pompoms, Crayola glitter glue, paper plate, crayons, water color and Crayola Washable Paints, white school glue, and a glue stick. I’ve joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to help cover the costs of my site. So if you click on a product that I have on my site and buy something on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for support! I don’t ever recommend anything that I have not personally used and loved 🙂

Christmas, Winter

Christmas Wreath Craft

Jennifer
preschool Christmas wreath craft
Christmas Wreath Craft

My kiddo who was anti-coloring for so long, now wants to color! And all of the time, too. So we made this fun little Christmas wreath craft together that is perfect for kids of all ages. Toddlers can scribble to their hearts’ content; preschoolers can carefully choose their colors for each pictures; and older kiddos can add glitter and sequins.

Craft Supplies Needed:

  • white paper plate
  • Christmas pictures template (free PDF)
  • green paint — we used water colors
  • glue stick
  • scissors
  • ribbon
  • hole punch (optional)

How To:

1. Cut out the center of your paper plate to make your wreath.

2. Paint your wreath green. We used water color paints, but any green paint will work. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints, but we couldn’t find them in our messy craft cabinet (grrr), so we opted for water colors.

3. While your wreath is drying, print out the Christmas pictures template (free PDF) and color them.

4. Cut out your Christmas pictures. They were a little too complicated for my kiddo to cut out, so I did it. As you can see, I left a little bit of a white border around them.

5. Once your wreath is dry, arrange the pictures how you like them on your wreath and then glue them on.

6. Finish your preschool Christmas wreath craft by tying a ribbon on so that your kiddo can hang their project! I used a hole punch, but you can also just loop your ribbon through the wreath and hang it that way.

More Crafts

I love making crafts with my kiddo, and since Christmas crafts are just so cute, we’ve made quite a few together. Check out my Winter Crafts Page for more fun crafts that you and your little one can make together. We’ve traced cookie cutters and made paper cookies, decoupage Santa hats, fluffy candy canes, and more!

Animals, Fall

Fox Paper Plate Craft–

Jennifer
Fox Paper Plate Craft
Fox Paper Plate Craft

Make a cute fox paper plate craft with your preschooler! Foxes go so well fall themes. Pair your craft with the fox books, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson, and Lawrence in the Fall by Matthew Farina.

Supplies Needed:

-paper plate

-orange tissue paper

-glue stick

-black pompom

-2 googly eyes

-scissors

-stapler

How to Make a Fox Paper Plate Craft:

Step 1: Cut a large triangle out of your paper plate. This will be the fox’s head/face.

Step 2: Next cut 2 small triangles out of the the paper plate to be the ears. Staple the ears onto the fox’s head.

Step 3: Our orange tissue paper came in 1-inch squares. If yours is not already this size, then cut or tear your tissue into 1-inch pieces. Glue your tissue all over your fox’s face and ears. It’s okay if your tissue sticks off of the side of your plate. You can just fold it over and glue the excess onto the back, or trim off the extra tissue paper.

Step 4: Once your craft is dry, add 2 googly eyes and a black pompom nose to your fox.

More Fall Crafts:

Fall is my favorite season and I just love to make fall crafts with my son! Foxes, owls, leaves, and pumpkins make such cute and fun crafts. Check out my list of fall crafts for more things to make with your preschooler 🙂

Animals, Fall

Paper Plate Hedgehog Craft

Jennifer

Make a Paper Plate Hedgehog with your preschooler! This craft is simple, but pretty cute and kids love getting to use scissors. Since we color a lot, I decided to mix things up and get out the watercolors for my kiddo to decorate his hedgehog. The plate is thick, so watercolors worked great on it without causing any warping. I absolutely love hedgehogs and have quite a few decorating our house, so I was really excited to make a hedgehog craft with my little guy.

paper plate hedgehog craft
Paper Plate Hedgehog

Supplies Needed :

-1 white paper plate

-pencil

-scissors

-watercolor paints

-paintbrush

-scissors

Making the Hedgehog:

First I cut a paper plate in half and discarded one of the pieces.

Then I drew a basic hedgehog face shape with a sloping forehead and a long, pointy nose, and cut off the excess plate.

My son used his watercolor paints to turn his plate into a blue hedgehog.

The watercolor paints dry pretty quickly, so he didn’t have to wait long to makes cuts along the top of his plate and make hedgehog quills.

After he made all of the cuts, we gently pulled the quills apart to give them a spiky look.

He finished his craft off with some googly eyes.

My kiddo was so proud of this craft! I took pictures of him holding his project and texted them to his grandparents. He loved getting to use scissors and paints 🙂

Looking to make more fall crafts? Check out my FALL CRAFTS page for more ideas. We made all sorts of great crafts: paper plate foxes, turkeys, paper bag puppet scarecrows, handprint pumpkins, and lots more!