Easy Animal Craft: An Engaging Paper Plate Project

As a mom of four little ones, I am always on the lookout for easy, simple, yet engaging arts and craft projects. One day searching for arts and crafts ideas I came across an easy animal craft. This craft could be made out of paper plates. This was the perfect craft for the kids. What made it even more simple is that I already had on hand some of the items I needed. Here’s a rundown of our experience and some tips to make your crafting session just as successful.

What you’ll Need for this easy animal craft:

For this easy animal craft there were two different animals that we chose to make. We made a frog and a whale. There is no specific reason we chose these. The boys picked them out and of course we couldn’t decide on one, so we did two.

For the frog you’ll need:

• Paper plates
• Green Paint
• Card Stock or construction paper
• Black sharpie
• Scissors
• Glue sticks or Hot glue
• Paint brush
• small circle to trace for the eyes or(googly eyes)

For the Whale what you’ll need:

• Paper plate
• Blue paint
• 1 googly eye
• Black marker
• Blue construction paper for the tail
• Scissors
• Glue

The Process for the Frog

1. The first step is to paint the entire paper plate green. Let it dry.
2. The next step is to cut the paper plate in half.
3. Form two circles on half the plate. You can use the rim of a cup or a small circle.
4. Take black and white construction paper or card stock and cut two circles (or however many for each child) out for the eye. The white circle should be a little smaller then the green circle.
5. Once cut out, paste the eyes onto the plate. Draw to dots for a nose and a smiley face.

We didn’t add a tounge because we kept it simple with the drawing of the smiley faces.

The Process for the Whale

1. The first step to do is paint the paper plate blue. If you don’t want to use paint markers will always work too.
2. The next step once the paint dries is to cut a piece from the bottom of the paper plate.
3. The parent can draw and cut out the shapes for the water that will come out the top of the whale and the piece that helps connect the tail.
4. Add or draw the googly eye.
5. Last, add a smile or more using the black marker.

Toddler Engagement

The best part about this arts and craft is that it’s easy for everyone to do. I have boys 4 boys ages 2-6 and this worked out great. Everyone always gets to put their own unique spin on their craft. It was also easy to help the little ones by telling them where to put the material. My now 2-year-old was 1 when we did this craft, and he loved the painting part of course.

Clean up

The aftermath wasn’t as troubling as some of the other activities we tried. We used acrylic paint, but it was washable, so everything was easy to wipe down. Plus, paper plates are disposable so there was no messy dishwashing involved. That’s a win-win.

Final Thoughts

This easy animal craft activity was great. One we will definitely try again. This time we might try some different animals to make. Everyone loved it and I would rate this activity a 10 out of 10. It encourages creativity, fine motor skills, and even a bit of patience. Here are the links to both of the sites I got the idea from. https://intheplayroom.co.uk/paper-plates-whale/, https://www.ourkidthings.com/paper-plate-frog-craft/. We didn’t do this craft the exact same way they did. We went by our own rules and left some things out. So, the materials list will look different.

It’s also a wonderful opportunity to create something together that you can display proudly throughout the house. I would absolutely recommend this craft to other moms and toddlers. So go ahead and grab some paper plates and get crafting- your little ones will love it, and I bet you will too!

If you enjoyed making this project, you should check this one out too! Family Fun Day