DLTK's Crafts for Kids
10 Easy Animal Paper Plate Crafts for Preschoolers

Crafting with preschoolers is a wonderful way to foster creativity, fine motor skills, and cognitive development while spending quality time together. Engaging in easy, hands-on activities allows young children to explore their imaginations, express their ideas, and build confidence in their artistic abilities. At this age, it's essential to choose craft projects that are not only fun and age-appropriate but also short and simple to accommodate their shorter attention spans and growing independence.

One of the most popular and versatile crafting materials for preschoolers is the humble paper plate. With just a few additional supplies and a touch of imagination, paper plates can be transformed into an assortment of delightful animal friends. In this article, we have compiled a list of 10 easy paper plate animal crafts that are perfect for young children. These crafts have been carefully selected keeping in mind the importance of simplicity, minimal mess, and quick completion times.

Paper Plate Cat Crafts When crafting with preschoolers, it's crucial to strike a balance between providing guidance and allowing them to explore their creativity. Be prepared to assist them with tasks such as cutting or gluing, but also encourage them to make their own artistic choices. For example, while these paper plate animal crafts focus on white animals, eliminating the need for painting and reducing mess while keeping the project shorter they also allow for lots of space for the kids to add little details like construction paper bows, bits of wool or feathers. This allows children to complete their crafts quickly without waiting for paint to dry, while encouraging their individual creativity which helps maintain their interest and enthusiasm throughout the activity.

In addition to the fun and educational benefits of crafting with preschoolers, these activities also provide valuable opportunities for social and emotional development. Working together on a craft project helps children learn to share, cooperate, and communicate with their peers or caregivers. It also teaches them patience and perseverance as they work through the various steps of each craft.

So, gather your paper plates, scissors, glue, and a handful of other materials, and get ready to embark on an exciting crafting adventure with your preschooler! These 10 easy paper plate animal crafts are sure to provide endless fun and learning opportunities for both you and your little ones.

Polar Bear Paper Plate Craft:

Attach googly eyes or draw small black eyes with a marker.

Cut out a black oval shaped construction paper nose and glue it to the center of the paper plate.

Cut out two round ears from white paper and glue them to the top of the plate.

Draw on a mouth shape with a marker.

Paper Plate Lamb Craft:

Glue cotton balls all over the paper plate to create a fluffy texture. Add round pieces of white paper with black eyeballs drawn on with marker and a black construction paper oval for the nose. Cut two rounded triangle shapes from black or white paper and add those as the ears.

Bunny Rabbit Paper Plate Craft:

Cut out two long ears from white paper and glue them to the top of the plate.

Attach two circles of paper with eyeballs drawn on them in black marker as eyes.

Cut out a pink construction paper triangle nose, and draw whiskers and a mouth with a marker.

Dalmatian Dog Paper Plate Craft:

Use a black marker to draw a mouth under the nose. Use a black marker or black paper dots to create the Dalmatian's signature spots all over the paper plate.

Cut out two floppy ear shapes from black construction paper and glue them to the top of the plate -- half circles work great as ear shapes. Cut two circles from white, blue or red construction paper and draw black eyeballs on them -- glue these on as eyes. Cut a black construction paper oval and glue that on as a nose.

Optional: Add a rectangle of red construction paper to the bottom as a collar.

White Cat Paper Plate Craft:

Cut out two pointy ear shapes from white paper and glue them to the top of the plate.

Attach googly eyes or make your own by cutting out white paper circles and drawing black eyeballs on with marker.

Cut out a triangle from pink or black construction paper nose, and draw whiskers and a mouth with a marker.

Optional: Add a small bow or ribbon to one ear for a decorative touch.

Panda Paper Plate Craft:

Cut out two large black circles from construction paper and two smaller circles from white construction paper to create the panda's eye patches. Draw eyeballs onto the center of the white circles with a black marker.

Cut out two round ear shapes from black paper and glue them to the top of the plate.

Attach a black construction paper oval or triangle for the nose and use a black marker to draw the mouth.

Dairy Cow Paper Plate Craft:

Use a black marker or black paper shapes to create cow spots all over the paper plate.

Cut out two oval ear shapes from black paper and glue them to the top of the plate.

Cut out two triangular horns from white construction paper and glue them above the ears.

Cut out a large black oval shape to act as the muzzle (nose and mouth).

Attach googly eyes or make your own by cutting out white construction paper circles and drawing eyeballs in the center with a black marker.

Paper Plate Duck Craft:

Cut out two wing shapes from white paper and glue them to the sides of the plate.

Make your own googly eyes by cutting out two white circles and drawing eyeballs in the center with a black marker.

Cut out a large orange construction paper triangle for the beak.

Optional: Add some white feathers sticking up out of the top of the head for a bit of a fun addition.

Paper Plate Chicken:

Cut out two round, feather-like shapes from white paper or felt for the wings and glue them to the sides of the plate. Or you can do what Kaitlyn decided to do and just attach red rectangles to the sides -- sort of an abstract wing/tail look -- remember to let the kids express their creativity side (resist the temptation to "correct" them).

Attach googly eyes or make your own by cutting out two white circles and drawing black eyeballs into the center with a marker.

Cut out a small red construction paper comb on the top of the plate -- tracing the child's hand onto red construction paper makes a great comb shape, but you can also just cut out three or four red teardrop shapes and glue those on to make your comb.

Glue an orange construction paper triangle for the beak and two small orange paper feet at the bottom of the plate.

Zebra Paper Plate Craft:

Although zebras are known for their black and white stripes, you can focus on the white base and only add a few simple black stripes using a marker or black paper.

Cut out two pointy ear shapes from white paper or felt and glue them to the top of the plate.

Attach googly eyes and a black oval shaped construction paper nose.

Other ideas for animal paper plate crafts you wouldn't need to paint first

We hope you enjoyed these easy animal paper plate crafts for preschoolers and found them helpful in fostering creativity, fine motor skills, and cognitive development in young children. Crafting together with your child can be a wonderful way to spend quality time together while also providing valuable learning opportunities. Don't forget to check out more of DLTK's Crafts for Kids for even more fun and educational craft ideas.

Thanks for reading!
Leanne