3 playful jungle-themed DIY crafts for preschoolers!

Learning about animals can be a lot more interesting through simple craft projects. It is one way to help kids identify different animals early on! They might even finally settle on which animal is their favorite! 

Paper plate crocodile

Things you'll need:

• 2 round paper plates (optional: you can use 1 more plate for the crocodile's eyes) 
• Safety scissors
• Glue
• A pencil
• Pink and green paint
• A white and red sheet of paper

Steps to make a paper plate crocodile:

• Paint the back sides of both plates green
• Once the color dries, flip one of the two plates and paint it pink
• Once the paint dries, fold it so the pink side is inside, this will work as the croc's mouth
• Cut two strips from the white sheet, make them zigzag for the crocodile's teeth
• Draw an elongated U on the red sheet for the tongue and cut it out 
• Glue the zig-zag strips on the edges of the folded plate
• Glue the tongue inside the folded plate
• Glue the folded paper plate onto the middle of the first green plate
• For the eyes: cut them out of the edge from a third plate and glue them on or draw them out on the green plate

Now you have a fun-looking crocodile paper plate!

Cupcake liner lion

Things you’ll need:

• One paper plate
• Cupcake liners (10-15 liners or you can use more if you want to add more texture)
• Yellow card stock or construction paper
• Googly eyes
• Black pompoms
• Glue
• Safety scissors
• Black marker

Steps to make a cupcake liner lion:

• Fold each cupcake liner in half and then fold it in half again so it looks like a cone
• Glue cupcake liners around the edges of the paper plate so the sharp side points inward
• You can glue more rows of cupcake liners to add more texture and dimension to the lion
• Draw a circle with a diameter of 4 inches on the card stock/construction paper (you can draw the circle with the help of a drinking glass)
• Cut the circle and glue it in the center of the paper plate
• Cut two small triangles (1 inch) from the card stock
• Glue them on the top of the circle to make the lion’s ears
• Glue two googly eyes on the circle
• Glue the black pompom below the eyes and in the center for the lion's nose
• Draw a curvy W with a black marker for the lion’s mouth below the pompom nose
• Draw 2 Vs on either side of the pompom nose for whiskers (you can also draw 3 small lines for the whiskers) 

There you have it. An adorable little lion!

Paper plate monkey

Things you'll need:

• Any color cardstock (for background)
• Two paper plates
• Beige paper
• Brown paper
• Safety scissors
• Glue
• Black marker
• Pencil
• Brown paint

Steps to make a paper plate monkey:

• Paint the plates brown
• While it dries, ask your child to trace their hands four times (2 left and 2 right) on the brown paper
• Cut out the handprints
• Draw the monkey face on the beige paper and cut it out
• Once the paint dries, cut the edges of the plate while leaving two ears in (you can also cut the ears and glue them on later)
• Glue both paper plates together
• Cut 4 strips of brown paper for the legs, arms, and one curvy strip for the tail
• Glue paper plate to the cardstock
• Glue the monkey's face onto the paper plate
• Glue 4 strips and curvy strip on the edge of the plate
• Glue the 4 handprints at the end of each strip 

Wasn't this easy? Have fun with the silly monkey!

Explore byjuslearning.com today to find out how your child can learn by seeing, playing, and doing through an interactive app and hands-on activities on Magic Workbooks that encourage children to learn at their own pace alongside beloved Disney and Pixar characters and become lifelong learners.