Zoo Crafts

If you know you're planning a trip to the zoo, it's a great idea to do some activities before your trip to get kids excited. It's also a great way to get more out of your trip because you can spend time talking about zoo animals, sounds they make, what they eat, etc.

Paper Plate Monkey - Supplies: A paper plate, brown paint, brown construction paper, tan construction paper, glue, and this template. Directions: Paint your paper plate brown and let dry. Use the template below to cut out the ears and face of the monkey out of tan colored construction paper. (If you want, you could just paint on the face using the template.) Glue the ears onto the back of the paper plate and glue the face on the front. Use a marker to draw in the eyes, nose and mouth.

Paper Plate Lion - Paint a paper plate yellow or tan. Cut several 2 x 3 (approximate) inch strips of orange or brown construction paper. Glue strips of paper all around the plate to make the lion's mane. Draw on a face with marker. You can also do this with yarn around the face, but it is more difficult for younger children to manage.

Caged Animals - Glue pictures of zoo animals onto sheet of construction paper. Cut thin strips of black paper that are the same height as the construction paper. Glue the black strips vertically over the animals about an inch apart, and across the entire paper to resemble the bars on the animal's cages.

Paper Plate Snakes - Paint both sides of a paper plate green. Let dry. Cut plate starting at outer edge and spiraling towards the center. Stop cutting when you get about 4 or 5 inches from the center. The center of the plate will be the snake's head. Make eyes on your snake with a marker or glue on wiggle eyes. You can also glue on some red curly ribbon for a tongue.

Monkey Puppet - Print out the monkey template in color or black and white. Color the parts if necessary and cut them out. Cut out 4 strips of brown construction paper that are about 1 inch wide and 11-12 inches long. Take each of your strips of paper and fold them like an accordian so that when they are folded they are about an inch square. These are the monkey's arms and legs. Glue a hand or foot to the end of each accordian strip. Glue the monkey's head onto it's body. Glue each of the arms and legs onto the right spot on the body. You can turn this monkey into a funny puppet by gluing a craft stick to the back.

Paper Plate Elephant - Paint the back of a paper plate gray (or any other color you choose) and let dry. Print out the black and white or color template. Color the parts, if necessary, and cut out the pieces. Glue or staple the ears onto the plate on opposite edges. Make sure you put the ears behind the plate so the tabs don't show. Glue on the trunk and eyes.

Monkey Mask - Print out one of the mask templates (color mask or black and white). Color the mask (if using black and white) and cut out around the monkey head. A parent should do the eyes because it is a little difficult for children. To make it a mask, simply glue a craft stick onto one side of the mask or staple an elastic string to both sides so that child can wear it hands free.

Giraffe Paper Bag Puppet - Print out one of the giraffe templates ( color - or - black and white). Color the giraffe, if necessary, and cut out the 2 parts. Glue the giraffe's head to the bottom of a small lunch-sized paper bag. Lift up the fold and glue in the neck of the giraffe so that when you put your hand inside the bag it looks like the giraffe has a head on top of a neck.

Zebra Stripes - Print the picture of the zebra without the stripes, or you can use a picture of a horse. Cut thin strips of black paper (I use a paper shredder for this as it is quicker). Give children black strips of paper and glue to make their own zebra picture. ~ Submitted by Jeanette

Graham Cracker Cages - Spread frosting over a graham cracker. Lay an animal cracker on top. Put black licorice strings over top to make the cage's bars.

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