Our little one is a huge animal lover and this little paper giraffe was a hit with her. It is fairly simple and did not take a lot of time. It also helped work on small motor skills.
Materials Needed
- Brown Paint
- Yellow Construction Paper
- Googly Eyes
- A Crayon or Marker
- Glue
- Scissors
- Paint brush
We started by tracing the little ones hand. We attempted to tuck in her thumb so that wouldn’t be part of the giraffe. The two outside fingers were the ears and the two middle fingers were the horns. I will have to admit, I totally had to google what those were, because the first term that came to mind was “antennas”, but they are actually furry horns called ossicones . After we finished tracing, we gave the toddler a paint brush and let her give her giraffe brown spots. This was her first ever time holding a paint brush. The ability to grasp things in the toddler stage is so important, so even though you might have a little bit of a mess to clean up, break out those paint brushes!
After the spots were added, we let the giraffe dry. It took about three hours before it was dry enough to cut. When we cut it, we made the outer two fingers slightly pointy because those are the ears. If you are working with a preschool or middle school aged child that can safely use scissors, let them do the cutting work for more fine motor skill practice. Lastly, we added googly eyes and a smile!
So cute! My boys love anything that they get to paint, so we may be making some giraffes (and probably other animals) this week.
Our toddler absolutely loves to paint as well!
This is a lovely idea. I will try it with my 3 year old niece. & guess what she loves animal. lot of loves & hugs to your little one. 🙂
I hope she enjoys it as much as my toddler did!
I think this is so cute!! And thank you for sharing a realistic end result! I can’t stand some of the perfect kid crafts you find online.
Those perfect kids crafts totally inspired my blog. As an early childhood educator, then a mom, I knew nothing produced from a child ever looks like the sample made me an adult. I love looking at those neat, tidy projects, but enjoy my little ones chaotic work even more!
Awww I love this! My 3-yr old niece loves giraffes. She thinks they are “stretchy” lol. She will enjoy this little project.
Our toddler does not have a lot of words, but we are pretty sure that her love for giraffes comes from the fact that they look a little like noodles!
Such a cute craft! I’m going to try it with my 2 year old.
I added your craft to my most recent book series!!
Thank you! Very excited to read it. Your blog is great!
As this is a really cute idea. Simple but really nice activity to do with the kids x
Amazing! When I started to read this post I couldn’t imagine that the giraffe will turn out to be such a cute one! 🙂
Ive done something similar to this in my little preschool class i help teach.
That is so cute! Perfect for toddlers and animal lovers. And so easy to make! A great idea for gift as well!
That is just adorable! The googly eyes totally make it. Crafts with little hands are always the cutest! -Tonya Tardiff
Adorable, love it, I am ALWAYS looking for something cute, and easy to make with my 3yr old, and this is perfect, as he loves animals
This definitely looks like a fun project to do with the kids. It is such a cute giraffe and it looks really easy to make.
How adorable! And definitely a realistic outcome that could literally only be produced by a child.
Thank you! Everything on the blog is personally hand crafted by our small toddler with as little guidance as possible. We love watching her creativity.
Such a cute paper giraffe craft! I love howyour little one has such an eye for arts and craft!