Arctic Animal Crafts with Printable Templates
Inside: how to make popsicle stick arctic animal crafts. Make a cute arctic fox, polar bear, or snowy owl using the free printable template.
We’ve finally been having some winter weather here, and it makes me want to break out the wintertime crafts!
Arctic Animal Crafts
Today I have a brand new set of arctic animal crafts for you that are perfect for this time of year.
My favorite thing about these is that you can make 3 different animals from one base – an arctic fox, a snowy owl, and a polar bear.
That means you can give children a choice over which animal they want to create – or you can let them make all three!
I made you a printable template to make it even easier for you. There is one page with all three animals on the same sheet, and then there are pages with multiples of the same animal.
Materials
You’ll need some basic kids craft supplies:
- 7 regular size popsicle sticks
- 2 mini popsicle sticks
- White paint (see below)
- Paintbrush
- Construction paper: black and white
- Craft eyes
- Small craft pom pom
- Black marker
- Glitter glue pen (for the fox and owl only)
- Craft foam paper in bright yellow (for the owl only)
- Glue – hot glue works best for the popsicle sticks
- Optional: printed template (scroll down below the instructions for each animal to download them)
A note on paint: you’ll get the nicest coverage with acrylic paint, but washable tempera paint will work out well enough for little kids if you’re concerned about staining clothing.
Instructions
Start by making a base, and then scroll down to see how to make each individual animal.
Base for All 3 Arctic Animal Crafts
The body is the same on all 3 of these arctic animal crafts. In fact, it’s also the same as my popsicle stick dinosaur crafts!
Depending on the age and size of the children you’ll be making this craft with, you may want to prep steps 1-3 ahead.
- Line up the 7 regular size popsicle sticks in a neat, even, row.
- Apply glue to one side of a small popsicle stick and press it across the row of larger sticks, near the top.
- Then, repeat this process with the other small stick and press it near the bottom of the row of larger sticks.
- Once the glue has set, flip over and cover the entire surface with an even layer of white paint. Let dry.
Next, add features for the individual arctic animal you’ll be making.
For preschool and possibly kindergarten, you may want to cut out all the pieces ahead of time. On the other hand, for older children, just run off copies of a template sheet and have the kids do the cutting.
Arctic Fox Craft
Head & Ears
- First, cut out the head from white construction paper, and the ears from black paper.
- Then, glue the ears to the back of the base as shown:
- Next, flip it back over and glue on the head shape. Glue on the googly eyes, and outline the head with glitter glue.
Tail
- Cut out the tail from white construction paper. Then, cut slits into it, so that it looks a bit like a feather.
- Next, accent the tail with the glitter glue and let dry.
- Lastly, glue the tail onto the back and add a pom pom nose.
Your Arctic Fox is complete!
Snowy Owl Craft
Eyes
In a pinch, you could use construction paper instead of craft foam – the foam is just a lot brighter and adds a nice dimension to the project.
- First, cut yellow craft foam to match the larger circles on the template, and glue them to the base.
- Then, glue large googly eyes onto the yellow eye circles. Alternatively, you can cut out and glue on the eyeballs from the template.
Beak & Wings
- Next, cut the beak from black construction paper and glue it onto the base.
- Then, cut out the wings from white paper, and glue them onto the back as shown below:
Final Touch
- Finally, flip the owl back over and add a glitter glue accent on the yellow eye background above the googly eyes.
Isn’t he cute!
Polar Bear Craft
The polar bear is the easiest of all. Children draw in the some of the features on this one – which might give you some pretty cute variations…
- Start by cutting out white construction paper shapes for the head and ears. Then, glue them on to the body.
- Next, draw detail for ears, mouth, and eyebrows with a black marker.
- Lastly, glue on googly eyes and a pom pom nose.
Voila – a polar bear with personality!
Arctic Animal Craft Templates
Yes, you can make these without a template, but it’s even easier with something to trace around. If you like, you can print on cardstock and use that directly on the craft.
More Arctic Animal Resources
If you’d like to add some arctic animal facts to your craft project, National Geographic Kids has a fun list of 10 facts about the arctic.
World Wildlife Fund’s website has an interesting post about polar bears that you could share with kids.
For older kids, the story of Baltimore the Snowy Owl and his GPS backpack is fascinating.
You can find some interesting facts and big bright photos of arctic foxes on the San Diego Zoo’s website.
You may also like the Arctic Animal Bingo and Polar Bear Emergent Readers in my store.
Happy learning, and happy crafting!
-Heather
