13 Preschool Arts and Crafts Using Paper Plates
Paper plates are the unsung hero of craft supplies. You bought them for a birthday party three years ago, and now they're sitting in your pantry waiting for their moment. Good news: that moment is now, and you can get at least thirteen different activities out of that stack.
The reason preschool arts and crafts so often start with paper plates isn't lack of creativity. It's because plates actually work. They're sturdy enough to hold up to paint, glue, and enthusiastic decorating. They have a built-in shape that makes projects look finished. And they cost almost nothing.
Everything on this list uses paper plates as the base, plus whatever random supplies you have lying around.
Why Paper Plates Work So Well
Paper plates solve the blank page problem. Kids who freeze when handed a piece of paper often dive right in when given a plate because the circular shape already suggests something: a face, a sun, an animal, a clock. The built-in structure makes starting easier.
These are the same daycare crafts teachers pull out week after week because they're cheap, fast, and produce results that actually look like something. A stack of paper plates is basically an entire craft curriculum.
1. Paper Plate Faces
The classic. Draw eyes, nose, mouth, add yarn hair, construction paper ears, googly eyes if you have them. Make silly faces, monster faces, self-portraits, family members.
Why it works: The plate is already face-shaped, so even minimal decorating produces a recognizable result. Kids can make these as simple or elaborate as their patience allows.
2. Paper Plate Animals
Cut a plate in half for a body, use another plate or plate piece for a head, add paper or felt features. Fish, lions, cats, pigs, birds. Most animals are basically circles with details.
Why it works: The round shape works for almost any creature, and adding distinctive features (mane, fins, ears) makes them identifiable. Kids can make a whole zoo if you have enough plates.
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3. Paper Plate Masks
Cut eye holes in a plate, let them decorate, attach a popsicle stick or elastic string. Now it's a toy they can play with for hours after the craft is done.
Why it works: Masks are functional crafts that lead directly into pretend play. The making is fun, and then the wearing is fun. Double the mileage from one activity.
4. Paper Plate Suncatcher
Cut the center out of a plate to create a ring. Cover the hole with contact paper sticky-side-out and let them stick tissue paper pieces inside the ring. Hang in a window.
Why it works: Toddler art projects that produce something displayable feel special. The light coming through the tissue paper makes colors glow, which is genuinely pretty. Kids want to look at something they made.
5. Paper Plate Clock
Write numbers around the edge of a plate (or have them do it if they're learning numbers). Attach paper hands with a brad in the center. Now you have a learning toy and a craft.
Why it works: The circular clock shape is inherent to the plate. This combines craft time with number practice, and the moving hands make it interactive afterward.
6. Paper Plate Wreath
Cut the center out of a plate to create a ring shape. Decorate with anything seasonal: tissue paper, paint, stickers, cotton balls, torn paper. Add a ribbon to hang.
Why it works: Wreaths look impressive and can be customized for any season or holiday. The ring shape guides the decorating, and the finished product can actually hang on a door.
7. Paper Plate Sun
Paint a plate yellow, add strips of yellow or orange paper around the edges for rays, draw a face in the center. Simple, cheerful, and immediately recognizable.
Why it works: Preschool arts and crafts that produce something identifiable build confidence. When a kid says "I made a sun!" and it actually looks like a sun, that's a win they remember.
8. Paper Plate Butterfly
Fold a plate in half for wings. Paint or decorate both sides with symmetrical patterns. Add a clothespin body in the middle and pipe cleaner antennae.
Why it works: The fold creates instant symmetry, which makes the butterfly look right even with random decorating. Adding the clothespin body turns flat art into something dimensional.
9. Paper Plate Pizza
Color or paint a plate to look like pizza. Add construction paper pepperoni, torn paper cheese, and any other toppings they want. Red-painted plate becomes the sauce base.
Why it works: Kids love food themes, and pizza is universally recognized. They can customize their own toppings, and the finished product can become a prop for pretend play.
10. Paper Plate Tambourine
Put two plates together (facing each other), staple most of the way around, add dried beans or rice inside, then staple closed. Decorate the outside. Now it makes noise.
Why it works: Musical instruments that kids make themselves are exciting. The shaking sound is satisfying, and they'll play with this for days after making it.
11. Paper Plate Flower
Cut slits from the outer edge toward the center to create petals. Fold petals up slightly for dimension. Paint or color, add a center from paper or pom pom, glue to a paper stem.
Why it works: Cutting the petals is an advanced step that older preschoolers enjoy, and the three-dimensional result looks impressive. Younger kids can skip the cutting and just decorate a flat flower.
12. Paper Plate Turtle
Use a plate upside-down as the shell. Paint and decorate it, then add head, legs, and tail from green paper underneath. The dome shape of the inverted plate becomes the shell naturally.
Why it works: Using the plate's natural curve adds dimension without complicated construction. The turtle shell pattern is forgiving, meaning any decorating looks appropriate.
13. Paper Plate Spider Web
Punch holes around the edge of a plate. Thread yarn through the holes in a web pattern (or let them thread randomly, which looks web-like anyway). Add a paper or plastic spider.
Why it works: Crafts with threading add fine motor practice. The web pattern emerges even from random threading, and adding a spider makes it a scene. Great for Halloween or any time they're into bugs.
The Bottom Line
Paper plates cost almost nothing and solve most of the problems that make crafts annoying: they're sturdy, they have built-in structure, and they make everything look more finished than blank paper would. Toddler arts and crafts don't need fancy supplies. They need supplies that work.
That stack in your pantry? That's like twenty activities waiting to happen.
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