Paper Plate Brown Bear Craft
This easy Brown Bear paper plate craft is the perfect companion activity for teaching Bill Martin Jr.’s classic picture book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Simple supplies just a paper plate, brown construction paper, googly eyes, glue, 15-30 minutes of crafting, and you’ve got a hands-on preschool or kindergarten book activity that reinforces color recognition, fine motor skills, and early literacy. This is an easy paper plate craft perfect for back-to-school preschool classrooms, homeschool book units, or rainy-day activities at home.
Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle is one of those foundational preschool books that basically every early childhood educator has taught, and this paper plate craft is the companion activity my kids’ teachers have used across preschool and kindergarten.
The craft itself is genuinely simple, just a paper plate, some brown construction paper, googly eyes, and glue. It pairs perfectly with reading the book aloud and turning it into a hands-on learning moment. My kids have made these in preschool classrooms, in homeschool book units, and on random afternoons when we needed a quick 15-30 minute project. Every time it holds up as a genuinely engaging craft that reinforces the book’s themes.
A few practical tips from years of watching kids make this. Pre-cut the paper plate shapes for younger preschoolers who don’t have scissor skills yet, to keep the craft focused on assembly rather than getting frustrated with cutting. Have the book on hand so you can reference specific colors and animals as you go, this ties the craft directly back to what you just read together. And once your kids finish the brown bear, they’ll almost certainly want to make the other characters from the book, red bird, yellow duck, blue horse, and so on. Have extra paper plates on hand and let them run with it, this is where the craft becomes a whole afternoon of book-themed play. If you’ve got paper bags handy, include a Paper Bag Craft in your afternoon of fun!
Why You’ll Love This Activity
- Painting and glueing are great activities to help refine fine motor skills. If you have littles who need some motor skills practice, crafts are a great way to make that practice extra fun.
- This is a very affordable craft since many of these materials are staples for other crafts. You may have many things on hand already and others you can just re-use for different craft ideas!
- Pairing crafts with books makes reading exciting. There’s an artistic element added into the mix and it makes reading a book extra fun.
Supplies Needed
- 2 large white paper plates – One plate for the craft and another to hold the craft pain.
- Brown washable craft paint – Grab a bottle of affordable brown acrylic craft paint at your local hobby store or Walmart.
- Plastic fork – It is best to use a plastic fork so that you can just throw it in the trash when you’re finished and you won’t have to clean anything.
- Two large googly eyes – These can be found in the craft aisle at Walmart or at your local hobby store.
- Brown construction paper – You can also use brown cardstock!
- Small cup – Use a small cup to trace circle shapes that will become the ears and snout of your brown bear craft. If you don’t have a small cup on hand, you can free hand the circles.
- Pencil – Any writing utensil will work, but I prefer to use pencil when I’m making crafts.
- Black marker – If you are making this brown bear paper plate craft with younger children, I suggest using a washable black marker.
- Scissors – Safety scissors are always the best idea when you are making crafts with kiddos.
- Glue – You can use liquid glue or a glue stick, both will work. You can even use glue dots if that’s easier!
- Brown Bear Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. – This craft is based on this classic children’s book! It’s not essential for the craft, but I promise you’ll want to read it.
How To Make The Brown Bear Paper Plate Craft
Paint bear fur. Pour brown paint in the center of one of the white paper plates. Press a fork, curved side down, into the paint. Use this paint covered fork as a paint brush and press it down onto the other paper plate. Continue until the paper plate has brown paint all over it. Set it aside to dry.
Create ears. Place a cup onto a sheet of brown construction paper and trace two circles. Cut out the circles and then draw a circle in the middle of each. Color them in with the black marker to create the bears ears.
Create nose and mouth. Trace another circle and cut it out. Then use the black marker to draw a nose and mouth.
Glue ears, nose and eyes. Once the paper plate is dry, glue the ears to the top and the nose in the middle. Add the googly eyes.
Dry. Allow the glue to fully dry and then your brown bear paper plate craft is ready to go.
Pro Tips
- Lay down some craft paper or a disposable plastic table cloth before painting. This makes clean-up really easy and keeps your work space from getting splattered in paint.
- Feel free to customize this brown bear craft however you want. You can add some brown glitter, decorate with glitter glue, add stickers, pom poms, pipe cleaners, felt, craft foam and anything else you want.
- If you are making this craft with a large group of kids, give them some glue dots instead of regular glue. You’ll end up with less mess and the kids likely won’t need as much help as they would with a glue stick or liquid glue.
- Attach a large craft stick to the back to make a little brown bear puppet.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is perfect for preschool ages 3-5, kindergarten 5-6, and early elementary. Even younger toddlers can enjoy this activity with adult help.
The fun of the brown paint on a white plate is because it makes it kind of look like fur, especially when using a fork to paint. You can absolutely just use a brown plate if you need to save some time. Just keep in mind that you’re taking out a motor skills activity and that your paper plate bear craft may not look as “furry”.
Brown Bear Paper Plate Craft
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pour some brown paint into the center of one paper plate.
- Press the fork into the paint (curved side down). Press the fork with the brown paint onto the remaining paper plate to make the brown bear's head.
- Continue the step above around the paper plate until the paper plate has brown paint all around it and set the paper plate aside to dry.
- On the brown construction paper, trace the bottom of a cup two different times to make two different circles. These will be the brown bear’s ears.
- Cut out the two circles. Draw two circles in the ears and color them in black.
- Trace one more circle and cut the circle out. Using the black marker, draw a nose and mouth for the bear in this brown circle.
- Once the brown paint is dry, glue the ears to the top of the paper plate.
- Glue the googly eyes and nose and mouth onto the plate.
More Paper Plate Craft Ideas
- Make these adorable Paper Plate Penguins around the winter-time! They are a great cold day boredom buster when the kids are stuck inside.
- If you are learning about deep sea creatures, add in this adorable Paper Plate Octopus. There are so many fun colors to play with and creatures to create!
- Help littles feel involved in NYE celebrations by making this Paper Plate Fork Fireworks craft. Glitter and paint – what more could they ask for?
- If you’re got shark fans in your house, make this adorable Paper Plate Shark Craft! You need minimal supplies that you probably already have on hand.
