6 Paper Plate Crafts for Kids to Make and Play With

A paper plate can become a toy as well as a decoration. These six paper plate crafts for kids ages 3–6 use crayons, paper scraps, tape, and glue sticks. Each one ends with a way to play, so the finished craft has somewhere to go beyond the refrigerator door.

Use clean, dry plates. Thin, uncoated paper plates are easiest to fold and color; a shiny coating may resist crayons or glue. An adult can handle cutting that is too difficult, while a child using age-appropriate scissors stays supervised. Draw faces instead of adding loose googly eyes, and skip staples and small fasteners.

Choose your project

For the fewest supplies, make the story wheel or pretend café plate. Choose the rocking boat if you have scrap paper and tape. The weather puppet and peekaboo house need adult cutting help. The turtle works best with a glue stick and a little drying time. Most projects can begin with a single plate.

1. A rocking paper plate boat

You need: one thin paper plate, a crayon, a triangle of paper, a broad strip of stiff paper, and tape. The adult can cut the triangle and strip ahead of time. Keep the mast short and wide so it will not make the boat top-heavy.

Step 1: Fold the plate in half with the blank surfaces facing out, then press the crease. Stand it on its curved edges with the fold at the top. Color the outside as the hull of your boat.

Step 2: Tape the paper triangle to the top of the broad paper strip to make a sail. Tape the bottom of the strip onto the outside face of the folded plate, near the center, so the sail rises above the fold. Use paper rather than a skewer or stick.

Step 3: Set the boat on a flat table and give one end a gentle tap. It should rock along its curved edge. If it falls sideways, shorten the mast or reduce the sail. If the plate opens too far, add a small piece of tape joining its two layers near an end.

Play afterward: draw an island on another sheet and tell a story about where the boat is going. The boat is a dry tabletop toy, not a water craft. Try a calmer sea with tiny taps and a windy sea with slightly larger ones.

2. A turn-and-tell story wheel

Draw four broad sections on a plate. Put one simple picture in each: an animal, a place, something to eat, and a type of weather. Rest the plate on the table, turn it with your hand, and stop with a finger pointing to a picture.

Start a story from that picture, turn again, and add the next idea. Younger children can name the picture or make its sound. Older children can draw all four pictures themselves. No rotating pin or second plate is needed. If drawing feels like a barrier, use simple marks and let your child explain what they mean.

3. A sunshine-and-cloud puppet

An adult cuts several broad paper triangles for sunshine rays. Help your child tape them around the back of a plate, then draw a sunny face on the front. On the back, draw a big cloud. Hold the plate by its edge and turn it over to change the weather.

Play afterward: ask a stuffed animal what it would do on each kind of day. Turn the plate slowly so little hands can keep hold. Skip handles and hanging strings; the puppet works as a handheld picture. If you only have one crayon, patterns and facial expressions can distinguish the two sides.

4. A paper plate turtle

Color a plate as a shell. An adult cuts four broad paper feet, a head, and a short tail. Arrange them underneath the rim before gluing them to the back. Press the joins and let them dry flat.

Play afterward: put the turtle on a paper path and move it toward a drawn pond. If the feet peel off, reinforce them with tape or use thicker paper. A younger child can choose where the feet go; an older child can make a second shell pattern and invent names for the turtles.

5. A pretend café order

Draw a plate of pretend food: circles for pancakes, a wavy line for noodles, or the meal your child invents. Make a menu on scrap paper using the same pictures. The customer points to an order and the cook brings the matching plate.

Use pictures directly on the plate rather than small detachable “food” pieces when younger siblings join. A child can scribble a meal and describe it; accurate food drawings are unnecessary. Extend the game with our role-play ideas for kids.

6. A peekaboo house

Draw a large house on a plate. An adult makes a three-sided door flap in the front plate, cutting on a protected surface away from children. Put a sheet of paper behind the opening and invite your child to draw a character where the door reveals it. Tape the paper to the back around the edges.

Play afterward: knock, open the flap, and let the character answer. Change the voice or ask what it wants to do next. If the plate is too stiff to cut safely, make the entire house on ordinary paper and glue it to the uncut plate instead. A folded paper door can be taped over the character.

Keep the craft manageable

Put out only the supplies for one project. Crayons and tape avoid paint drying time; a tray keeps scraps together. If a child wants to stop after coloring, that is a finished version too. Set aside adult-cut shapes in a large envelope for another day instead of insisting on completing every step.

For more reuse ideas, try cardboard tube crafts or our cardboard box activities. If making folds and peeling tape are the favorite parts, our fine motor activity guide has more playful options.

Have plates but different supplies? Photograph the materials you have and ask Brincaidea for another play idea that fits them.