Aardvark Paper Plate Craft
Let’s be real, no one wakes up thinking, “Today feels like an aardvark kind of day.” But here we are. And honestly? This aardvark paper plate craft is weirdly adorable. It's easy, it uses stuff you already have lying around, and it buys you, like, 20 minutes of quiet (or at least focused chaos). Win.
Whether you're doing a safari theme, need something for that “weird animals” unit, or just want to make something that’s not a dang bunny for once, this aardvark craft checks all the boxes.
Also? Googly eyes. Always a good time.
Materials Needed for This Aardvark Craft
- 1 paper plate
- Brown paint
- Paintbrush
- Brown construction paper
- Googly eyes
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Black marker
- Template
Out of brown construction paper? Use a paper bag and call it “earthy.” Missing googly eyes? Draw some. This is not the craft police, we’re here for fun.
How to Make the Aardvark Paper Plate Craft
Ready to get crafting? Find the instructions below!
Aardvark Paper Plate Craft
Make this adorable paper plate aardvark craft with your preschooler using simple supplies and our free printable template! A fun zoo animal activity to boost fine motor skills.
Materials
- 1 paper plate
- Brown paint
- Brown cardstock or construction paper
- Googly eyes
- Black marker
- Glue stick
- Template
Tools
- Scissors
- Paintbrush
Instructions
- Gather your supplies.
- Cut a paper plate in half. Paint one half brown and let it dry.
- Use the template to cut out the aardvark’s head, tail, legs, and from brown paper.
- Glue the head to one side of the painted plate and the tail to the other.
- Attach the four legs to the bottom of the plate.
- Cut out the aardvarks ears.
- Add the ears on top of the head.
- Glue on googly eyes.
- Use the marker to draw a smile, a nose, and black tips on the ears and feet.
- Show off your silly aardvark buddy and give it a name!
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Psst… Learning’s Totally Hiding in Here
Okay, real talk: this aardvark paper plate craft isn’t just glue and giggles. There’s actual learning tucked inside, like sneaky veggie-in-the-smoothie levels of learning. While your kid is happily sticking on googly eyes and painting everything within reach, their brain is quietly soaking up science, animal facts, and early geography. Sneaky and genius.
Here’s what you can casually drop into conversation without sounding like a textbook:
Aardvarks Are Nocturnal
Which means they sleep during the day and party all night. Kind of like newborns, but with less crying and more ant-eating.
Try asking:
“What other animals are awake at night? What would YOU do if you could only come out after bedtime?”
Turn off the lights and play flashlight tag with your new aardvark friend. Or let your kid pretend it’s nighttime and sneak around “looking for ants.” Bonus points if you make ant trails with paper dots from your craft scraps.
Ants Are the Main Course
Aardvarks don’t eat pizza or mac and cheese, they eat ants. Like… thousands of ants. Their long, sticky tongues can slurp up bugs faster than your kid can down a juice box.
Ask your kid:
“If you were an aardvark, what kind of snack would you hunt for?”
Make pretend “ant hills” with playdough or paper scraps and let your child feed their aardvark. It’s weird, it’s funny, and yep, it counts as pretend play.
They Live in Africa
Aardvarks call the savannas and forests of Africa home. Not the zoo, not the backyard, real wild habitats full of cool plants and animals your preschooler has probably never heard of.
This is a great time to pull out a globe or map and go exploring.
“Can you find Africa? What animals do you think live there with aardvarks?”
Let them imagine what it would be like to build a burrow in the hot, dry savanna. Would they need water? Would they hide from lions? What would they hear at night?
They’re Digging Machines
Aardvarks have strong claws and piggy-looking snouts that are perfect for digging tunnels. Their burrows can be deep and twisty, and sometimes other animals use them after the aardvark moves out, like a little animal Airbnb.
Build a blanket fort and call it a burrow. Or dig a mini burrow in the sandbox or garden (just… maybe not with your good spoons).
Let your kid pretend to be the aardvark, digging, sniffing, and hunting for ants. Yes, there will be snorting noises. Yes, you should join in.
So yeah, it may look like a wobbly paper plate animal with glue on its face, but it’s also sparking curiosity, creativity, motor skills, and early science understanding.
Not bad for a craft you whipped together between snack time and your third cup of coffee, huh?
And if your kid’s still in the zone, check out our other paper plate crafts to keep the creativity (and quiet time) rolling.
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