Christmas Gnome Paper Plate Craft for Preschoolers
Inside: Gnome Craft for Preschoolers Learn how to make a perfect for the season adorable little Christmas Gnome craft out of things you have around the house right now.
Tis the season for all things merry and bright . . . and crafty! If you're looking for a fun and festive way to get into the holiday spirit with your littles, this is the craft for you!
Not only is this project easy and inexpensive to make, it's also really adorable, and a fun project.
My kids loved putting their own unique spin on these, and I loved seeing what they could create. These are perfect preschool classroom crafts, or if you stay home with your little, this one is a great craft to add to your winter decorations.
I love to put crafts on their windowsills or along their bookshelves in their rooms. This way kids can decorate their rooms for the holiday, and I'm not risking the lives of my favorite decorations.
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What You'll Need to Create This Paper Plate Festive Gnome
There are a few things you'll need, like a paper plate. But read through these instructions and let your (or your child's) creative heart tell you how to build this adorable little gnome.
- Paper Plate
- Red Felt
- White Construction Paper
- White Tissue paper
- Silver Glitter or Glitter Glue OR silver glitter ribbon
- Small piece of thin carboard
- Pom Poms
- Glue gun or double sided tape.
- Scissors
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Pin this Cute Winter Paper Plate Craft to Come Back to Later
This paper plate craft for toddlers is a great activity to do when you're stuck inside on a snowy day, or when you freshly pull out of all those fun Christmas decorations that your children desperately want to play with –and accidentally wreck??– but you aren't quite ready to create gingerbread play dough just yet . . . maybe next week, eh?
This is the perfect time to make a little Christmas gnome they can play with all they want. If they wreck it, it's easy to fix!
My favorite part is that you can make it as unique to your child as you want. This is all just a way to spark that creativity.
Some ideas for changing things up is adding a pompom for the nose, or hands to hold a candy cane.
Or maybe make his whole outfit a candy cane, with red and white stripes.
Make him green and decorate him like a Christmas tree. I LOVE CHRISTMAS TREE CRAFTS.
Try fuzzy pipe cleaners to put a star on the tip of his hat. Who is going to stop you??
The cool thing about creating these crafts is you can literally do anything you want!
Give them free rein to be creative! Let them choose their favorite colors and decorations. Once everything is glued down, they can proudly display their masterpiece on the mantle, or along the windowsills.
My favorite decorations are the ones my kids made. The cool thing about these little crafts is you can make them every year if you want. They're super easy.
And I LOVE decorating their rooms every season with the crafts that they created.
Paper Plate Christmas Gnome Tutorial Step by Step Guide
If you'd like a printable version, scroll to the bottom!
The first step in creating the cutest Christmas gnome is getting your paper plate to be a cone shape.
You want to cut out a triangle into your paper plate, like the one shown below.
You can allow kids to do this if you think they can! Draw where you want them to cut, and give them scissors. It doesn't have to be perfect!
Paper plates can be difficult to cut, so remember this when allowing children to cut out the pieces. Their little hands might tire quickly, and you'll need to jump in.
From here, you're going to attach the two sides together. I recommend overlapping quite a bit to get the best cone shape.
I like to judge how much overlap I need by the hole in the middle. If there is still a hole, then a tighten the overlap.
As soon as you're satisfied with how your cone looks, glue it down.
Now it's time to cover your cone with felt paper. I want my little dude to look like a little Santa, so I chose red. The felt part will be his body and his hat.
After you attach the felt, you'll twist the top of the cone to create a little hat. We will add a pompom at the end.
Cut a small strip of white paper, and add a line of glue, then add lots of silver glitter. If you have glitter glue, this could work too. OR if you have silver ribbon you can use that instead. This will be the brim of the gnome's hat.
Allow it to fully dry.
Now we will create the beard.
Cut a triangle from the tissue paper, if you don't have tissue paper you can swap out some white paper, heck, you can even use a paper towel if you have nothing else!
The important thing is it has to stretch from one side of the gnome to the other.
Now, you'll want to cut snips across the bottom to give him little beard hairs. I love using this opportunity for fine motor skills. Let them create little snips!
Cut a small oval out of thin cardboard (think a cereal box). This will be the nose!
Now, take all of the pieces we made, and put it together! Attach the beard first, use the pictures below to help you decide where to place it.
Then add the silver strip over the beard. You want it to look like the brim of their hat is over their eyes. This is what makes him really look like a gnome.
Then add the nose to the middle of the beard, below the brim of his hat.
He is lookin' so adorable now! Just one step left.
Attach pompoms to the bottom of the front of this craft as well as the tip of his hat.
And there you have it! You made a cute Christmas Paper Plate Gnome!
I'm all for letting kids go crazy with these crafts. So if it makes your life easier and your kids are old enough to be trusted with scissors (or you're understanding that you'll have a lot to clean up later!) let them take the reins, and decide how they want theirs to look.
Every gnome can be different!
Christmas Gnome Paper Plate Craft Tutorial PDF
Here is a great printable version if you'd like it!
Paper Plate Christmas Gnome Craft
This holiday season, add a little extra cheer to your home with this easy and festive paper plate Christmas gnome craft!
This project is perfect for kids of all ages, and only requires a few inexpensive supplies that you probably already have around the house.
So grab the kids, some glue and scissors, and let's get started!
Materials
- Paper Plate
- Red Felt
- White Construction Paper
- Silver Glitter (I use glitter glue)
- Small Piece of Cardboard
- Glue
- Pom Poms
- White Tissue Paper
Tools
- Glue (stick or white glue) and Glue Gun
- Scissors
Instructions
- Cut a triangle from the center of the paper plate out to the edge (it will look like pac man!)
- Connect and overlap the edges of the paper plate, forming a cone. Glue in place.
- Cover the cone with red felt paper, this is your gnomes body. Use hot glue to attach.
- Twist the upper part of the cone, to give it the look of a Christmas hat.
- Add a line of glue to a strip of white paper, then sprinkle heavily silver glitter. This will be the bottom edge of the hat. Allow to dry. If you are using glitter glue, you can use that instead of glitter.
- For the beard, cut a triangle from white tissue paper -- you can use any white paper you have for this though! This needs to be long enough to stretch from one side to the other on the gnome.
- Cut small snips into the beard, this is great fine motor skills for little hands! Cut strips along the bottom of the beard to give him beard hairs.
- Using the thin cardboard --like a cereal box-- cut out a small oval. This will be the nose!
- Now lets add everything to the red cone. Attach the beard first. Use the pictures to help you place things on your gnome if you aren't sure. Or do like I do, and just guess! Haha
- Attach the silver strip over the beard, and make it look like it's over his eyes, this is the classic gnome look. Then add the oval at the center of the silver strip.
- Use pom poms to create their little feet at the bottom of your cone, and to the very top of their hat.
Notes
Tips:
Be extra careful with scissors and hot glue around little hands. If it makes you more comfortable, feel free to use regular white glue. I also love using double sided tape, it makes the whole process much quicker and easier because you don't have to wait for glue to dry, or get your fingers sticky.
Let your creativity flow here! You are free to change colors. The choice is yours! I love seeing what my little's create after I show them the instructions, it's always fun and unique!
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