What’s big, yellowish, furry, and endlessly fascinating to kids? A lion, of course. These huge cats engage and entertain young kids. From circuses and zoos to jungles and beyond, lions show up in many stories, activities, and habitat lessons.
It doesn’t take much to spark interest in lions, so give kids a roaring good time with one or more of the crafts below. We’ve listed some of the best lion crafts for preschool options so you can easily see and decide which is best for you and your child(ren).
Wildly Engaging Preschool Lion Crafts
No matter what you’re looking for, if you need a lion craft for your child, there’s one on the list for you. Choose from lion masks, leaves, hand and footprints, and even pasta! Tie these into an Africa, zoo, jungle, or animal theme to enhance your lesson plans.
Make a lion mask to help kids pretend or deal with social situations. It’s sometimes easier to interact when you are pretending to be a big, bold lion. This mask is easy and quick to make and is the perfect addition to a lion story or just for pretend play.
Start with a paper plate and carefully cut out the center, ensuring enough room for your child’s face to fit. This step should be done by an adult. Either cut ½-inch by 3-inch strips of paper in brown, yellow, orange, or, depending on your child’s cutting skills, this can be done by them. You will need many strips since they will overlap along the entire surface of the plate.
Glue strips to the inside edge of the plate to the outside edge, leaving the center hole unobstructed. Overlap the strips so the mane is full and colorful. Have your child use a crayon, pencil, or marker to roll the outer half of each strip so they curl toward the center. This can take time, so give your child a break, if necessary. The child can now hold the mask up to their face or you can attach strings to tie together to hold the mask in place. For more details and info, check out FantasticFunAndLearning.
Materials:
- Large white paper plate
- Orange, yellow, and brown construction paper
- Glue
- Scissors
- Pencil, crayon, or marker for rolling
- String (optional)
This mess-free craft comes from IHeartCraftyThings and is quick and easy to do. Grab an inexpensive wooden spoon and cut a circle from a sheet of yellow cardstock for the lion’s head. The size will be somewhat dependent upon the size of your spoon. The one in the example is 3-1/4 inches in diameter. Use a round object to trace around to make this easier.
Place the spoon face down on the circle to determine placement and mark the sides of the spoon as a guide to where you will need to cut for the spoon to slide into. Cut the slit for the spoon and make small cuts all along the edges of the circle, bending some forward to make it look more like a lion’s mane. Glue googly eyes and add a nose, mouth, and whiskers to the back of the spoon using markers. Finally, slide your spoon into the slit and add glue to the front edges of the spoon to adhere to the circle. Now you have a great little puppet for pretend play or to use when telling or retelling stories.
Materials:
- Wooden spoon
- Yellow cardstock
- Glue
- Scissors
- Markers
- Googly eyes
This craft is inspired by the Lion King movie but is great for any lion-themed lesson. The cool thing about this craft is that both you and your child are part of it and it uses handprints so is an excellent keepsake, as well.
Paint both your hand and your child’s hand with yellow paint and press each painted hand to a sheet of white paper, leaving room to add detail to each lion without overlapping. Grab some markers and add any details you desire such as faces, claws, etc. You can draw eyes as well or use googly eyes.
Cut some tiny strips of colored paper and use these as fur for their tails and manes. That’s all there is to it. You can frame this and display it anywhere. For further ideas and instructions, check out BuggyandBuddy.
Materials:
- Colored and white construction paper
- Scissors
- Markers
- Yellow tempura paint
- Paintbrush
- Glue
Create an adorable lion with basic supplies! All you need to get started is some yellow paper. Cut a full sheet of yellow paper in half. Fold each half sheet back and forth on the long edge until you have 2 “fans”. Glue one edge of each fan to the other. Now fold the whole thing in half.
Tie a string around the middle, then spread the fan out. You should now have a circle Rosette. Draw a lion’s face on another sheet of yellow paper (a different shade if possible to make it stand out.) Glue the face to one side of the Rosette and draw details such as a nose, mouth, and whiskers. Add googly eyes or draw eyes on the face, as well. Your lion is now complete. Use this craft from EasyPeasyAndFun for pretend play or as decorations for any lion-themed event or party.
Materials:
- Yellow construction paper (2 shades)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Googly eyes
- Markers
It doesn’t get easier than this nature craft from EasyPeasyAndFun. This craft is best done in the fall when leaves are falling and are beautiful reds, yellow, and oranges. Head outside and have your child gather as many leaves as they can carry. Be sure the leaves are clean and dry (wash and then allow to dry on weighted newspaper.) Next, print the included template on heavy printer paper (preferred). Color the lion’s head whatever colors you desire. Cut out the colored lion (younger children may need help with this step).
Use the single lion head template or a blank sheet of white paper to begin adding leaves to. Overlap the leaves and ensure all white is covered around where the head will go. Drizzle glue in a circle to help kids easily place the leaves. Once all leaves are secured, add glue to the back of the colored lion head and press it onto the middle of the leaves. Allow the glue to fully dry before displaying. Use as a decoration for fall or as part of an animal unit.
Materials:
- Printed template(s)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Lots of red, yellow, and orange leaves
- Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
Use a fork to create a unique craft that will delight kids and help them hone their fine motor skills at the same time. Use a yellow or orange sheet of paper and trace a can to make a circle in the middle of the paper. For more details and pictures, visit CraftyMorning.
Next, dip a fork in orange and yellow paint and use the fork tines to create a mane around the lion’s face. Overlap the fork marks and keep dipping as necessary. Use paint or markers to draw a face inside the circle and your creation is complete. Easy peasy!
Materials:
- Orange or yellow paper
- Orange and yellow paint
- A plastic fork
- Markers or paint for the lion’s face
Want an adorable craft your child will love making and you’ll keep forever? This adorable footprint lion is a perfect choice. Paint the bottom of your child’s feet with brown paint and “stamp” them on a sheet of white paper. Once the feet are dry, use a fork dipped in yellow paint to add a mane around the footprints, swiping the fork from the footprint outward.
Add googly eyes and draw a nose, mouth, and whiskers with a marker. There’s no wrong way to do this. No matter how neat or messy the lion turns out, this craft from EmmaOwl is still adorable and will become a treasured keepsake.
Materials:
- White paper
- Brown and yellow paint
- Paintbrush
- Plastic fork
- Markers
- Googly eyes
The template provided on ThatKidsCraftSite makes this craft easy even for the youngest kids. Start by printing out the template and tracing the pieces onto the appropriate colored paper. Cut each piece out and glue the lion’s face inside the mane. Glue the paws and feet together and the end of the tail into its place.
Next, draw the face onto the lion with markers. Cover the entire toilet paper roll in yellow paper and tape or glue it into place. Glue on the stomach, feet, head, arms, and tail to their designated locations. See the pictures for accurate placement. When the glue is dry, you’re ready to play with your lion. This is great for storytelling, pretend play, or as part of a circus unit.
Materials:
- Yellow, light yellow, and orange construction paper
- Toilet paper roll
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pencil
- Markers (orange, brown, and black)
This pasta lion is fun to make and oh so adorable! Cut a circle and two semicircles out of a piece of orange felt, cardstock, or construction paper. Glue the circle to the center of the paper and attach the semicircles at the top for ears. Set mini bow-tie noodles around the lion’s head and color every other one orange using a marker.
Glue the noodles around the head alternating colored and plain pasta. Glue some straight spaghetti noodles on as whiskers. Draw a face and add googly eyes to the lion’s face and your masterpiece is complete! Check out CraftyMorning for more details and pictures.
Materials:
- Mini bow-tie pasta noodles
- Straight spaghetti noodles
- Yellow and white paper or felt
- Orange and black paint or markers
- Googly eyes
- Glue
- Scissors
Let your child make a lion friend to play with using a foam cup. Start by having them paint the entire cup yellow. Allow to fully dry. Give the child orange yarn strands to glue to the front of the cup in a mane pattern. Use tacky glue to secure the yarn, as this works better than school glue.
Cut 2 ears out of the yellow cardstock. Fold the end and glue it to the top sides of the cup. Glue googly eyes to the front of the cup and draw a mouth, whiskers, and a nose below the eyes to complete your lion. Now you’re ready to play! Check out this adorable craft found on IHeartCraftyThings for more information.
Materials:
- Foam cup
- Yellow paint
- Tacky glue
- Scissors
- Yellow cardstock
- Scissors
- Orange yarn
- Markers
Conclusion
Lions appear in stories, zoos, animal units, jungles, and more! And these crafts are perfect for adding to anywhere you need them or even just as a quick activity. With the variety of crafts featured above, you’ll surely find at least one that will work for your preschooler.
Some are great for pretend play and most give kids practice with vital fine motor skills. Use these for decorations, for storytelling, or to enhance any daily plan. Thanks for popping in and checking out these preschool crafts.
More preschool crafts you might also like:
