Paper Plate Lion Preschool Safari Craft

Make a quick & easy paper plate lion preschool safari craft with your little kids! Here’s a fun activity for encouraging both fine motor as well as creative thinking and problem solving skills. Don’t forget to add it to your next safari preschool monthly theme. You’ll definitely be glad that you did! 

paper plate lion crafts images with text: Paper Plate Lion Safari Craft for PreschoolersThe little guy and I had lots of fun making this quick & easy Paper Plate Lion Preschool Safari Craft. 

preschooler holding paper plate lion craft and smiling
A while back, we did an entire month of safari crafts & activities. If you’re interested, you can find all of those posts here. We both really enjoyed it and thought it would be fun to learn even more! 

We put together a safari sensory habitat, designed bead crafts, created migration art, and even made our own beetle structures. 

Needless to say, it was great month and we were both really sad to see it come to an end. 

That’s one of our favorite things about homeschooling. We can follow our interests. We’re not limited to just what’s in the textbook.

And you know what? It’s a great feeling to be able to totally do our own thing and revisit our favorite themes over and over again. 

paper plate lion safari craft
We’ve explored so many cool topics in the last few years and it doesn’t look like we’ll be slowing down anytime soon!

This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if an item is purchased through one of these links.  For more information, see my disclosures here.

Can your preschoolers roar like a lion? Mine for sure can! And let me just tell you, he’s all about it too. 

This craft is a great way to encourage both fine motor as well as creative thinking and problem-solving skills. There’s lots of cutting too. My preschooler loves cutting and I’m willing to bet that yours will too. 

Are you ready to join us on a safari?

More Safari Activities for Little Kids: 

Preschool Safari Sensory Beetle Structures
Make A Paper Bag Puppet Lion Craft for Kids
Preschool Safari Theme Activities Sensory Habitat
Preschool Safari Activities Migration Invitation to Create Process Art Experience
Preschool Safari Crafts Beads Activities for Little Kids

Paper Plate Lion Preschool Safari Craft

What you’ll need

  • Paper Plate
  • Scissors
  • Patterned Paper Scraps
  • Glue
  • Paint and/or Markers
  • Wiggle Eyes

Here’s how to do it

Paint the paper plate to make the lions face. We used a combination of yellow and orange, but you can of course make your lion whatever color you’d like. 

preschooler painting paper plate with orange paint stick
Cut the patterned paper scraps into strips for the lion’s mane and use glue to attach each strip around the edge of the paper plate.

preschooler attaching patterned paper to edge of paper plate to make mane
Our patterned paper strips were cut randomly by hand and were 2-3 inches long. The little guy and I did this step together, but you could also let your little kids do it on their own. 

preschooler squeezing glue onto paper plate
We alternated the patterned paper scraps as we worked our way around the paper plate and if you’re intentional about it, it would be a great way to work on patterns with your preschooler. 

preschooler adding patterned paper around edge of paper plate to make mane
If you don’t have patterned paper scraps, you could use construction paper in a few different colors or even paint a few sheets of paper and cut strips from those. 

preschooler gluing orange and yellow patterned paper strips around edges of paper plate to create mane
Next, attach the wiggle eyes using a few small dots of glue.   

preschooler adding wiggle eyes to paper plate lion craft
You’ll of course want to draw a nose and mouth on your lion.

preschooler's paper plate lion craft with mane and eyes
We added whiskers too. And don’t forget to give your lion a name. 

preschooler drawing nose and mouth on paper plate lion craft
That’s it! A quick & easy paper plate lion preschool safari craft that both you and your little kids are sure to love!  

We found 10 Roarsome Lion Facts! What a great way to complement our safari lesson! Did you know that a group of lions is called a pride or that even though the lion is called “the king of the jungle,” they actually live in the savannah or grasslands?  

Needless to say, we got creative and obviously learned a lot. Not surprising, though. 

Don’t forget to stop by next week if you’re interested in seeing more of what we’re up to with our A to Zoo Animals theme. And if you missed this year’s preschool homeschool space post, you can check it out here.

Looking for more insight & inspiration? Here are the top 10 most popular posts from The Keeper of the Memories. You’re definitely not going to want to miss these.

paper plate lion crafts images with text: Quick & Easy Paper Plate Lion Safari Craft