31 easy paper craft ideas for kids to do at home [Must try]

What all activities can you do with paper? That too at home!

There are many and here’s a list of 31 easy paper craft ideas for your child and you to do.

Ready?

They are simple, quick, engaging, and more importantly, sure to tickle your little one’s curiosity.

Psst! You can recycle old newspapers, used A4 papers, used coloured papers, and much more!

31 easy paper craft ideas for your child and you

1) My Colourful Caterpillar

Time to make a caterpillar with different coloured papers! Cut circles and tear small pieces of the coloured papers and you’re set. Encourage your child to stick the circles and colour-match and paste the torn papers. Help them mimic the action of a caterpillar!

Skills enhanced: Colour sorting, Grip control, Hand-eye coordination

2) My Paper Tree

This activity can be as colourful as your child wants. Cut out thin strips of coloured papers and help your child roll them and stick them on an outline of the tree. This activity helps your child explore space within which they need to stick.

Skills enhanced: Fine Motor, Spatial inquiry, Creativity

3) Paper Bird

This paper folding craft is a wonderful way to introduce our flying friends. As your child and you fold to create a bird, you can about the different parts of the bird. Even try out different bird sounds.

Skills enhanced: Fine motor control, Concentration, Creativity

4) Ladybug Dangler

A dangler of colourful three-dimensional ladybugs sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Let’s cut circles out of coloured papers, paint to add the features, and string the ladybugs together. This simple paper craft idea can be used as a numeracy activity too!

Skills enhanced: Shape recognition, Spatial reasoning, Fine Motor

5) Little Birdie Nest

This paper craft activity requires some amount of preparation. It will definitely engage your little one’s curiosity for a long time. Both of you will get to create a nest and birds out of used crumpled pieces of coloured papers, newspapers, and also fallen leaves and sticks. Realistic nest for pretend birds!

Skills enhanced: Sensory, Fine motor, Imagination

6) My Paper Home

This easy paper craft idea uses an A4 sheet, colours, and a pair of scissors. Kids of any age will have fun creating this structure aka your paper home. Help your child create this and have fun. You can create just about any structure in the same manner.

Skills enhanced: Fine motor, Coordination, Concentration

7) Magical Tent

Here is a paper craft activity that’s sure to keep your child engaged for a long time. Encourage them to cut ot tear a few coloured papers into smaller pieces. Then, stick them on a folded sheet of chart paper! Place your child’s favourite toys and make tents of varied sizes.

Skills enhanced: Fine motor movement, Creativity, Concentration

8) Puppet Home

Here is an interesting colour-matching craft that your child would love to play with again and again. All you need are some coloured papers, paint, and ice cream sticks to start with. You can pretend play as well. How about building a story?

Skills enhanced: Colour recognition, Sensory, Logical inquiry

9) City Skyline

Are your child and you ready to create a cityscape? Reuse the newspapers, coloured papers, and a black chart. You will need paint too? Pick your cityscape and create one of your own. This activity can help you bond with your child — talk about your childhood or theirs!

Skills enhanced: Creativity, Sensory, Fine Motor

10) Fox Puppet

There is an animal hiding in the orange coloured paper. Which animal could it be? A fox, of course! Settle down with your child to create this craft and discuss this jungle animal. You can create many more similar jungle animals and pretend play.

Skills enhanced: Fine Motor, Imagination, Symbolic Play

11) Dino Paw

Psst, there could be a bigger dinosaur paw hidden in your house! Wait, what? Cut out a dinosaur paw of cardboard. Use coloured papers to make the paw(s) of your child’s favourite colours. Pretend play as a baby and parent dinosaurs!

Skills enhanced: Imagination, Sensory, Coordination

12) Colourful Sea Turtle

Time to dive into the ocean for a swim with a sea turtle! Create a weave pattern for the shell and make it as colourful as your little one wants. This craft can be a fascinating one. This can be used as a prop for pretend play as well.

Skills enhanced: Reasoning, Fine motor, Concentration

13) Paper Fish

This fun paper craft is about a colourful shoal of fish. Cut out strips of coloured papers and draw the features of the fish. Roll and snap to make fish of different colours. How about a pretend play?

Skills enhanced: Imagination, Fine motor, Creativity

14) Farm Animal Hats

Ready to step into the world of a farm. Just create and put on your animal hats. Then, make some animal sounds. Roll the coloured papers into cones and add features of different animals on the farm. You may also create animals, birds, and other creatures from the animal kingdom.

Skills enhanced: Spatial reasoning, Creativity, Pretend play

15) Paper Fish Aquarium

Fish here, fish there, fish in the aquarium, how do they swim? This engaging craft idea is sure to tickle your child’s creative brain as they assemble together an aquarium using coloured papers, paints, and an interesting paper folding technique

Skills enhanced: Imagination, Coordination, Concentration

16) My Shape Monster

Shape, shape, which shape monster do you want to make? This paper craft activity is sure to give your child a creative boost as they paint using cotton and use other tactile materials. Allow them to create monsters of any shape they want.

Skills enhanced: Shape recognition, Imagination, Creativity

17) Origami Fish

Time to fold paper into fish! Doesn’t it sound magical? You can reuse coloured papers or encourage your child to paint the used papers and then fold them into fish. This origami activity will keep your little one engaged for hours! You can create an underwater scape.

Skills enhanced: Fine Motor, Spatial Inquiry, Logical reasoning

18) My Big Bus

Wheels on the bus go round and round! Let’s make a big bus at home with some coloured paper and paint. Cut out and stick the body of the bus and windows. Dip and stamp using the paper tube to create the circle tyres for the bus. You are all set.

Skills enhanced: Cognitive, Coordination, Fine motor

19) My Aeroplane

Let’s fly up to the sky in our aeroplane! Let’s make a fun skyscape with paint, coloured papers, and lots of sticking. Create the sky using the sponge-painting technique and your child is all set. This simple paper craft is definitely engaging.

Skills enhanced: Sensory, Coordination, Grip control

20) Sail Decor

On the waves and through the waves, a boat sails across the sea! Create a fun sailing scape with coloured papers, paint, paper plate and set sail. This activity requires your child to try out different techniques such as cotton painting and paper folding.

Skills enhanced: Creativity, Fine Motor, Imagination

21) Rocket Car

Let’s zoom around in a fancy rocket car! Reuse coloured papers, paper tube, and cardboard sheet. Settle down for this project that will tickle your and your child’s curiosity.

Skills enhanced: Spatial reasoning, Cognitive, Fine motor

22) My Market Banner

Here is an easy paper craft idea that can add to your pretend play about shopping. Oh, it uses the vegetable stamping technique too. This activity allows your child to creatively express through paint and stamping. You can reuse used papers for this!

Skills enhanced: Coordination, Creativity, Concentration

23) Paper Currency Notes

Here is a fun math activity, which makes it easy to teach everyday transactions to your child. All you need are coloured papers, sketch pens, and you are set to pretend play. Give this a try and introduce your child to the use of currency.

Skills enhanced: Cognitive, Communication, Symbolic play

24) Pickle Jars

What can we store in a glass jar? Some pickles perhaps would be great! Your child and you can do some vegetable stamping to fill the jars. Cut out the jars and then stamp away.

Skills enhanced: Coordination, Spatial inquiry, Concentration

25) Little Florist

Let’s pretend play as a florist. How about making some flowers using this paper craft activity. The paper folding technique is quite fascinating for your child and you. What are the different colours of flowers?

Skill enhanced: Fine Motor, Creativity, Symbolic Play

26) Veggie Puppets

Are you ready for some vegetable puppet story? Let’s create this simple paper craft idea and create puppets using ice cream sticks. Choose the vegetables your child wants to create puppets of. This is a wonderful activity to help with fussy eating in your little one.

Skills enhanced: Fine motor, Imagination, Communication

27) 3D Paper Diya

Let’s add some light decor to the living room with this simple paper lantern activity. Cut the flames and diyas out of your child’s favourite colours. Settle down to create 3D diyas and string them together.

Skills enhanced: Spatial inquiry, Coordination, Concentration

28) Pleated Umbrella

U for an umbrella! Get ready to create an umbrella out of coloured paper. But here are the fun parts — your child and you create patterns using paint on the coloured paper and then, pleat it to create it! Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

Skills enhanced: Fine Motor, Concentration, Creativity

29) Balloon Elephant Card

This fun card is sure to tickle some funnybones. Create a card using some chart paper, coloured paper, and a balloon. You can make this into a fun holiday card or a thank you card!

Skills enhanced: Spatial reasoning, Creativity, Grip control

30) Children’s Day Greeting Card

Time to make a greeting for your child along with them! Cut out different colour sheets of paper into different shapes and glue them to create a card especially for them. It could be about the activities your like. And yes, you can doodle too!

Skills enhanced: Fine Motor, Creativity, Imagination

31) My Stamp

This super simple paper craft activity has all the right elements — painting, doodling, and craft! Create a sample as big as you want and introduce your child to how stamps are used.

Skills enhanced: Fine motor, Creativity, Sensory

Conclusion

Paper crafts are fun, easy, and definitely enhance your child’s overall skill development.

Such do-it-yourself or DIY activities include different techniques — such as paper folding, painting, weaving, etc. — which also introduce them to complex patterns.

Let us know which easy paper craft activities your child liked to do!