Turn basic shapes into something familiar and fun with this crayon shape craft. Making an adorable crayon from rectangles, triangles, circles, and ovals gives children ages 4-7 a hands-on way to practice shape recognition and explore geometry. The project takes about 20 minutes to complete and includes a free template that makes preparation simple for parents and teachers.

After finishing this project, be sure to look through even more of our back to school crafts. Make the transition back to school both enjoyable and educational with any of these fun activities!

Collage of colorful completed crayon shape crafts with step by step assembly photos for a back to school color recognition activity.

Good To Know

Themes: Back to school, Crayons, Colors, Shapes
Activity: Build a crayon character using rectangles, triangles, ovals, and circles Template: Includes a printable crayon shape craft template
Ages: Preschool through kindergarten
Time: 15–20 minutes
Skills: Shape recognition, color recognition, cutting, gluing, visual matching, and fine motor practice

Back To School Shape Activity

Bright ideas will start to take shape in this fun crayon shape craft! Kids will assemble different shapes to create a colorful crayon and learn how they work together. This engaging shape learning activity combines art and early math concepts for a fun addition to back to school lessons, classroom centers, or afternoon creative time at home.

This activity makes it easy for children to see how basic shapes become a recognizable object. Then when they cut and glue the shapes together, that helps strengthen fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and visual discrimination.

Our printable crayon template helps make setup quick and stress free. Grab construction paper, scissors, and glue to bring this project to life. This back to school craft combines creativity and learning to give kids a colorful way to practice shapes!

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Supplies

Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Crayon Shape Template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)

Directions

Start by printing the template, then gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this crayon to life!

Hands holding the printable crayon shape craft template with labeled cut out pieces.

Look for the eye pieces and glue them onto the wrapper, just below the eyebrows. It’s a great chance to talk about how changing the eyes can make the crayon look happy and full of personality.

Hands pressing the eye onto the crayon shape craft while holding the body steady.

Take the rectangular top of crayon piece and glue it across the top of the wrapper. Help your child line it up evenly to make the top of the crayon nice and neat.

Hands placing the crayon wrapper band across the top of the crayon shape craft above the face.

Glue the triangular tip piece behind the top of the wrapper and glue it in place. Watching the pointed tip appear makes the crayon really start to come together.

Hands sliding the crayon tip into the top of the crayon shape craft while holding the face in place.

Finish the crayon by gluing the rectangular bottom of crayon piece to the bottom of the wrapper.

Hands holding the completed crayon shape craft while sliding the bottom piece to reveal the hidden color.

This cheerful crayon craft is an easy way to encourage creativity, color recognition, shape recognition, and hands on learning all in one simple activity.

While you’re here, take a look at the related crafts and printable activities below to build a complete back to school theme for home or the classroom.

Hands holding the completed green crayon shape craft with a yellow crayon shape craft in the background.

Library Pairing: Read The Day the Crayons Quit or Harold and the Purple Crayon before the craft.
Color Recognition: Ask children to name objects that match their crayon color.

Back To School Books for Children

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates – This silly book is about a dinosaur named Penelope who is starting school and just can’t resist eating her classmates! Kids will love the fun drawings and crazy antics of Penelope, while also learning that being mistreated is never fun.

Chairs On Strike – The chairs have had enough of all the crazy things the kids do to them so they go on strike! This story helps kids learn to take care of their property and has lots of fun and silly humor.

Daniel Goes To School – If you have a little one who’s starting preschool or kindergarten and is reluctant to be away from you, this book is perfect for them! Daniel Tiger learns “grown-ups come back” at the end of every school day. We love this cute book!

A completed red and blue crayon shape crafts with smiling faces displayed side by side.

School Themed Crafts

Back To School Backpack Craft – Send kids back to school with this cute paper backpack! Children will assemble a colorful backpack to practice fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and creative thinking. Grab the free template and have kids pack their imaginations for a school themed activity that’s full of color.

School Bus Name Craft – Hop aboard a fun learning ride with this personalized school bus! Kids will enjoy making a bright yellow bus and practice letter recognition, spelling their name, and fine motor skills at the same time. It’s a creative way to celebrate the back-to-school season and build early literacy skills.

Pencil Shape Craft – Turn simple shapes into a big pencil to learn basic geometry! Kids will have fun arranging and assembling the pieces to explore geometry concepts in a hands-on way. Cutting, gluing, and placing the shapes will also help strengthen fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and spatial awareness.

Glue Bottle Craft – Add a little creativity to back-to-school season with this fun glue bottle DIY! Kids will enjoy assembling the pieces to create a smiling school supply friend. This hands-on activity helps build fine motor skills and creativity, so it’s a fun addition to the classroom, homeschool lessons, or afternoon art time.

Classroom Learning Printables

Ring in the new school year with some coloring fun using these back to school color by numbers! Kids will match numbers and colors to reveal 8 different school themed pictures.

While they’re coloring, they’ll be able to practice number recognition, colors, and following directions. These engaging pages also help strengthen fine motor skills, concentration, and hand-eye coordination without kids even knowing they’re learning.

collage image of Classroom Learning Printables

Let the cutting practice begin to sharpen those scissor skills! These back to school scissor skills worksheets will have kids cut along a variety of lines, paths, and school themed designs to build confidence with scissors.

Children will navigate straight, curved, zigzag, and more challenging lines on every page. They’ll strengthen fine motor skills, hand strength, bilateral coordination, and focus to help prepare little ones for tasks in the classroom.

Hands holding the completed orange crayon shape craft with a smiling face.

Pack some learning fun into the school day with these back to school activity sheets! Kids will match shadows, solve a maze, connect related objects, and complete a count-and-graph activity featuring familiar classroom items.

These engaging pages will help build visual discrimination, early math skills, hand-eye coordination, and critical thinking. Parents and teachers can use this low-prep resource to keep students focused, practicing important skills, and excited about learning.

Slide these back to school worksheets into morning work, classroom centers, homeschool lessons, quiet time, or the first weeks of school when kids are settling into new routines. Children will practice handwriting, letter recognition, pattern skills, and problem solving through fun school themed activities.

These printable pages are also great for reviewing skills after summer break, keeping kids engaged while helping them build confidence and prepare for a successful school year.

Did you make this activity with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!

For a chance to have your child’s project featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

Free Crayon Shape Template

Illustration of red-handled scissors next to the text "Click here to get your freebie" on a blue background, with a green button below that says "Grab it here."

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