Waddling ducks come out to play when spring arrives, so we were inspired to make this duck paper plate craft. Kids will make a feathered friend by painting a plate and adding touches from our printable template.

Drying time brings the project to about 45 minutes, or you could use a brown party plate to shorten the activity to about 25 minutes. This activity is also is a fun way to practice using fine motor skills, creativity, and following directions.

Parents and teachers who enjoy this activity will want to explore our other paper plate crafts. Kids will love to see all the different ways a simple paper plate can be transformed.

Collage of completed duck paper plate craft with green head, brown body, and orange feet for easy kids craft idea

Easy Pond Animal Craft For Kids

Your little artists will have fun creating a duck when they paint a plate brown. Then once the paint dries, they’ll add the pieces from our duck template to form an adorable mallard duck that looks ready to paddle across a pond.

This duck craft for kids encourages them to use their imagination and strengthen hand control, scissor skills, and focus. Activities like this can also help children practice following steps in order and express ideas through art.

A quick print of the duck template, a paper plate, and a few basic supplies are all it takes to begin. The instructions below will guide you through the steps so kids can turn a simple plate into a little ducky that they will be excited to show off.

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Supplies

Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Paper Plate
Paint
Brush
Duck Paper Plate 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 duck to life!

Hands holding a printable duck paper plate craft template with cut out shapes for head, eyes, beak, and feathers for kids craft activity

Using a paintbrush, help your child paint the paper plate. Don’t worry about making it perfect. Those brush strokes add fun texture and make each duck unique. Set it aside to dry.

Hands painting a paper plate brown with a brush for duck paper plate craft base step for kids craft activity

Once your plate is dry, grab the paper plate body template and use it as a guide to trace a curved line across the lower part of the plate with a pencil. Then carefully cut along the line to shape the body.

Hands tracing a curved line on a painted paper plate with a pencil for duck paper plate craft step for kids activity

Take the green head piece and glue one eye just below the left eyebrow.

Hands gluing a googly eye onto a green duck cutout for paper plate duck craft step for kids activity

Glue the yellow beak onto the left side of the head, just below the eye.

Hands gluing a yellow beak onto a green duck cutout for paper plate duck craft step for kids activity

Find the larger eye and glue it below the right eyebrow.

Hands gluing a large eye onto a green duck head cutout for paper plate duck craft step for kids activity

Glue the pink cheek onto the duck’s head, below the right eye. This sweet detail really brings out your duck’s charm.

Hands gluing a pink cheek onto a green duck head cutout for paper plate duck craft step for kids activity

Take the brown wing piece and glue it right onto the center of the paper plate. This adds dimension and makes your duck look more realistic.

Hands gluing a brown wing onto a painted paper plate for duck paper plate craft step for kids activity

Glue the tail feathers onto the right edge of the plate. You can angle them slightly for a fun look or keep them straight. Either way looks great!

Hands gluing a duck head cutout onto a painted paper plate body for duck paper plate craft step for kids activity

Grab the orange feet and glue them along the bottom edge of the plate so they stick out underneath. This gives your duck that standing look.

Hands gluing orange duck feet onto a painted paper plate body for duck paper plate craft step for kids activity

Lastly, glue the head onto the left side of the paper plate, lining it up with the small curved edge of the plate. Hold it in place for a few seconds so it sticks well.

Hands gluing a green duck head onto a paper plate duck body to complete a duck paper plate craft for kids activity

Take a step back and admire your child’s adorable creation! Don’t forget to scroll down for more related crafts and ideas to create a full theme!

Hands holding a completed duck paper plate craft with green head brown body and orange feet for kids craft activity

Spring Books for Children

Ten Little Ladybugs – This cute book is not only fun to read, but also fun to touch! Kids will want to read this book day after day and it helps them learn to count.

Planting a Rainbow – Kids will have a blast learning about colors and flowers in this colorful and engaging book!

Bee – This peek-through picture book is a fun bedtime book for kids! It’s short and keeps the kids’ attention span.

A completed duck paper plate craft with green head brown body and orange feet for easy kids craft idea

Pond Animal Crafts for Kids

Frog Name Craft – Hop into a fun spring activity by helping kids create a frog surrounded by lily pads that spell out their name. They’ll practice letter recognition and build confidence spelling their name while arranging the lily pads. This project has children make something cute and personal that will look adorable on display all season.

3D Dragonfly Craft – This dragonfly will look like it’s about to fly off into the sunset! Kids will paint a background of a glowing sunset, then create a dragonfly by rolling and gluing paper to the scene. They’ll work on lots of essential skills and show off their artistic skills too!

collage image of Pond Animal Crafts for Kids

Handprint Swan Craft – Kids will love turning their handprints into swan feathers in this sweet activity. A graceful swan begins to take shape as little hands trace and arrange their handprints. This personalized project has children create a keepsake they’ll be proud to share.

Duck Headband Craft – Little ones will love waddling into playing pretend with this fun duck headband. Kids will cut out and assemble their duck hat, then slip it on for quacking adventures fueled by their big imaginations. Your silly little ducks will enjoy this fun activity this spring!

Easy Spring Printables for Classroom & At-Home Learning

Hop into learning fun with these frog worksheets for preschoolers. Little ones will leap through activities like tracing the letter F, guiding a frog through a letter maze, and labeling a frog. These playful pages help build fine motor skills and letter recognition while exploring F for fantastic frogs. Print the worksheets and let kids jump into a bit of learning fun at home or in the classroom.

collage image of Spring Printables for Classroom

These butterfly dot to dot worksheets will have children connect the numbers to reveal sweet butterflies, then add color to bring the pictures to life. Three different designs give kids a variety of options to color and build number recognition, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills. Soon their finished butterflies will be ready to spread their colorful wings on display.

A completed duck paper plate craft with green head brown body and orange feet next to scissors glue sticks and colorful paper for kids craft idea

Buzz on over to check out these bee color by number printables. There are four sweet scenes, including a bee with a jar of honey, a bee on a tree branch, a laughing bee, and a bee with a flower. Your little artists will match numbers to colors to make the busy bees slowly appear. Kids will practice number recognition, following directions, and focus while creating colorful, happy pictures.

Springtime fun and learning come together with these spring dot marker printables. Kids will tap their bingo daubers to fill in pictures like a flower, rain boot, sun, watering can, and more. These engaging pages also include handwriting practice, so children will also increase their vocabulary, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills while creating cute spring scenes.

More Spring Activities

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 Duck Paper Plate 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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