When the chill of winter sets in, keep your kids entertained with a fun activity! Whether you’re a parent looking to keep your kids occupied on a snowy day or a teacher planning a fun project during winter, your kids will love this penguin paper strip craft.
This is an easy and fun activity for kids to stay busy with that only needs a handful of common supplies. They’ll work on their fine motor skills and make a cute piece of art they’ll proudly display on the fridge!
Waddle on over to check out our collection of penguin activities your kids will enjoy this winter season!
Paper Penguin Craft

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Grab our free penguin template, gather a few supplies like paper, scissors, and glue, and you’ll be ready to start a fun afternoon with the kids. This activity keeps them engaged while sparking their creativity.
Supplies
- Colored cardstock or construction paper
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Markers
- Penguin template (unlock the image at the end of the post to go to the download page)
Directions
Start by downloading and printing the template. Once the template is printed, gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this penguin to life!

First, guide your child to glue the black paper strips to the background paper. This will be the penguin’s body, so glue as many on as your child wants. We used 7-8 strips.

Next, glue the head to the top portion of the paper strips.

Position the belly in the center of the body and glue it in place.

Glue the beak in the center of the face.

Now, help your child glue the feet to the bottom of the body.

Place the arms on the sides of the body and glue them down.

Finally, encourage your child to draw the cheeks below the eyes.

While you’re here, explore our Winter crafts. It’s filled with lots of fun and creative ideas!

Children’s Winter Ideas
This winter season, inspire creativity and keep little hands busy with fun and engaging activities! We’ve compiled a list of easy DIY projects, educational games, and cozy book suggestions to make the season exciting for kids.
These hands-on ideas are designed to inspire learning and play, all with a cute winter twist. Read on below to discover some of our favorites that will keep kids entertained and learning all season long!

Winter Animal Books For Kids
Here are some of the best winter animal books.
Polar Bear Island is a fun book for winter! Polar Bear Island is just that – only for polar bears! That is until Kirby the penguin comes to visit. She turns the place around and adds tons of interesting excitement, but will the polar bears let her stay? You have to check it out and see for yourself!
Tacky The Penguin– This is a great book for children to learn about acceptance and valuing others for exactly who they are.
Owl Babies– A sweet book that teaches kids that Mom always comes back! It’s especially great for children who may have separation anxiety.

Best Winter Crafts For Kids
Penguin Handprint – Turn tiny hands into waddling wonders with this fun project! Your little ones will be excited to see a frosty scene take shape using their handprint as the penguin. Grab our free template to make it super easy!
Related: Penguin Worksheets
Moving Snowman Paper Plate Craft—This hands-on activity will unleash a blizzard of creativity and imaginative play! Kids will design a snowy scene on a paper plate, complete with a snowman puppet that glides through the wintry wonderland.

Walrus Toilet Paper Roll Craft – Recycle a common item to make an adorable Arctic animal! Using our free template, kids will transform a humble toilet paper roll into a cute walrus. It’s a creative way to learn and play!
Polar Bear Headband Craft—Get ready for some bear-y exciting adventures! Kids will love making this polar bear headband in style as they roam the Arctic (or your living room). It’s the perfect blend of creativity and imaginative play!
Winter Themed Activities For Kids
These adorable penguin cutting activity printables are a fun way for kids of all ages to practice scissor skills. These free worksheets, which include four engaging activities designed to build coordination, confidence, and creativity, make learning fun!
Try this Snowman Shape Craft
They’ll cut along wavy lines, complete cute pictures, and count the penguins while staying focused and entertained. These printables are a win for essential skills and your penguin loving kiddos!

Let it snow… lots of fun and learning! These free snowman do a dot printables are perfect for little ones to practice fine motor skills, counting, and letter recognition, all while having a good time.
Use these engaging printables at home or in the classroom for a fantastic indoor activity that kids will want to do over and over again. Best of all, they sneak in some learning while your kiddos play! Print them out and start the snowy day fun!

Kids will have a paws-itively fun learning adventure with these free polar bear math worksheets! Each activity blends creativity with key skills, making learning an Arctic blast.
They’ll have fun and learn while finishing patterns, counting and graphing, comparing sizes, and spotting differences, all while strengthening critical thinking, focus, and fine motor skills. Great to print out for home or classroom use to turn math into a hands-on experience your little learners won’t want to miss!

This arctic animals cut and paste book is great for pre-readers and early readers to learn the basics of book handling, page turning, and left-to-right reading while also exploring adorable Arctic animals.
Kids will cut, paste, trace, and color their way to creating a unique book when they match animal names with pictures of the animals. It’s a creative and engaging way to build early literacy skills and celebrate the wonders of the Arctic!
Share With Us
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!
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Penguin Paper Strip Craft
Whether you’re a parent looking to keep your kids occupied on a snowy day or a teacher planning a fun project during winter, your kids will love this penguin paper strip craft.
Materials
- Colored cardstock or construction paper
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Markers
- Penguin template
Instructions
- Download the penguin template, print, and cut out the pieces you need.
- Begin by gluing the black paper strips into a tall rectangle on the background paper. This will be the penguin's body. We used 7-8 strips.
- Next, glue the head to the top portion of the paper strips.
- Position the belly in the center of the body and glue it in place.
- Glue the beak in the center of the face.
- Now, glue the feet to the bottom portion of the body.
- Place the arms on the sides of the body and glue them down.
- Finish off by drawing the cheeks below the eyes.

Sam is the crafter and founder of Simple Everyday Mom. She has been featured in Oprah Mag, Good Housekeeping, The Spruce Crafts, Country Living, The Bump and more. Read more.
Lee-Anne
Wednesday 5th of February 2025
It's absolutely a beautiful craft
Kamille - Community Support Assistant
Thursday 6th of February 2025
Really appreciate that!