These paper animal sculptures have the simplest supply list and so many possibilities for creativity!
Supplies for making paper animal sculptures….
These three dimensional stand up animal sculptures require so little! All you need is heavy paper or card stock, scissors, and markers, paint, or stickers if you choose to use them for decorating your animal sculptures!
Do not substitute drawing paper or copy weight paper for the card stock. It will not be sturdy enough to stand up. Card stock is the way to go here!
Start your animal sculpture by folding….
Start with a rectangle of paper. We used a half sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper as the largest size. Smaller sized paper will make sturdier paper animal sculpture!
Fold the rectangle in half.
Creating guidelines….
Draw one arc, near the bottom of your paper, that starts at the fold and goes to the bottom of the paper.
Draw two more arcs that begin a half inch away from the fold and curves down to the bottom. These will be the “legs” of the paper animal sculpture.
Cut through both layers of paper being sure to leave the second two arcs attached near the fold.
Unfold and cut the body of the animal sculpture….
Up until this point this paper animal sculpture is symmetrical, meaning one side is the mirror image of the other. Now that will change!
Unfold the paper and use scissors to freehand cut the body and head of an animal, real or imagined. Of course the animal can be lightly sketched instead of just drawing but I do love the spontaneity of freehand cutting!
Decorate your paper animal sculpture….
These simple paper animals sculptures are wonderful as is but are also the perfect invitation to add a little extra pattern and color.
I suggest providing a variety of simple materials like paint, marker, and even stickers like these adorable eyeball stickers we used!
Connect this easy paper sculpture experience….
Do you know who Alexander Calder is? He’s an American artist famous for a variety of colorful and playful artwork including monumental abstract sculptures that were the inspiration for these simple paper animal sculptures.
Be sure to check out these FREE Alexander Calder printable resources.
You’ll get….
- Alexander Calder quick fact sheet
- Alexander Calder artist study for kids
- Alexander Calder portrait coloring page
- Alexander Calder quote to color
Do you learn better by watching? Let’s make paper animals sculptures together!
