At a Glance
This Build a Puffin craft has preschool, kindergarten and other young learners cutting out the pieces and sticking them together to create their own adorable seabird, complete with a bright stripy beak. The hands-on activity strengthens scissor skills, fine motor control and concentration, while opening up some conversations about puffins and the coastal cliffs they call home. Color and black-and-white templates are both included in the pack!
This Build a Puffin Craft is perfect for those little learners who love ocean animals and bright, bold colours.
With their black and white feathers, bright orange beaks, and comical charm, puffins are often called the “clowns of the sea”!
Here’s a little fact about them: puffins can carry several fish in their beak at once – sometimes more than ten! They use their spiky tongues to hold the fish in place while diving for more. Pretty clever for such a cute little bird.
Whether you’re working on a seaside or ocean theme, an animal habitats unit, or just fancy a cheerful cut-and-paste craft, this printable project will bring a splash of coastal colour to your classroom or home.
This simple activity is great for developing your child’s cutting and sticking skills, and an awesome chance to practice some pencil control and fine motor skills as well!
And it’s brilliant for young children to use because it’s so simple for them to put together!
There’s a color and a plain template – so your little ones can choose the colors and decorate their perky puffy as they wish.
If you’re a teacher, this simple craft could also make an brilliant bird themed activity for the classroom!
Other cut and paste crafts you may want to check out:
Or you can browse all the other printable cut and paste crafts here.
What Skills Can Your Children Learn And Practice?
When making this cute little puffin, your children will have the chance to practice and develop some skills such as:
- Cutting Skills – if you feel they’re ready, you can let them have a go at cutting out the pieces all by themselves – they’ll need to be careful and have good scissor control if they want to cut out the pieces neatly
- Fine Motor Skills – when they’re sticking and picking up and moving the parts and placing them where they need to go
- Pencil Control – if you print off the black and white version they can practice their pencil control and develop hand strength through coloring.
This simple craft will also give them a chance to practice their concentration and perseverance skills as they may find it tricky to place the pieces exactly where they want them to go.
How To Prepare This Simple Seabird Craft
First you’re going to want to download the puffin templates by clicking on the download button at the bottom of the page – I’ve made a color and a black and white version.
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Other materials you’ll need:
- Safety scissors
- Card stock or Craft paper
- Some good glue
- Some coloring pencils or pens or other artsy materials
Once you’ve downloaded the templates, you’ll need to print them off onto paper or card.
Then, you can cut them out. Or if you’d like your children to get some cutting practice, you can let them have a go.
Then you can stick all the pieces together to make the puffin.
It can be really nice to let your kids have a bit of free rein here and see if they can work it out – kind of like a puzzle.
If they’re struggling, the order I’d do it in is:
- Stick on the eyes to the head
- Stick the beak to the head
- Stick on the belly feathers
- Stick the wings to the body
- Stick the legs on to the back of the body
(I expect you could have worked that out but I do like to be thorough…)
The finished one should look something like this:
If you want to, you could always laminate the pieces before putting them together and use them as a puzzle. That way, the different parts would be kept nice and they can use them again and again.
After that you’re all done!
Let your kids practice their cutting and sticking skills in a simple and fun way!
But Wait… There’s Also A Black And White Puffin Craft Template!
I’ve also made a black and white version which would be an awesome way for your little ones to practice their coloring skills and personalize their puffin in their own way!
So why not crack out the pens, crayons, paints or collage (or all of them if you’re feeling adventurous) and let your kids get creative!
Some Other Ways You Could Use This Paper Puffin Craft
Ocean Animal Board
Create a seaside scene with puffins, fish, and waves – a great tie-in for ocean week or Earth Day.
Science Unit on Birds
Compare puffins to other birds like penguins, seagulls, and eagles. Talk about what makes seabirds special.
Storytelling Prompt
Ask children to make up a short tale: Where is your puffin flying today? or What did your puffin catch for lunch?
Colour Mixing Fun:
If you’re using the black-and-white version, print off some pictures of puffins and encourage children to blend reds, oranges and grays to get that realistic look. Great for a bit of color identification and theory.
I hope your little learners have a wonderful time building their own puffins.
I’d love to hear about what they create!
And you can check out more awesome animal activities here!
Enjoy!
