At a Glance
This printable build a kitten craft helps preschool, kindergarten and other young learners develop fine motor control and scissor skills. By coloring, cutting and assembling their adorable feline, little learners practice spatial awareness and sequencing while creating a cute new pet craft.
Do you have a little one who is absolutely obsessed with all things feline? If your kids are always crawling around meow-ing (or just like cats) this build a kitten craft is a purr-fectly fun way to spend an afternoon!
This simple cut and paste craft is a lovely, hands-on way to practice those all-important cutting, sticking and problem solving skills.
Your little learners can choose between a color version to put together straight away, or a black-and-white version to decorate however they like.
If you’re a teacher, this simple craft could also make a brilliant animal 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 lil kitten, 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
- Hand-Eye Coordination – lining up the pieces takes steady visual tracking and careful hand control.
- 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 Kitten Craft
First you’re going to want to download the kitten 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 baby cat.
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 the ears to the head
- Stick the collar to the body
- Stick the head on to the body
- Stick the rear legs on
- Stick the front paws on
- Stick the tail on
(I expect you could have worked that out but I do like to be thorough…)
The finished one should look something like this:
What a cutie!
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 Kitten 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 pet 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 Kitten Activity
There’s plenty more you can do once the kittens are built. Here are a few fun ideas to stretch the learning a bit further.
Make a Reusable Puzzle
Instead of gluing the kitten together, print the colored version (or let your child color the black and white one first), cut out the pieces, and run them through a laminator. Add some sticky tack or velcro dots and you suddenly have a reusable kitten puzzle! They can build and rebuild their furry friend as a quiet time activity or a morning center activity.
Story Time Puppets
Print it onto card or laminate it once assembled then stick the kitten to a popsicle or craft stick. Your little ones now have a sturdy kitten puppet ready for some fun dramatic play. They can use it to act out their favorite cat-themed picture books or invent their own fantastic feline adventures!
Mixed Media Masterpiece
Ditch the standard crayons and let your little learners explore texture! They can glue small pieces of torn tissue paper, crumpled crepe paper, or cotton balls onto the kitten’s body to give it some real fluff.
Add a Naming and Writing Prompt
Once the kitten is built, ask your child what they want to name their new pet. Have them practice their handwriting by writing the name on a strip of paper to act as a collar or a name tag for the kitten.
However you choose to use this craft, I hope you and your little ones like it!
And you can check out more awesome animal activities here!
Enjoy and let’s nurture those neurons!
