At a Glance
This printable Build a Raccoon craft has preschoolers, kindergarteners and other young learners cutting and sticking to make their own masked woodland friend. This hands-on activity builds scissor skills, fine motor control and hand-eye coordination, and makes a lovely hook for fall, woodland or nocturnal animal. Color and black-and-white templates included.
Raccoons have a bit of a reputation. The midnight trash can raids… but they’re also one of the most curious, clever critters around and pretty cute!
This Build a Raccoon craft lets your little learners put together their very own masked friend. It’s a simple cut and paste activity with a color version ready to go and a black-and-white version for anyone who wants to add their own shading. While they build, you can share this: raccoons are so nimble with their front paws that they’ve been known to open locks and get into trash cans in search of a snack. Clever paws, time to meet some clever little hands!
Between the snipping, lining up and sticking, your kiddos get a proper fine motor workout without even noticing. And if they loved our build a fox craft, this little bandit makes the perfect woodland companion.
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 raccoon, 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 so the beak sits on the face and the feet sit under the body 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 Raccoon Craft
First you’re going to want to download the raccoon templates by clicking on the download button at the bottom of the page – I’ve made a color and a black and white version.
Not a member yet – what are you waiting for? Become a member today and get INSTANT access to the ENTIRE printable library of awesome activities PLUS all the activity makers!
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 little rascal.
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 on the head
- Stick the head on to the body
- Stick the paws on
- Stick the feet 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:
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 Raccoon 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 creature 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 Raccoon Activity
Don’t put it away just yet – this little bandit has plenty more mischief left…
Make a Reusable Raccoon Puzzle
Laminate the pieces before they’re stuck together and you’ve got a build-it-again puzzle your little ones can take apart and rebuild as often as they like. Mix in pieces from our other cut and paste crafts and they can invent some truly wonderful creatures (a raccoon with owl wings, anyone?).
Pair It With The Kissing Hand
If you’re easing little ones into a new school year, read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, where Chester Raccoon is nervous about his first day of school. Before sticking the paws on, help your child draw a tiny heart on one of them, then do the same on their own palm.
Set Up a Nighttime Woodland Scene
Raccoons are nocturnal, so why not build them a nighttime world? Line a tray or shoebox with dark blue or black paper, add a few sticks, leaves and pinecones, and hand over a flashlight. Pop in your finished raccoon alongside our build an owl craft and you have an instant invitation to play!
Try a Raccoon Paws Feely Bag
Raccoons find a lot of their food by touch, so let your little learners try it too. Hide a few everyday objects in a bag (a pinecone, a spoon, a sponge, a shell) and have them reach in and guess what they’re holding without peeking. Encourage describing words like bumpy, smooth, soft and prickly for a bit of sensory play and vocabulary building.
Count and Pattern the Stripy Tail
Have your little ones count the stripes on the tail, touching each one as they go for some one-to-one correspondence practice. Then point out that the colors take turns (dark, light, dark, light) and see if they can continue the AB pattern with blocks, beads or crayons. You’ll find more ways to sneak in number practice in our counting activities.
R is for Raccoon
Use the craft as a hook for a quick sound hunt. How many things can your kiddos find that start with the ‘r’ sound? Rabbit, rocket, rain, red… It’s a playful way to tune little ears into initial sounds, and it fits nicely alongside our beginning sounds activities.
Celebrate International Raccoon Appreciation Day
International Raccoon Appreciation Day falls on October 1 each year and is all about showing some love for these clever, misunderstood critters. Make a whole class of raccoons that week and talk about why every animal has an important job to do in nature. You can find it, along with plenty more dates worth marking, on our Special Day Calendar.
However you use this raccoon craft, I hope you and your little ones have a wonderful time with it! And you can find more awesome animal activities here.
Enjoy and let’s nurture those neurons!
