Lion Craft

A couple of weeks ago, I made this craft with my 2 & 3 yr old preschool class!  They loved making their lions, but it was a lot of work!  I have had several people request how this was made, so here is a step by step of how I made my lion!

First off, let me give credit where credit is due, I adapted this craft from Danielle's Place.  

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/lioncrafts.html

You will find her instructions there.  Mine are similar, but quite a bit different because I wanted mine to stand on its own.

For each lion you will need:
1 piece brown construction paper
1 paper plate
1 paper or styrofoam bowl
Brown, Orange & Black paint (I used tempera you could use brown spray paint if you use paper bowls).
Thick White paper 
Black and red markers
Regular glue 
Tacky glue (thick craft glue)
Paper clips

To start, on brown paper, trace around the paper plate. And cut it out. With the scraps, draw a tail in a curvy "L" shape.

Cut out a tear drop for the tip of the tail, and 2  "D" shapes for ears. You could also cut out 2 half circles for paws if you want the kids to glue more.

On the white paper, trace around the bottom of the bowl. This will be your face. With the markers, draw and color it in.  I originally drew the nose with a pencil and then traced with marker.

If mass producing these lions on a short time period, here's how I would do the next few steps... I would paint and assemble them on my own. Then I would let the kids glue the face, tail pieces, ears, and paws on. That way you don't have to wait. For paint & glue to dry. If you let them do the painting and gluing, it's easily a 3 day project bc of dry times.

First, paint the outside of your bowl and paper plate brown. Paint your brown circle and your tear drop orange. I used a dry brush because you can see the brush strokes and they look like hair. 

Once everything is dry, cut your paper plate in half.  Cut all around your brownish orange circle to make the mane stick out! Using the tacky glue, glue around the lip of the bowl and put it in the middle of the orange mane. I placed a heavy children's book on top of the bowl so it would dry firmly glued to the construction paper.  Also using the tacky glue, glue around the lip of the plates and attach them together. I used paper clips to hold the plate together and stuck a 1 1/2 inch section of a toilet paper tube in there for stability and shape.  I did not glue the tube.

After everything is completely dried, remove the paper clips and put tacky glue on the plate, toward the top, and around the bottom part of the mane where the lip of the bowl is. Press the mane/bowl against the plate and hold it there as well as you can. You want the bowl connected to the plate, not just the paper around the bowl do its neck won't flop! :) I taped a piece in the middle to help hold it until it dried. Then I pinched both sides of the bowl and plate for a couple minutes until it set.

The let it dry completely.  Once everything is completely dry, glue the face, ears, paws, and tail pieces on.  You can use a bit of black paint and add little lines for eyes and paint the paws I you did not glue them.  If your lion is having difficulty standing, trim the bottom of your plate until it will stand the way you want.  I found the little tp tube helped balance the lions a little, but it is very important the plates are level and smooth along the bottom.  

Congratulations! Your lion should be completed!  As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them!