How to Make a Paper Scarecrow Craft for Kids

Scarecrows were created to be “scary”, but this paper scarecrow craft is beyond adorable. This is such a perfect craft to make during the Fall season and is lots of fun for kids of all ages. This adorable scarecrow craft requires only a few basic craft supplies and can be used to practice fine motor skills.

If you like this adorable scarecrow craft, make even more Autumn crafts, like this life-sized sunflower, this fox mobile or this mushroom craft with a hidden inhabitant.

I bet you’ve never heard of craft flashcards…Of course you haven’t…because I totally made it up 🙂 As a pediatric Occupational Therapist, I’ve witnessed kids struggle to complete multi-step activities. So, I came up with this brilliant (if I do say myself) way to break down crafts into bite-sized pieces in the form of flashcards.

These are especially perfect for those kiddos who have limited attention spans.

Crafts are such a great developmental tool for kids (improves motor planning, attention span, executive functioning, fine motor skills, language development and more), and using flashcards makes planning crafts for your kids to enjoy even easier.

Just print out a few of your favorites onto cardstock, cut them into the cards with a hole in the corner and place them on a keyring that you can connect to your craft supply bag (which you can fill using our master list of supplies that we stick to for every single one of the projects in the flashcard collection). It’s so simple.

And the best part is that there’s not a screen in sight. Technology is such a great thing, but it’s also nice to take a break from it once in awhile and let the brain explore in other ways. Click the image to learn more about our collection of 100 Craft Flashcards for Kids.

Fun Facts about Scarecrows

• The first scarecrow was made about 3000 years ago.
• They were first made by the Egyptians to protect their wheat fields, especially along the Nile River.
• Even though scarecrows were created to scare away pesky crows, the birds are too smart for that. They aren’t very effective.
• Japanese farmers have also used scarecrows in the past, however, they would hang old rags, meat, and fish bones on their creations. The smell itself was enough to keep not only birds but all creatures away from their crops.
• The first known usage of the word “scarecrow” in English novels was in 1719 in Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe.

For even more information about scarecrows, check out this article from The Fact Site.

Save these Cute Scarecrows for later. Pin them to your favorite Pinterest board…

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How to make your own scarecrow

The pictures here are just a starting point. Your finished scarecrows shouldn’t look anything like this one. Use whatever colors you want and create your own design for his close and facial features. The only limit is your imagination.

CRAFT SUPPLIES FROM THE BAG

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Markers
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Scarecrow craft template

Kids craft ideas are no good if they only sit exist on the internet but are never actually made by kids. We want to make crafting with your kids something that you do regularly and enjoy together. So, we’re removing some of the roadblocks, like too much prep time, lots of mess and hefty pricetags.

Fill your bag using our master list of craft supplies, and you’ll be ready to make any of the fun and simple crafts you see here. We stick to this list so that you can get right to the good stuff. Grab these items and fill your bag so that you’re ready to craft some memories at a moment’s notice whenever the opportunity strikes.

Simple Craft Instructions:

Step 1: Use the Craft Template

• Download the free scarecrow craft template
• Choose your favorite colors of construction paper to cut out all of the parts, including the overalls for the scarecrow body, shirt, heart and hat. We used brown paper for the hat, red for the shirt and blue for the overalls.

Step 2: Add Some Details

• Use your markers to add details to all of the scarecrow’s clothing.
• We made some plaid markings on the shirt, stitching on the overalls and thatching marks on the hat.

Step 3: Fold

• Take the overalls for the scarecrow’s body and create and accordion fold in the center. If working with young kids, feel free to skip this step. You’ll just have a tall and skinny scarecrow.

Step 4: Assemble Your Scarecrow Paper Craft

• Use a little glue and attach the shirt to the overalls.
• Continue gluing the pieces in place with your glue stick by next adding the scarecrow’s head.

*Don’t add the hat just yet because we need to add some straw.

Step 5: Add Some Straw

• Grab a piece of yellow gold construction paper and snip small strips of paper about 1/2 inch long.
• Use the glue stick to attach some of the pieces of straw to the under side of the hat on each side. This will be the scarecrow’s hair.
• Then place the hat on the top of your scarecrow.
• Finally, add more straw to create the hands and feet of the scarecrow.
• Shape the pieces of “straw” with some scissor snips.

Step 6: Create the Scarecrow’s Face

• Finish off your fun craft by drawing on an adorable face and adding some googly eyes. It’s a great way to add some personality.

Enjoy More Scarecrow Activities

Making your scarecrow craft is only half the fun. You can use it as a kids’ craft activity at a harvest festival and craft with friends. Continue the scarecrow fun with a puppet show.

Turn This Into a School Project

Make this with a classroom. Add student names and put your scarecrows in a corn field on a Fall bulletin board. This can be part of your lesson plans for a farm theme, gardens, harvest season or general Fall activities. Add some scarecrow songs for circle time.

How to Adapt This Craft for Preschoolers

Most preschoolers will not have the scissor skills to complete this craft independently. This also applies to the accordion folding. When crafting with young children, precut the template pieces. Have your preschooler do all of the decorating and gluing together. Snipping strips of yellow paper into “pieces of straw” is a great way to practice early scissor skills too. Only help as much as you need to and allow your child to be as independent as possible.

Here are even more Fall activities

Fall Activities Paper Chain

Paper Pumpkin Crafts

Fall Leaf Puppets