Paper Plate Spaceship Craft
This paper plate spaceship craft goes together very quickly. And hopefully, it will lead to hours of imaginative play and story telling. I mean, aliens, UFOs, flying things…what’s not to love. And if you have been around here for awhile, you know that we have some great space crafts that would be great to pair with this flying saucer craft idea.
For example, you may want to check out the collection of space crafts which includes an astronaut craft, alien, space shuttle, space rover, planet crafts and even the moon (though a rather unorthodox shape for the moon). You can find these space crafts by clicking on this link. Also, if you are looking for something for your alien spaceship craft to fly around, you may want to make this solar system craft mobile.
Make Even More Crafts with Your Kids (You’ll be so happy you did)
Save this paper plate spaceship craft for later. Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board…
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SUPPLIES FROM THE BAG
- 2 Paper plates (9-inch coated)
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Single hole punch
- White yarn
- Markers
- Newspaper
- Pencil
- Pony beads
- Clothespin
- Medium pompom
- Elmer’s glue
- Silver paint (or other color for the UFO)
- Optional: Small googly eyes
This craft is no different than every other creation on this site in the fact that all of the items used to make it come from our master list of basic craft supplies. We stick to this list to make crafting so much easier and more do-able with your family. It is like having a capsule wardrobe with just a few basic pieces that you can mix and match for tons of looks. Once you fill your bag once you will be ready to craft away over and over. And we do all of the work to build your “outfits”.
Step 1: Cut the Alien Spaceship Craft
- Gentle fold one of the paper plates in half, without creasing it. Then snip a small slit along the round indentation in the bottom of the plate.
- Use that snipped opening as a starting point to cut along the round indentation until you have cut a half circle. *It is easiest to do this with adult scissors, but it can be done with kid scissors.
- Once you have cut the half circle, fold up the part that you have cut so that it sticks out the bottom of the plate and crease it. Reference the picture to see what it should look like when you are finished.
Step 2: Make Some Holes in Your Spacecraft Craft
- In the paper plate that you have cut your half circle, punch a hole on each side as close to center as you can.
- Now place the second plate under the first, sandwiching it so that the tops of the plates are facing each other.
- Use your pencil to mark the bottom plate where the holes are on the top plate.
- Then use the hole punch to make the holes in the second plate where you have made your marks.
Step 3: Staple the UFO Craft
- With the holes lined up and the plates still sandwiched with the tops facing each other (kind of like a football), start to staple around the outside of the plates.
- Place staples all around the edge of the outside, about 2 inches apart, until you have secured the plates to each other.
Step 4: Paint the Alien Spaceship
- Spread out a piece of newspaper on your work surface and place the paper plates on it.
- Now squeeze a little bit of silver paint (or whatever color you chose for y our space ship craft) in the corner of the newspaper.
- Pinch the pompom with the clothespin to form a “paint brush”.
- Paint your spaceship craft, leaving the folded up half circle unpainted. You will want to paint both the top and the bottom, which may mean leaving a little bit of drying time in between.
Step 5: Add the Alien
- Once your paint has dried on your flying saucer craft, use the markers to draw your alien in the pilot’s seat.
- You can also take this time to add any other decorations to your paper plate spaceship craft. For example, I use the Elmer’s glue to add pony beads all around the outside edge of the paper plate flying saucer craft to look like lights. You can add whatever details your imagination comes up with.
Step 6: Make the Paper Plate Spaceship Craft Fly
- Finally, we want to make our arts and crafts spaceship fly. To do this you will need to cut a piece of yarn about 2 yards long.
- Thread one end of the yarn through the holes on one side.
- Lace on 2-3 pony beads (this will keep it from sliding back through the hole), and tie a knot in the end. I also added a loop to the end.
- Repeat this with the other side of yarn in the other set of holes.
Your alien spaceship will “fly” when you hang it up by the yarn and pull both yarn ends to make the spaceship move up the string. *If your UFO does not stay flat and balanced as you pull the strings and it flies upward, that is probably because your holes are not exactly in the middle. To fix this, just tuck a pompom or two inside the UFO until it is balanced. You won’t even see the pompoms, but this really helps make the ride smoother.
Watch the step-by-step video tutorial for this spaceship papercraft…
This can make a great spaceship craft for preschoolers. You will just need to precut the half circle, but they can do the rest all on their own. And I know that this paper plate spaceship craft is going to lead to so many amazing stories and imaginative play. And sometimes it is fun to use your craft as a prop to tell a story that already exists.
Here are some of our favorite space books for you to check out. Just click on the pic for more info:
Save this UFO craft for kids for later. Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board…
More Space Crafts Ideas for Kids
If you like this UFO craft, you’re also going to love these other space crafts for kids. See all of our favorite outer space crafts here.
