My daughter is currently obsessed with Care Bears. In fact, for Christmas last month she told me, “Mommy, I know the Care Bears aren’t really real, but all I REALLY want for Christmas is a real life Care Bear. Ok Mommy!” To my dismay, I had to settle on getting her a plush Care Bear. You’d think her favorite would be Cheer Bear or Harmony, but nope…she is truly in love with Grumpy Bear. So in honor of her favorite TV show, we decided to make our very own Paper Plate Care Bear.
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Supplies needed:
- two paper plates
- paint (color of choice)
- colored and white cardstock paper
(color to coordinate with your paint color, and colors to make/design your belly badge) - 2 large googly eyes
- 2-inch circle punch
- 0.5-inch heart punch
- scissors
- markers
- stapler
- glue
Tutorial:
1. Prepare paper plate
Start by cutting a slit out of the sides of one of your paper plates, making a Care Bear face with their chubby cheeks.
2. Paint your paper plate
Paint that paper plate in it’s entirety, and paint the outside rim of your other paper plate, leaving the center unpainted. Let them dry completely.
3. Cut out needed pieces
While your paper plates are drying, you can cut out the remaining pieces for your Care Bear: two arms and legs, two 2-inch circles out of the same color cardstock, two 2-inch white circles, and three 1/2-inch hearts.
4. Attach pieces to the plate
When your paper plates are finished drying, staple your arms, legs and ears onto your paper plate. Cut one of your white circles in half, trim the pieces down some and glue them onto your existing ears.
5. Glue face details
Glue your two googly eyes onto your Care Bear Face and then glue your other white circle to your Care Bear face. Glue your three 1/2-inch hearts onto your Care Bear, one for a nose and the others in the palm of the hands.
6. Draw a mouth
Use markers to add a mouth, eyelashes and eyebrows.
7. Design a belly
Finish your Care Bear by designing it a belly badge out of your colored cardstock paper, or by drawing with markers onto the belly.
Here is how my 4-year old’s turned out below. She choose to put yellow hearts on her Care Bear’s belly. This is a fun craft for kids to think creatively about making their own, unique Care Bear. Everyone’s Bear is sure to turn out adorable and completely different.
