Paper Plate Hippopotamus with Valentine's Day Book

We picked up this darling book at the library last week, Who Will Be My Valentine This Year? I adore all the different animal characters throughout the book and I love the message at the ending that it’s good for everyone to be their unique selves. The main character was my daughter’s favorite so we made this Paper Plate Hippopotamus Craft inspired by this fun Valentine’s book.

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Supplies you will need:

plate plate
pink paint
paintbrush
red, pink, black and white cardstock paper
small heart confetti (optional: as an alternative, you can just color on hearts)
2 large googly eyes
scissors
black marker
glue

Directions:

1. Start by painting the bottom of your paper plate with pink paint. Let it dry completely.

2. While your paper plate is drying, cut out the pieces you’ll need for your hippo. From your pink cardstock paper you’ll need a large oval, 2 small oval ears and 2 eyelids. From your black cardstock you’ll need a smile shape for the mouth. From the white cardstock you’ll need 2 oval eyes, a bow tie, and teeth (teeth not pictured below).

3. Glue red heart confetti onto your bow tie, or color red hearts onto the bow tie with a crayon or marker.

4. Glue your black mouth onto your large oval and glue your eyelids onto your white eyes. Use your black marker to draw on eyelashes and two nose holes.

5. Glue your eyes, ears and mouth onto your pink paper plate. Finish your hippo by gluing your white teeth onto the black mouth.

She’s a pretty cute hippopotamus don’t you think? You could make it a boy by painting it a different coloring and leaving off the bow tie. Or, to go along great with the message of the book, it would be fun to let kids personalize the bow tie with different colors and patterns to make them all unique.

You can Purchase Who Will Be My Valentine This Year on Amazon!