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Paper plate donkey

A donkey made from a paper plate? You betcha! This fun craft is great for young children (template included).

I love donkeys. They seem such sweet and gentle souls. And they have the most beautiful faces.

And so today, as we continue our series of paper plate animals, we’re attempting to make a paper plate donkey.

If you want to make this paper plate donkey with your kids at home, check out the step by step instructions below.

And are you ready for some good news? You can get the free template (for the donkey’s eyes and nose) at the end of this post.

So without further ado, let’s get going.

What you will need

  • paper plate
  • grey paint
  • black wool
  • printable template
  • glue stick
  • tape
  • scissors
  • black marker

How to make your donkey craft

Step 1

First of all, you’ll need to paint your paper plate.

We went for a nice donkey-ish soft grey. Do make sure here that, if you’re painting with very young children, the paint is child-safe and non-toxic. For this one, we used a non-toxic acrylic paint as I find it covers the shiny surface of the paper plate really well.

Put the paper plate to one side to dry. The paper plate will soon become the donkey’s face and ears.

Step 2

While you’re waiting for the paper plate to dry, print the template out onto white paper. Cut out the eyes and the nose.

Step 3

Next, from each side of the paper plate, cut two strips. These will become the ears. Depending on the age of your child you may want to help them with the cutting here, or at least draw lines on the plate for them to cut along.

You will ideally want to make the two cuts so that the donkey’s face (the middle part of the paper plate) is wider at the top than it is at the bottom.

grey paper plate cut with two sides cut

Cut the the bottom third of the ear strips off (I say this because the ears are easier to stick onto the plate if they’re a bit shorter).

Then glue or tape the ears to the back of the paper plate.

Paper plate donkey face with ears.

You might want to trim the tops of the ears here to get a donkey-ear type shape. (Ours looked a bit crazy pointy to begin with!).

Step 4

Next, it’s time to add some hair to the donkey’s head.

For this, cut strands of black wool about 20cm in length. Tie a knot at the top of the wool bundle to keep all the strands together. (This can be fiddly so your child may need some help here.)

strands of wool tied at one end

Then, tape the knot to the back of the paper plate. Flop the rest of the wool over to the front of the donkey’s face.

Paper plate donkey face with ears and hair

Step 5

And finally, it’s time to glue the two eyes and the nose onto the donkey’s face. You could also use large wiggly eyes here if have some in your craft supply. If you’re using the paper eyes, draw two black circles onto the white eyes.

Et voila! Your donkey craft is finished. Pretty simple, but unmistakenly a donkey.

If you’re ready to make this paper plate craft at home, you’ll need the template:

Thanks for stopping by The Craft Balloon! I hope you enjoyed this paper plate donkey.

If your kiddos enjoy paper plate crafts, be sure to check out our paper plate pig, paper plate cat and paper plate moose.

If you liked this paper plate donkey craft, why not pin it? Thanks for your help!

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