Bird Papercraft

We’re going to be putting together a simple bird papercraft today! I love this little guy because not only is he easy to make, but he turns out SO adorable! And kids can play with their craft after they make it.

This craft is perfect for elementary-age kids. Younger kids may need some help with the smaller pieces (the wings, beak, and feathers).

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Materials:

Paper – regular paper is perfect for this, but you can print it on cardstock if you want it to hold up longer
Scissors
Glue – I’d recommend gluesticks overall for this craft, but it is helpful to use regular glue when it comes to attaching the beak.
Printable bird craft template – get it here in my Etsy shop!

Let’s jump into making the papercraft! Prefer video tutorials? Jump down to the video here.

Bird Papercraft Tutorial

First, print out the craft. It comes in black and white, but you can color the craft.

Then cut out all the pieces.

Next, take the main body of the bird and fold down on the dotted lines.

Glue along the long seam of the birds body, where marked.

Pinch firmly along the seam to secure it.

Quick tip: If your students or kids are doing this on their own and have smaller hands, encourage them to use a pencil for this part. Slide it into the craft, just under the seam you just glued, and they can press against the pencil from the outside to help make sure this seam is really secure.

Now it’s time to attach the bird’s wings. Fold down on the dotted line for each wing. Using the gluestick, or a very light amount of white glue, attach it where indicated on the sides of the birds body.

Note: Make sure that the wings are facing the right direction. Think about how a birds wings fold back against their body. The pointy wing-tip should be pointing toward the bird’s back.

Attach the wing on the other side.

Next we’re going to attach the beak. First, fold down along the center of the beak. Then carefully fold up on the little flaps that we’ll be using to attach the beak to the bird’s face.

You have two options for attaching the beak. Lightly apply a little bit of white glue directly on the bird’s face, where indicated with the “Glue” markings, like I did. Or you can use a gluestick to lightly apply some glue directly to the beak flaps.

Attach the beak to the face.

Now we’re ready to put the feathers on the bird! Your kids or students can attach them in whatever pattern they want. Glue the feathers to the inside/back of the birds head. (If you want to spruce up this craft a bit, you can even use tissue paper or fake feathers!)

Quick tip: For small, fiddly pieces like these, I like to rub them lightly on the glue stick, then attach them.