Do your kids’ love interactive, fun and easy crafts? If the answer is yes, then they will adore our Moving Eyes Lion Craft! With just a little painting, sticking and cutting, the lion comes to life with eyes moving from side to side, up and down and round and round some more…
The moving eyes can even be used to support some emotional intelligence work for younger children – how do they interpret the different eye positions, what emotions can they see?
The lion craft can be paired with a number of favorite lion books or films, from the superb book The Lion Inside to the much loved film, The Lion King.
The downloadable template and simple shapes make this lion craft ideal for pre-schoolers and school early years to enjoy (mostly) independently. And it really helps to hone their fine motor skills as well, as they practice cutting, sticking, coloring and threading the eyes.
Moving Eyes Lion Craft
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Materials
- White Card Stock for Printing
- Any Medium for Coloring
- Colored Cardstock
- Scissors
- Gluestick
How to Download the Lion Template:
The ‘Moving Eyes Lion’ template is available to members of the Arty Crafty Kids club.
Members will need to log in to access the templates: https://www.artycraftykids.com/product/moving-eyes-lion-template/
Not a Member?
Watch the Moving Eyes Lion Craft in Action!
Let’s Make a Lion!
Paint the Lion Template
Let’s start by coloring in the lion emplate. You can use colored pencils or crayons if you’d like, but we love using paints for animal crafts. With paints, you can layer up color and use different brush strokes to add texture and depth to fur, and character to the animals face.
Play with Yellow and Orange
Use the dividers within the lion’s mane to explore and create different shades of yellow.
Glue the Nose and Ears to the Lion’s Head
Glue the eyes and nose the lion’s head.
Glue the Eyes to the Wide Orange Strip
Next, cut one strip lengthwise from a sheet of orange A4 card – it needs to be the same thickness as the rectangle eyes on the template.
Finally, cut two more thin strips of card, each three or four inches long.
Draw Extra Detail
Use a black marker pen to create a mouth expression. Our example features two upwards curves to create the impression of a smile.
Add two Short Strips Behind the Eyes
Turn the lion over. Now stick one of the thinner card strips vertically over the left eye – this will support your lion’s moving eyes. Stick the other strip in the same way over the right eye.
Slide the Moving Eyes
Now carefully slide the strip of eyes underneath the two thin orange support strips – be gentle!
The Moving Eyes Lion Craft is Complete
Your fabulous lion is complete, so it’s time to have fun! Can you move your eyes the same way as your lion?! We’d love to see some pictures – don’t forget to tag us on social media!
More Moving Eyes Crafts for Kids
Moving eyes crafts are super fun to make and are a great tool for enhancing story telling or talking about emotions. Our collection of interactive crafts feature lots of different characters, from Fantastic Mr Fox to a cute Easter Chick and Friendly Witch, which can be paired with the wonderful Winnie the Witch.
