Creating this paper plate snail puppet can be an easy feat with some help from our downloadable printable! What’s super cool about this craft is that you can move the snail’s head in and out of the shell using a popsicle stick.
- Black marker
- Paper plate
- Poster paints
- Popsicle stick
- Printable We recommend printing the printable in an A4 thick vellum board (at least 200 gsm) so that the cutouts will not be easily torn.
Download AreaDownload Template
Cut out each of the elements in the printable
Download then print the snail printable by clicking the download button above. After printing it, cut along the outer edges of each element with a pair of scissors.
Once cut, it should look like this!
Shape the shell of the paper plate snail
Place the body of the snail on top of the paper plate. Position the cutout n where both ends touch the edge of the paper plate.
Mark the paper plate where the bottom edge of the body is positioned using a pencil.
Draw a straight line on where the mark was placed.
Cut along the straight line made from the previous step.
Once split, flip over the bigger top part of the paper plate.
Position the bottom part on top of the paper plate. See the next image on where to position it.
Stick the ends ONLY of the top paper to the bottom paper plate. We will insert the body of the snail in between the paper plates later.
Flip it over after gluing.
Color the shell of the paper plate snail
Paint the whole with the color of your choosing, here we used light green to complement the yellow body of the snail.
Using a darker shade of paint, paint a spiral on the paper plate to make it look like an actual snail’s shell.
Add some other decorations like spots. It’s up to you how you’d like to decorate the shell.
Once finished, let the paint dry and set it aside.
Create the eyes
Using a marker or paint, draw the pupils of the snail’s eyes.
Draw it however you like or you can follow how we drew it!
Assemble the cutouts of the paper plate snail
Connect the eyes to the body using the two rectangular cutouts. Use glue to attach them to one another.
Assemble the pieces together like the sample image above.
With a marker, draw a mouth
Grab a popsicle stick and flip the snail over.
Stick one end of the popsicle end to the bottom end of the snail and then flip the snail over.
Once you have assembled the snail, set it aside for now.
Assemble the paper plate snail
Grab the paper plate shell and the tail cutout and then flip them over.
Stick the tail at the back of the shell as shown in the sample image above.
Grab the assembled paper snail cutout and insert it in between the two paper plates.
Insert it as shown in the image above. Flip it over after.
To move the head, push and pull the popsicle stick.
The paper plate snail is done. Besides pushing and pulling the popsicle stick, you may also move the stick up and down to make the head move.