Sloths are not only adorable animals (just image search “sloth” and see what I mean), they’re incredible creatures! Before making this craft, I did a little bit of research and also watched some kid-friendly videos about sloths with my daughter – I was truly amazed! Sloths are great swimmers, stronger than humans, and typically don’t get hurt when they fall out of trees (which they apparently do A LOT). We did this as a mixed-media project: printing leaves for the background and making our sloths out of paper.
Materials
- White and Colored Paper (we used brown)
- Leaves (fake or real)
- Paint (green and yellow)
- Colored pencil or crayon (brown, gray or black)
- Pencil
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Glue
- My FREE “Speedy the Sloth Coloring Page/Stencil” (scroll down at the bottom of this post to download!)
Directions
- Mix the paint to create different shades of green.
- Paint one side of leaf and then press it onto the white sheet of paper. Continue this process with the different shades of green on different parts of the paper.
My toddler decided to fingerpaint her leaves instead 🙂
3. While that is drying, make your sloth! You can do this one of two ways using my free download: color the sloth coloring page and cut it out OR use the stencil to trace the parts of the sloth to cut out and assemble as a type of paper collage.
4. Stencil & Collage Tips: If you don’t want to draw the sloth face, you can color in the eyes and cut it out from the stencil to use. Glue the paper sloth together first before gluing it onto the printed leaf paper. The 2 bigger legs will be the ones in the front. Lastly, draw the toes on the branch with a marker and/or a crayon.
5. Glue your sloth onto the painted leaf paper.
6. Name your sloth and/or move like a sloth along with my new song, “Speedy the Sloth” (COMING SOON)!
CLICK THE DOWNLOAD BUTTON BELOW for this free “Speedy the Sloth Coloring Page/Stencil!” You can make as many copies as you need for your kids. All I ask is that you do not redistribute or resell as your own 🙂 (I’m currently working on setting up an online store for resources like coloring pages, craft stencils and templates, sheet music/chord charts, and music worksheets, but in the meantime, I’ll be giving away some freebies that I hope you’ll be able to use and enjoy!)
If you and your kiddos make this craft, feel free to send me any pictures or tag me on Instagram – I’d love to see what you create!
Thanks for visiting! Happy crafting and music-making!
– Hannah