Paper plate craft – Alien UFO

With Matariki having just entered our skies the thoughts in our household have all been pointed toward space. So with thoughts focused on planets and stars, of course Aliens and UFO were going to become part of our discussions! So we decided to make a paper plate alien UFO.

This is a super simple craft to do with kids of all ages.

Kids from 5 and upward are normally very capable using hot glue guns. But if you don’t feel comfortable with them using it, you can control the glue gun part. My 4 year old gave it a go, and she happily told me that they’ve been using them at kindy!

I, however, let her use the gun to add the glue, and then I stuck the eyes on where she placed the glue. The reason I did this is because the glue can get very hot and they can be fiddly items to stick on without getting a little glue on your fingers.

Paper plate craft – Alien UFO

You will need

2 paper bowls

1 clear plastic cup

1 pipe cleaner

1 large pompom

Googly eyes

Hot glue gun and glue

Acrylic paint – (we used So cool silver in test pots from Resene)

Sticky gems – (optional)

What to do

1. Paint the bottom of both paper bowls and set them aside to dry. While the bowls are drying you can make the little pompom aliens.

2. Grab a pompom and glue gun, and glue on one, two or three googly eyes.

3. Cut your pipe cleaner in half and bend the top so you can glue this to the pompom head.

4. Twist the other half of the pipe cleaner around the top third of your alien body to create the arms and then attach the head.

5. Make a small spiral at the base of the alien. This will make it easier to glue onto the plate. Set your alien aside until the UFO is ready.

6. When the paint is dry decorate the plate and the bottom of the plastic cup with sticky gems.

7. Grab your alien, and hot glue gun the base of the alien to the middle of the paper bowl. Make sure that your alien fits under the cup before gluing on.

8. Glue the rim of the cup to the top of the bowl.

9. Now hot glue both of the bowls together.

10. If you like you can add string to your aliens and hang them from the ceiling.

Ours didn’t make it this far though. We made 3 of them and my 4 year old ended up playing with them for about 5 hours off and on for the rest of the day. Eventually the UFOs crash landed…

For more great craft ideas be sure to check out How to make and use story stones, Toilet roll reindeer marionette, or Toilet roll telescope.