The summer holidays are the perfect time to get stuck into some seriously fun craft ideas for kids, and we have just the right projects to get things started – and it’s all about Australian animals!

Read on for easy-to-follow instructions to help your kids complete nine awesome Aussie animal activities – from creating a super-cute quokka bookmark to whipping up an echidna face mask that’s sure to make a spiky scene. 

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Gumnut Garland 

This sweet gumnut garland will make a cute addition to your kids bedroom this summer holidays and beyond.

Give your child’s bedroom, cubby house or special space a leafy makeover, with a hand-made gumnut garland strung over a bed, doorway or desk.

After you’ve made this hanging garland, add cute and fuzzy pipe-cleaner bugs to live among the leaves.

Step 1: Cut out lots of leaves of different sizes from coloured green paper and card. The template can help with the shapes.

Step 2: Using the end of your scissors, poke a little hole near the wider end of each leaf. This can be a little tricky, so an adult might need to help with this step.

Step 3: Thread a 3-metre length of string through the holes in the leaves, using a pencil to help push it through. Gently drag each leaf along the string. Repeat until all the leaves are spread out.

Step 4: Glue yellow pom poms to the tops of some leaves, scattering them throughout the garland.

Step 5: Twist pipe cleaners into animal shapes. Green ones make fantastic crickets, use blue ones for a dragonfly, black for a spider and yellow and black for a bee.

Step 6: Finally, add googly eyes to a few of your insects. Use glue to attach them to the pipe cleaners. Once dry, they can fly, zoom or climb all over your garland. 

Hot Tip: Craft glue is very slippery! After sticking on your pom poms, keep the garland really still until it’s dry.

Did You Know? Eucalyptus trees are a type of gum tree. Gum trees get their name thanks to the sticky sap or ‘gum’ they make.

What You’ll Need

SEE ALSO: 5 STEM Arts and Crafts Activities to Do With Your Kids

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Crocodile Pencil Caddy

Don’t worry, this scaly-edged croc won’t munch your child’s pens and pencils. In fact, it will help tidy them up! Just pop them in the croc’s tubes to keep things neat.

With a bit of creativity, you’ll take your child’s desk from swamp to sorted in minutes.

Your kids will love updating their desk with this adorable crocodile pencil holder.‍

Step 1: Layer two sheets of green paper on top of one another. Fold in half to crease, then reopen. Cut a ‘bumpy’ edge either side of the fold, to end up with four pieces of ‘croc hide’.

Step 2: Glue a piece of ‘croc hide’ to each cardboard roll. Keep the straight edge of the paper aligned with the base of the roll.

Step 3: With the ‘bumpy’ sides at the top, glue all four rolls, side by side. Leave upright until the glue is dry.

Step 4: Place the rolls, straight edge down, onto the green card. Trace around the base with a pencil, then cut out the shape. It should look like four joined circles.

Step 5: Glue the four circles to the base of the rolls. Make sure you do this with the rolls upright, and leave until the glue is dry. 

Step 6: Cut the head and tail from green paper. If you need help, cut out the crocodile template to trace onto the paper before cutting.

Step 7: Draw on the mouth and nose, then cut out some teeth from white paper, and glue them to the mouth line. Glue on googly eyes, too.

Step 8: Finally, glue the crocodile’s neck and tail in place. 

Did You Know? The saltwater croc found in the north of Australia is the largest reptile in the world! It can grow more than 6 metres long and weigh over 1000 kilograms.

What You’ll Need

Grab your kids some cardboard rolls, paper, glue, and coloured markers and they’ll have hours of fun these summer holidays

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Rainbow Lorikeet Puppet

Your next puppet show could be Aussie-themed with a rainbow lorikeet as the star.

Once your child’s glued together their felt (and googly eye!), this little lorikeet can take off, flying around the house or landing on friends and family for a little peck at their shoulders.

One of the most colourful and stunning Australian animals, the rainbow lorikeet, is easy to make with this step by step guide.‍

Step 1: Cut out the lorikeet template to use as a handy guide for tracing. 

Step 2: Fold a sheet of purple felt in half. Trace the template onto the felt with a marker. Carefully cut it out to make two identical lorikeet shapes.

Step 3: Pull the two lorikeet shapes apart. Glue the edges of one of the lorikeet shapes, leaving out the bottom edge. This will leave space for your hand! Place the other lorikeet piece over the top and press down gently. Leave to dry.

Step 4: Cut out the lorikeet’s colourful ‘feather’ shapes from the other felt sheets. You can trace the shapes from the template. Then, glue these ‘feathers’ onto your purple base. Wait for the glue to dry.

Step 5: Glue on the lorikeet’s eye (a large googly eye). Once dry, slip your hand inside and you’re ready for your lorikeet to take flight. Why not make a flock? 

Hot Tip: At each stage, give the glue time to dry properly before going on to the next step, and test that the felt pieces are well stuck together.

Did You Know? The rainbow lorikeet is just one of seven Australian species of lorikeet. Its cousins include the coconut, scaly-breasted, purple-crowned, and red-collared lorikeets.

What You’ll Need

Felt, scissors, a pencil, glue and googly eyes, and our rainbow lorikeet template are what you need to create this puppet.

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Tasmanian Devil Face Mask

This adorable face mask is perfect for Halloween, birthday parties, or just playing dress ups these summer holidays.

A little scary, but thankfully also very cute, this fuzzy Tassie devil project needs some serious scissor skills so younger kids may need a little help from an adult.

Get ready for cutting, trimming and snipping to make this magnificent face mask.

Your kids can add black felt to their face mask to create texture and a more life-like appearance

Step 1: Cut out your Tassie devil from the template.

Step 2: Use a pencil to trace the template onto a paper plate. Don’t include the ears (you’ll add them later). Cut it out.

Step 3: Trace the template again on black felt. This time include the ears and then cut the devil shape out.

Step 4: Use craft glue to stick the black felt on top of the paper plate. The felt ears will be stiff enough to stay sticking up.

Step 5: Cut the muzzle and eyes out from brown paper. Cut the insides of the ears from pink paper. Cut two fangs from leftover plate material. If you need help, use the template shapes.

Step 6: Glue the face details onto the felt shape. When dry, use a marker to draw a nose and mouth.

Step 7: Use the pointy end of your scissors to push through the face mask to make eye holes. An adult might need to help widen the eye holes enough to see through them. Then make small holes on either side of the face mask.

Step 8: Cut the black pipe cleaners into little pieces. Glue each piece of ‘fur’ onto the face using dots of craft glue. Allow to dry.

Step 9: Finally, thread a 30cm length of string through a hole on each side of the mask and secure it with a knot. Now, your face mask is ready to wear!

Did You Know? Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world. They can swim and climb trees, and are often very loud and raucous when eating together.

What You’ll Need

Stock up on card, felt sheets, and coloured markers so your kids can create their own Tassie devil face mask.

Studymate Soft Grip Scissors 6"/152mm (not pictured)SEE ALSO: 5 Fun DIY Pipe Cleaner Crafts Projects

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Echidna Face Mask

This super cute echidna face mask is perfect for Halloween, parties, or just crafting fun these summer holidays.

This fun project needs patience, as you’ll be gluing up to 100 matchsticks individually to make the spiky spines of the echidna.

Why not get all the family involved to help? This face mask has loads of texture and personality, especially when you wear it.

The kids can add spikes to their face mask using matchsticks to create a more life-like appearance

Step 1: Cut out your echidna template, carefully cutting around the claws and nose.

Step 2: Use a glue stick to glue the brown paper to the card to make a sturdy base. Trace the template onto the brown paper and then cut out the shape.

Step 3: Carefully cut out the face from the paper template and glue it onto your face mask base. Use a brown marker to colour it in, leaving the eyes, nostrils and inside of the ears white.

Step 4: Hold the mask to your face and using your fingertips, feel where the spots are your eyes need to look through. Mark with a pencil. Ask an adult to help you cut the eye holes into the mask. Gently poke two small holes on either side of the mask, too.

Step 5: Use a black marker to draw on the claws and colour in the nostrils.

Step 6: Using craft glue, gently attach matchsticks all over the echidna’s body, leaving space around the string holes and eyes. Don’t let them stick out too far over the edge. 

Step 7: Thread a 30cm length of string through a hole on each side of the face mask, ready to be tied around your head! And there you go – you’re an echidna! 

Hot Tip: Leave the glue to dry completely before you move your echidna – otherwise the matchsticks will slip and slide.

Did You Know? Echidna spines are actually... hairs! Unlike human hair, these strands are tough and hollow. Although echidnas are covered in spines to protect themselves from predators, underneath is short, soft fur.

What You’ll Need

Make sure you’ve got construction paper, matchsticks and markers so your kids can make their very own echidna face mask.

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Wombat Face Mask

This adorable wombat face mask will be the perfect addition to a Halloween, party, or dress up costume.

Transform yourself into one of Australia’s most beloved marsupials with this easy-to-make face mask. Just add a grey tracksuit (and maybe some cuddly pillow padding around your middle!) and you’ll be ready to go on the prowl.

Download our handy template so the kids can create their very own wombat face mask

Step 1: Download the wombat template, cut it out and set it aside, ready to trace later.

Step 2: Glue the grey paper on top of the card. Then trace around the wombat template. Cut out the wombat face and ask an adult to help you use the scissors to make eye holes big enough to see through. Then poke tiny holes on each side of the face mask

Step 3: Cut one inner ear from your template and use it to trace onto a sheet of brown paper. Cut it out. Repeat with the other side.

Step 4: Glue the brown inner ears to the inside of the wombat’s ears.

Step 5: Cut the nose from the template. Trace and cut from the brown paper. Add nostrils with a black marker. Glue on the nose and draw black rims around the eyes.

Step 6: Use a brown marker to add ‘fur’ in lots of fine strokes.

Step 8: Finally, thread a 30cm length of string through a hole on each side of the face mask, and knot at the back to hold it in place. Now you can become a wombat!

Did You Know? Adult wombats can grow over a metre long and run as fast as humans. And their poo is cube-shaped!

What You’ll Need

Stock up on construction paper, twine and coloured markers and your kids will have fun crafting their own wombat face mask.‍

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Quokka Bookmark

] This cute quokka bookmark will encourage your kids to keep up their reading these summer holidays.‍

This cute Aussie animal can’t wait to snuggle into the pages of your child’s favourite book.

It’ll use its sturdy, adorable paws to get a good grip, so it can dangle off each page, meaning your bookworm will never lose their place!

Step 1: Download the quokka template, and cut out the quokka shape so you have the body, two arms and two feet.

Step 2: Cut your brown paper and black paper in half and glue half a sheet of brown and half a sheet of black paper side by side onto the sheet of card.

Step 3: Trace the quokka body template onto the brown side, then cut out the shape. Do the same with the arms and feet on the black paper section.

Step 4: Cut out some details for your quokka: use grey paper for the eyes and nose and use pink paper for the tongue and ears.

Step 5: Glue all your pieces onto the quokka’s body. Be really careful to only glue the tops of the quokka’s arms down, as they need to lift up to hold onto your book’s pages.

Step 6: Finally, use a marker to colour in the quokka’s eyes, tip of the nose and any other special details you’d like to add.

Hot Tip: Cutting out tiny shapes can be hard! Instead of holding a big piece of paper, cut a small piece from the colour you need, then cut out your little shape.

Did You Know? Quokkas are herbivores. They like to eat plants, including the leaves and bark, and are mostly active at night, making them nocturnal, too.

What You’ll Need

Make reading even more fun for your kids these summer holidays with this super sweet quokka bookmark.

SEE ALSO: 10 Best Craft Kits for Kids

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Koala Bookmark

This adorable koala bookmark will help your little ones keep up their reading these summer holidays.

Create a sweet bookmark of this awesome Aussie favourite to cling to the pages of your child’s latest story or notepad. 

Simply download our cute koala template and your kids will have loads of fun making a koala bookmark these summer holidays.

Step 1: Download the koala bookmark template and cut the koala into the three pieces. Set aside. 

Step 2: Glue the piece of grey paper onto the card, then trace the three koala parts onto the paper from the template. (Stay on one end of the sheet, as you can use the other half for the bilby bookmark, below.) Cut out each piece.

Step 3: Using pink paper, cut two small ear shapes to glue to the inside of the koala’s ears and two small ovals to glue to its feet.

Step 4: Use a black marker to draw on the koala’s eyes, nose, tummy outline and any other special details you’d like to add.

Step 5: Finally, use the glue stick to glue the koala together. Remember to only glue the top part of the arms to the body. The arms will hang over the pages of your book, so you want to keep them up and away from the rest of the bookmark.

Did You Know? Depending on their size, koalas can eat over a kilogram of eucalyptus leaves a day. And when they’re not eating, they’re sleeping – the average koala sleeps for around 20 hours a day!

What You’ll Need 

Australian Animal Crafts for Kids: Bilby Bookmark

This fun – and cute! – craft idea for kids will help them enjoy their reading even more these summer holidays.

Wouldn’t it be fun to have this cute native Australian marsupial peeking over the pages of your child’s latest book? It will make your child smile every time they go to find their page.

There’s some delicate cutting involved in this one, so parental guidance might be required.

Do your kids love Australian animals? They’ll adore making this sweet DIY bilby bookmark.

Step 1: Cut out the individual pieces of the bilby bookmark template.

Step 2: If you haven’t made the koala bookmark (above) yet, glue the sheet of grey paper to the sheet of card. If you have made the koala, use the other half of the grey sheet from that project.

Step 3: Trace the three bilby template pieces onto the grey sheet. Cut out each shape.

Step 4: Cut out the bilby’s tummy and the insides of its ears using pink paper. Cut black paper for the end of the tail. If you need help with the shapes, cut them out of the template and trace onto the paper.

Step 5: Glue the bilby together. Remember, you only want to glue the top part of the arms to the body.

Step 6: Finally, use a black marker to draw in the bilby’s eyes and nose and any other special details you’d like to add. 

Hot Tip: You want the bookmark to be nice and thick so it’s easy to find and use. Use lots of glue when sticking together small pieces of paper. This will give your bilby extra strength.

Did You Know? A bilby’s pouch opens at the bottom, not the top. Experts think it might be to avoid dirt getting in when the bilbies burrow. All that digging these little gardeners do actually helps plants grow in the harsh desert soil.

What You’ll Need

Stock up on the tools needed to make this bilby bookmark and your kids will have lots of crafting fun these summer holidays

Download all the printed templates here

When you've completed one of these amazing Aussie animals crafts, why not share a snap of your fantastic creations?

Ask an adult to snap a photo and share on social (Instagram or Facebook), tagging @officeworks #officeworks #owmakecreate. Lucky creators could be featured on our social channels! 

SEE ALSO: 5 Super-fun Sea Creature Craft Activities for Kids