Folding Paper Zoo Animals
Print out, color, cut out and fold these printable zoo animals into three-dimensional paper figures.

Safety Tips

  • Kids 8 years and younger should use child-safe scissors.
Folding Paper Zoo Animals craft

Materials

  • Printable card stock
  • Colored pencils, markers or crayons
  • Scissors

Steps

Step 1 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 1. Print out any of these Folding Zoo Animals on card stock.
Step 2 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 2. Color and cut out the paper animal.
Step 3 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 3. You will need to properly crease your paper animal to make it stand upright. First, fold the animal along the middle and unfold.
Step 4 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 4. To allow the animal to stand on its legs, fold both sides near the start of the legs inwards. Unfold.
Step 5 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 5. Notice the kite-shaped dotted lines on the neck. Fold the neck outwards along the middle line so that it is fully bent back.
Step 6 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 6. While keeping the neck folded, starting at the base of the head, fold the head back inward.
Step 7 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 7. Unfold. Fold the paper animal again along the middle like in Step 3.
Step 8 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 8. While keeping the paper animal folded along the middle, fold along the dotted diagonal line closer to the head. Fold to one side.
Step 9 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 9. Then to the other side.
Step 10 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 10. Again, keeping the paper animal folded along the middle, fold along the dotted diagonal farther from the head. Likewise, fold to one side.
Step 11 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 11. And then to the other side.
Step 12 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 12. Unfold. With the creases in place, you are now ready to position your paper animal.
Step 13 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 13. Fold the neck outwards again so that it is fully bent back.
Step 14 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 14. While pinching the creased triangular area in the neck, push the torso inwards along the middle. This should cause the head to pop up slightly.
Step 15 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 15. Starting at the base of the head, fold the head back inward.
Step 16 Folding Paper Zoo Animals 16. If your paper animal has a tail, curl it either upwards or downwards.

Place your paper animal on a flat surface to allow it to stand on its legs.

More Ideas

Folding paper hippo and elephant Once you've crafted one folding animal, making the rest of the herd is a piece of cake! And while you're at it, why not learn some interesting things about these animals? Check out cool animal facts at National Geographic Kids and Animal Planet.
Folding paper lion and lionness Some of the printable folding animals, like the "Big Cat" can be made into different kinds of wild cats, depending on how you color and decorate it. Coloring it light brown or tan can make a lionness. Further gluing on short strips of orange crepe paper all around the back of the head can turn it into a lion.
Folding paper leopard and panther Color the printable big cat black to come up with a black panther. Make spotted wild cats like the leopard, jaguar or cheetah by coloring the animal yellow or light brown and making small black spots. Finger painting or using a Q-tip to paint the dots is a fun idea!

These Big Cat Animal Facts at National Geographic are quite helpful if you're curious about the different kinds of wild cats.
Folding paper bear The printable bear is another one which offers several possibilites. You can make a black bear, brown bear, polar bear, or panda bear, depending on how you color the template.
Make a box zoo for your paper animals To make a home for your paper animals, check out our Box Zoo and Habitat Diorama crafts.

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