Make Sustainable Gifts This Holiday Season with Nature Cat Stuffed Toys
It’s easy to get caught up in our wants during the holiday season. Everyone is thinking about the gifts they hope to get, but Nature Cat teaches us that the holidays are more about giving. Nature Cat helps us learn to care for nature while we create these fun toys stuffed with reusable items from around the house. They make great gifts for friends and loved ones and your child will have fun putting them together in the holiday spirit!
Everyone loves to receive gifts during the holidays, but it can be even more fun making them! We can make gifts for our friends and loved ones, just like Nature Cat’s friends did when they gave him his hat. These simple stuffed puppets come together with a little felt and some hot glue. And they are sure to bring a smile to both the giver and the recipient!
Materials
Directions
Start by downloading and printing the template for the stuffed toys.
Using a marker, trace each piece of the pattern onto its respective felt color and cut out.
For the head/face, you will have cut two pieces. Place the template under one of the head pieces and trace Nature Cat’s smile with a marker. Draw the small black pupils on each eye with the marker as well.
For the hat, fold up the bottom of each piece and secure in place with a small dollop of hot glue. Using the hot glue gun, attach the two pieces together, but be sure to leave the bottom open for stuffing.
Hot glue the two head pieces together following the recommendations on the pattern (small bead of hot glue ¼” in all the way around), but leave a 2-3” section open at the top to fill the piece with stuffing of choice.
Fill the head piece with stuffing and then glue the top shut. Optional: Before sealing the head pieces together, attach a popsicle stick with hot glue to the back piece and then stuff and seal with the top piece. Now you have a little puppet to carry around!
Stuff the hat with stuffing and then attach it to the top of the head with hot glue.
Fold, glue, and attach the ears with hot glue. You can stuff them prior to gluing if you desire. Draw a line down the red feather with marker and secure the hat with a small dollop of hot glue. Lastly, attach the nose and then layer on the eyes with glue. That’s it!
To make the Daisy stuffed toy, print, cut, and follow the pattern instructions like the ones above. You can attach a small piece of pipe cleaner to the backside of each pink earpiece prior to gluing the ears together. This will help create the illusion of poseable ears. Finally, glue the facial pieces last, making sure to layer the nose, followed by the hair tuft, and then the eyes.
Have fun wrapping up these presents and delivering them to friends and loved ones. You and your child can brighten someone’s day with a delivery of these stuffed toys, while also celebrating nature and the spirit of giving.
Explore Further
Make a set of stuffed toys for you and a friend to use for your next Agent of the Great Outdoors nature mission! They’re small enough to take with you when exploring outside and they make great companions on nature walks.
Want more “Nature Cat” activities? Try making a Nature Art Picture Frame and a Wild Bee Hotel to continue the fun!
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Emotions & Self-Awareness
Social Skills
Character
- Activity Type
- Craft
- Topics