With the new Lion King movie just out (we haven’t seen it yet but would love to) I’ve been thinking of lion craft ideas for kids. The first one I’ve come up with this cute and easy lion spoon puppet.

One lion would have been lonely without a friend to keep hime company, plus two puppets are always more fun than one so I also created a lioness.

Spoon puppets have been around for a long time an are a classic DIY toy to inspire imaginary play. Kids can pretend these ones are Simba and Nala or just lions on Safari in Africa. You could even create a cereal box theatre and put on a show!

You might also like our paper roll giraffes

To make some lion puppets just like these you’ll need wooden teaspoons which can be picked up inexpensively at most dollar stores, or you can also order them online.

When it comes time to do the sticking ordinary glue won’t be strong enough to glue a yarn pom pom to the back of the spoon so you’ll need to use either fabric glue or tacky craft glue (which is stickier than normal craft glue). A hot glue gun would probably also work.

How to make a spoon puppet lion craft

you will need

wooden teaspoons
acrylic or poster paint in yellow and white
tacky craft glue or fabric glue
googly eyes — or use our free printable paper eyes for a more eco-friendly version
small yellow pom poms – mine are approx 1cm
very small pink pom poms – mine are approx 3mm
yellow yarn
a small scrap of yellow felt
A DIY pom pom maker in medium size

How to

Lets get cracking with our lion craft! First paint the spoons. Use a warm yellow for the lion and mix in a bit of white to get a lighter yellow for the lioness. Allow to dry.

While the spoons are drying you can move onto the pom pom mane.

Use the medium sized template create a DIY cardboard pom pom maker and wrap the yellow yarn around it to create a thin pom pom. Be careful not to make it too thick and fluffy because it will make it too heavy to glue onto the spoon.

One key to making a good pom pom is tying the centre string extra tight, so I always wrap the string around a second and third time to get the centre knot a bit tighter.

Next cut the looped string and give it a bit of a trim so the mane is nice and rounded.

Glue on the pom pom cheeks, nose, googly eyes and then glue some felt ears to the back of the spoon.

Finally, place plenty of glue on the back of the spoon and stick the mane into place. Allow to dry completely before play.

For the lioness, everything is the same except she doesn’t need a mane.

Now these two are ready to go and frolic on the African savanna – Roar!

Yield: 2 puppets

lion craft spoon puppet

Make a lion and lioness spoon puppet to inspire imaginary play for kids.

Materials

wooden teaspoons
acrylic or poster paint in yellow and white
tacky craft glue or fabric glue
googly eyes
small yellow pom poms – mine are approx 1cm
very small pink pom poms – mine are approx 3mm
yellow yarn
a small scrap of yellow felt
A DIY pom pom maker in medium size

Instructions

First paint the spoons. Use a warm yellow for the lion and mix in a bit of white to get a lighter yellow for the lioness. Allow to dry. While the spoons are drying you can move onto the pom pom mane.
Use our medium sized template create a DIY cardboard pom pom maker and wrap the yellow yarn around it to create a thin pom pom. Be careful not to make it too thick and fluffy because it will make it too heavy to glue onto the spoon. One key to making a good pom pom is tying the centre string extra tight, so I always wrap the string around a second and third time to get the centre knot a bit tighter. Next cut the looped string and give it a bit of a trim so the mane is nice and rounded.
Glue on the pom pom cheeks, nose, googly eyes and then glue some felt ears to the back of the spoon.
Finally, place plenty of glue on the back of the spoon and stick the mane into place. Allow to dry completely before play.

For the lioness, everything is the same except she doesn’t need a mane.