Make your own recycled Aussie animals out of cardboard

Make your own recycled Aussie animals out of cardboard

By Babysits
4 min read

Looking for a way to engage children in educational play? Why not have them learn about native Australian animals and conservation while having lots of fun along the way? Follow our steps to create your own native Australian animals out of recycled cardboard with this fun craft!

Ever dreamed of having your very own cute koala, kangaroo, wombat, or cassowary at home? With just some recycled cardboard and colouring utensils, and a little creativity, it’s possible! (And much safer than having an actual wild animal in your home.)

Necessary materials:

  • Cardboard (Why not reuse an old box!)
  • Pencil and eraser
  • Scissors
  • Paint and paint brushes

aussie cardboard animals materials

Step One

First, trace the outline of your favourite Australian animal on a piece of cardboard. We chose to create a koala, kangaroo, wombat, and cassowary, so we traced these shapes.

Don’t worry about being too precise with the shape, as long as it is the general shape of the animal then you can always add more detail when colouring!

Also, don’t forget to create legs for your animals! To do this, we drew a U-shape, (and small feet shapes for the kangaroo and cassowary), which you can put together later to help your animal stand up.

Step Two

Once you’ve finished tracing your animals onto the cardboard, you need to cut them out. It can be a bit tough to cut, especially if you have a thicker piece of cardboard, so it’s better to have an adult help with this step.

Aussie cardboard animals

Step Three

Once your animal is cut out, it's time to give it a dash of colour. Get your colouring utensils ready and get ready to have some fun! We used paint to add colour to our animals, and did our best to match the actual colour of the animal. But, if you prefer to have a purple kangaroo or green koala it’s up to you!

Also, don’t forget to add the details like eyes, nose and ears.

Aussie cardboard animals

Step Four

After the animals have been coloured, it’s time to put them together. You can cut a small slit in the body shape of your animal for each pair of legs the animal has (for example, a kangaroo will need one slit and a wombat will need two). Then, you can slide the U-shaped legs into the slit.

Tip: We used glue to connect the long kangaroo feet to the “U” shaped legs and waited for it to dry before sliding the legs into the body.

Aussie cardboard animals

And that’s it! You’re created your very own Australian animals!

Did you enjoy this craft? Be sure to check out Babysits’ other cardboard animal DIY for more animal craft inspiration!

Fun Facts about Aussie Animals

  • Did you know? Nearly 90% of the animals native to Australia are found nowhere else in the world. That makes Aussie animals really unique!

  • Cassowaries eat mainly fruit and cover large areas of ground, spreading seeds wherever they go. Because of this, they are a very important part of the ecosystem and help rainforests grow!

  • The Red Kangaroo is the largest marsupial in the world!

  • A group of wombats is called “a wisdom of wombats!”

  • Koalas are very sleepy. They can even sleep as much as 18 hours in a day!

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