Cardboard Squirrel Craft That Uses Pieces from Nature

Table of Contents

Last Updated on November 25, 2025 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Invite your children to decorate a cardboard squirrel craft this fall using nature pieces collected from a walk!

Nature walks are fun year-round, but there’s something about fall that makes them even more fun. Perhaps it’s all the colors and textures! It reminds me of when we made our fall suncatchers awhile back using our nature collection. We’ve also brought our collection to the art table and painted them directly!

During our fall unit in November, our three’s teacher cut out two squirrels using recycled cardboard. We were so excited when she asked if my class wanted to decorate one of the squirrels. Well, sure!

And that’s exactly what we did with this activity.

Fall Activities Bundle

Contains 5 of our fall sets. Download, print, enjoy!

SHOP HERE

Cardboard Squirrel Craft

Watch the Video

Recycled that Cardboard!

We are big fans of using cardboard in the classroom. For one, it’s free. We are recycling packaging! Secondly, its thickness makes it very durable.

Some examples of previous cardboard activities:

Recommended Ages

This particular activity was done by our two’s class and our three’s class, but could easily be enjoyed by the older preschool classes as well.

Skills Being Built

Creating this squirrel not only exposes us to natural materials outdoors, but we are also building fine motor skills.

Supplies

Cardboard large enough to cut a squirrel from (your choice what size)
Brown tempera paint
White glue
Nature pieces that you find outdoors such as twigs, moss, leaves, and pinecones

Preparation

Draw a squirrel shape on your cardboard and cut out.
Mix paint and glue (about equal amounts – it doesn’t need to be precise) in small containers.
Collect nature items from outdoors and place on trays.

Set Up

Place squirrel(s), paint, paintbrushes, and paint/glue mixture on a table.

The Activity

Invite your children to paint the squirrel with the brown paint and glue mixture.

Tip: You can use rollers instead of paintbrushes to cover more surface. Our two’s LOVE using rollers with paint!

Even though I told my two’s to paint first, then press the pieces on, they did a little of both, going back and forth.

TIP: It takes awhile for toddlers to understand that the pieces must be touching the glue/paint in order to stick. Continue to remind them, when necessary.

The heavier pieces might need a bit of extra glue. When I see this, I take a squeeze bottle of glue and squirt some on the heavier pieces.

Some of our children painted directly on the nature piece, then pressing it on the cardboard. This is a great bilateral activity because they were using both hands.

When finished, let dry and display.

These were part of our fall decor during our Thanksgiving program!

Modifications

For extra fine motor, invite some children to squeeze glue onto the cardboard rather than brush it on. You can even tint the glue brown (using the brown tempera paint). See video above where I also show that option.