It’s Mickey Mouse’s birthday, & we’re joining the party with these magical Mickey Mouse crafts for kids! Keep them for yourself or gift them to your friends!

When you think of powerful animals, images of elephants and lions come to mind, and rightfully so. However, there’s a tiny creature that no one would think of, which has actually been immensely popular for generations now. Yes, we’re talking about a mouse, and not just any mouse – Mickey Mouse!

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The Birth of Mickey Mouse

So we know that Mickey Mouse was the brainchild of Walt Disney, but how exactly did that happen?

Back in 1927, Walt Disney had created a cartoon character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. However, in the following year, the character was acquired by Universal Pictures, along with many of Disney’s animators.

Facing financial difficulties following the loss of his iconic character, Walt Disney had to figure out a replacement fast. One of the remaining animators at Disney, Ub Iwerks, came up with characters based on many animals, including dogs, cats, cows, horses and frogs. But Walt Disney didn’t like any of them.

Finally, Iwerks came up with a mouse character based on some of Disney’s own designs, and the rest is history!

We’re not sure where the idea for a mouse came from – some say it is based on Walt Disney’s childhood pet, while others say it is based on a mouse that lived in his desk.

Well, whatever it is, thanks to Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, we now have one of the most lovable characters of all time – Mickey Mouse!

Since 18th November is officially Mickey Mouse’s birthday, we’ve decided to celebrate with some magical Mickey Mouse crafts for kids and the kids-at-heart!

15 Magical Mickey Mouse Crafts for Kids

1. Mickey and Minnie Craft Stick DIY

We’re talking about Mickey Mouse crafts for kids, but did you know that he wasn’t originally called Mickey? Disney planned to name him ‘Mortimer Mouse’, but his wife, Lillian, said that ‘Mickey’ was better. Mickey’s full name is Michael Theodore Mouse, and he is known as Musse Pigg in Sweden, Topolino in Italy and Mi Lao Shu in China. Try saying these names as you make this craft from DIY and Fun!

2. Disney-Inspired Mickey & Minnie Photo Frames Craft

Mickey is most often featured in his trademark red shorts with yellow buttons and white gloves. His gloves are white so that his hands are visible when they’re in front of his body. The Purple Pumpkin Blog has a cute photo frame craft that features Mickey’s iconic colors!

3. Minnie & Mickey Mouse Paper Plate Craft

You can’t help but mention Minnie Mouse when speaking of Mickey Mouse crafts for kids! Minnie was created at the same time as Mickey Mouse as his love interest. She first appeared in 1928 and shares Mickey’s birthday too. This means that we need to celebrate Minnie’s birthday as well, and Simple Everyday Mom helps us do it with this craft.

4. DIY Mickey Mouse Paper Bag Puppet

You’ve heard Mickey’s voice and noticed that high-pitched, falsetto voice. Walt Disney was the first person to voice the character, and now you can practice Mickey’s voice too, as you make this paper bag puppet from Mombrite!

5. DIY Mickey Notebook

When Minnie Mouse was designed, she looked quite similar to Mickey, except for the fact that she wore a polka-dotted dress with white bloomers and yellow shoes, along with a large bow. We love how Ruffles and Rainboots takes these features and uses them to make these adorable Mickey and Minnie books!

6. Mickey Mouse Pocket Keepsake

If you’ve seen Osward the Rabbit, you’ll notice that Mickey Mouse looks quite similar. When Ub Iwerks was designing Mickey, he created the character out of circles. That’s why if you look carefully, you’ll see that Mickey’s ears are always perfect circles, at every angle. A Country Girl’s Life uses circles too, in this project that’s a lovely keepsake!

7. Mickey Mouse Drawing Tutorial

You can’t have a list of Mickey Mouse crafts for kids without a tutorial showing you how to draw him, right? Thankfully, Art Projects for Kids comes through, and it’s quite accurate, down to the four-fingered hand. This is because Walt Disney didn’t like how five fingers looked. What’s more, Mickey having just four fingers ended up saving the company millions of dollars in animating efforts!

8. DIY Paper Mickey Mouse Ornaments

Mickey Mouse made an appearance on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade back in 1934. The Mickey Mouse balloon was a whopping 40 feet high and had to be controlled by a team of people! If you’d like to add a Mickey Mouse touch to your celebrations, check out these DIY ornaments from Red Ted Art!

9. Tape Resist Mickey Art Project

It’s time for a Mickey Mouse art project, and we love this one from ABCDE Learning! It’s a tape resist activity, which is quite popular with kids and teens alike!

10. Mickey & Minnie Paper Weaving Activity

When he was launched, Mickey Mouse appeared in black and white films. His first color appearance was in 1935, and his last black and white film was released two months later. Before color, Mickey Mouse’s shorts weren’t always red, but later they were always red. Try experimenting with paper of different colors in this paper weaving activity by The Aloha Hut!

11. Easy Mickey Mouse Cork Craft

We love making Mickey Mouse crafts for kids out of things lying around the house, and if you have wine corks, try out this project from Reuse Grow Enjoy! Mickey Mouse’s style can also be considered a ‘recycled’ version of Charlie Chaplin, of whom Walt Disney was a big fan. He even said that he was “indebted to Charlie Chaplin” for the idea of Mickey Mouse!

12. Mickey Mouse Pencil Jar Holder

We love making things out of mason jars, and that’s why we love this craft from Inspiring Savings! You can use it as a pen holder or to save money for your next Disneyland trip. All the Mickey Mouse mascots at Disneyland are required to be at least 1.3 m tall, and they have to practice the ‘Mickey’ signature while wearing their gloves, which can be hard!

13. Toilet Paper Roll Mickey Mouse

We can’t get through this list of Mickey Mouse crafts for kids without talking about Mickey’s friends! We know that Minnie Mouse is his girlfriend, but he also has friends like Donald Duck and Goofy, as well as a pet dog named Pluto. Mickey Mouse also has an enemy – a large cat named Pete! Oh Party Land brings us a project that celebrates all of Mickey’s friends, and kids will love making them!

14. Mickey and Minnie Mouse Bookmarks

Mickey Mouse has a long-standing association with the Academy Awards. 10 Mickey Mouse cartoons have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, and one won the award in 1941. Mickey Mouse has also presented the award for Best Animated Short Film at the award ceremony in 1988 and 2003. Walt Disney received an honorary Academy Award in 1932, 4 years after Mickey Mouse was launched. Read more about the man and the mouse with the help of these DIY bookmarks from Hispana Global.

15. Mickey Mouse Button Art

When Mickey Mouse turned 80 in 2008, Time magazine declared him to be one of the world’s most easily recognized characters. It is estimated that 98% of children around the world between the ages of 3 and 11 can identify Mickey Mouse. It is not surprising, then, that he is the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mickey Mouse has also met every U.S President since Truman to date, except one. Celebrate the popularity of the mous with a cute button craft from The Crazy Craft Lady.

These Mickey Mouse crafts for kids are great for a Mickey Mouse party or to get kids excited about a trip to Disneyland. It’s also a wonderful celebration of how someone seemingly small and inconsequential can take on the world and spread love across borders! What else can you want in a hero?

If you’re looking for more Disney character crafts, check these out: