If you’re looking for a fun and colorful back to school craft this year, we’ve got the perfect one for you – a paper bag pencil and backpack craft!

Imagine if your school supplies could talk to each other when you’re not around, like the toys do in the Toy Story movies. What would they say to each other?

Maybe the backpack would complain about the weight it bears. Perhaps the pencil is feeling good about being freshly sharpened. The crayons are probably having the time of their lives, sitting inside a cute box!

If this sounds interesting, here’s an exercise you could try: imagine how your school supplies would talk to each other on a regular school day, and turn that into a script for a show, with dialogue and everything.

Now all that’s missing are characters for your show, and we’ve got some cool ones! Here is a paper bag pencil and backpack craft that would go perfectly with our Notebook and Crayons Paper Bag Craft. Since they’re all paper bag crafts, you can turn them into puppets for a fun Back-to-School special puppet show for your friends and family!

Contents show

Paper Bag Pencil and Backpack Craft for Kids

Supplies required:

Brown paper bags
Colored craft paper
Pencil
A pair of scissors
Craft glue
Markers

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How to make the Paper Bag Pencil Craft:

1. Download and print the Paper Bag Pencil and Backpack Craft template. The template has two parts – one for the paper bag pencil craft and one for the paper bag backpack craft. Let’s start with the pencil craft.

2. Trace the parts of the paper bag pencil craft template on craft paper of the appropriate colors and cut them out. The template includes an eraser, an eraser strip, the pencil tip and lead. You’ll also need a rectangular sheet of paper the same size as the front of your paper bag – we’ve used yellow for this. Keep the eraser pink, and the strip above it grey. We’ve chosen a light brown for the pencil tip and black for the lead.

3. Let’s start assembling the first part of our pencil and backpack craft – the paper bag pencil! Stick the lead to the pointy end of the pencil tip. Attach the grey band to the eraser cutout, aligning their curved edges.

4. Take your paper bag and the yellow rectangle – make sure the rectangle can completely cover the front of the paper bag below the folded flap.

5. Stick the yellow rectangle on the front of the paper bag, right below the folded flap. The base of your paper bag pencil craft is ready.

6. Stick the pencil tip on the folded flap of the paper bag, with the lead pointing upward.

7. Glue the eraser to the open end of the paper bag, opposite to the pencil lead.

8. Our pencil and backpack craft is getting there! Stick the eyes on the yellow rectangle, a little below the pencil tip. Sitck the cheeks right under the eyes.

9. Use a black marker to draw a smile under the eyes.

10. Use colored markers to add outlines to all the parts of the paper bag pencil puppet. Use a yellow marker to draw stripes on the pencil, just like you would see on a real pencil. The first part of your pencil and backpack craft is ready!

How to make the Paper Bag Backpack Craft:

1. We’re moving on to the second part of our pencil and backpack craft – the paper bag backpack! Trace the patterns of the paper bag backpack template on craft paper of the appropriate colors and cut them out. You can choose any colors you like; we’ve decided to go with a blue and green theme for our backpack. The template includes the top flap, the handle, the pocket and the clasp. You’ll also need a rectangular piece of paper the same size as the front of your paper bag, to be the base of your backpack craft.

2. Stick the pocket in the center of the bottom half of the base rectangle. Attach the handle to the top of the flap with glue. Stick the clasp in the middle of the flap, along the lower edge, as shown below.

3. Stick the eyes in the center of the base rectangle, and the cheeks right below them, so they lie above the pocket.

4. Take a paper bag and stick the base pattern on the front of the paper bag, right below the folded flap.

5. Attach the flap pattern to the folded flap, so it looks like the image below.

There you go – both parts of your pencil and backpack craft are complete and ready to play with!

How cute are these guys? Along with the notebook and crayons, they’re perfect to put on a fun show, and you can make it as wacky as you like. Who knows, this might just turn into a great back-to-school tradition every year!

If you are looking for more Back to School crafts, check these out: