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Learn about an amazing desert creature with these cute camel crafts for kids! Perfect for Bakrid, World Camel Day, or for lessons about habitats.

You’ve seen and heard of various Beauty Contests held around the world, with titles like Miss Universe, Miss World, etc. They feature beautiful young women from various countries, representing their unique cultures and heritage. However, did you know that there is another kind of beauty contest, for animals? Yes, it exists – the Mazayen al-ibl or the Camel Beauty Contest is a big event in Saudi Arabia!

We’re not kidding, this is actually a big deal in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the camel is the national animal. It is now an official event, also called the King Abdel Aziz Festival. This isn’t a frivolous beauty pageant either; with prize money of $31.8 million, the stakes are quite high!

Qurbani, which means sacrifice, refers to the sacred Muslim ritual of sacrificing animals during Eid-ul-Adha. This tradition is followed during the Islamic month of Dhul Hijah every year. As per traditions, Muslims across the world slaughter an animal–a cow, goat, sheep or camel–as a tribute to Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail.

With World Camel Day coming up on 22nd June, and with Bakrid following soon on 10th July, we think it’s a good opportunity to celebrate the famed ship of the desert, the hardy yet elegant camel. So here are some cute and fun camel crafts for kids – don’t blame us if it has you craving a trip to the Arab desert!

10 Cute and Cheery Camel Crafts for Kids

1. Torn Paper Craft

While camels may seem like a practical animal to domesticate in the desert, the camel has much more importance than pure functionality. Camels feature in religious texts like the Bible and the Quran, and many tribes in Rajasthan treat camels like part of the family. They even believe that the camel’s milk is priceless and shouldn’t be sold – it should only be given. Learn more about the importance of camels in popular culture as you make camel crafts like this fun craft from Jo Jacks.

2. Toilet Paper Roll Camel Craft

We love this cute little camel from Red Ted Art – although he does look a bit wobbly on those legs! Even if he does, he can go to a camel hospital – like the Dubai Camel Hospital, the first hospital for camels in the whole world! The hospital has state of the art equipment and even a mini race track for the camels to practice their sprints after surgery!

3. Camel Race Steam Activity

You can’t have a list of camel crafts without mentioning the camel race! The Educator’s Spin on It celebrates the camel race, a big event in Arab countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Special camels are bred specifically for racing, and they’re treated very well. Turkey even has a camel wrestling event every year!

4. Desert Biome Diorama

We love this little desert diorama  from Life over C’s – it’ really gives you the feel of a sandy desert habitat! Camels are built to withstand desert conditions – they have long eyelashes and three sets of eyelids to keep the sand away from their eyes. They have thick skin on their knees and chests as well as flat feet so they can walk without sinking into the sand.

5. Folding Camel Craft

This fun folding craft from A Crafty Arab is something kids will enjoy playing with! You can use the fold to depict all the different ways camels are useful, like providing camel milk, for instance. Camel milk is considered the healthiest kind of animal milk, being low in cholesterol and rich in Vitamin C, sodium, potassium and other nutrients. In Kazakhstan, they even use camel milk to treat illnesses like tuberculosis.

6. Camel Silhouette Craft

This project from Instructables uses the right colors of craft paper to really give you the feeling of an extremely sunny desert atmosphere. It may seem like dehydrating weather, but that’s only for us – not for the camels! Camels can go on for 6-7 months without drinking water, and when they do find it, they can drink over 120 liters in one stretch!

7. Sunset Camels Art Project

Of the different kinds of camels, the most endangered is the wild Bactrian camel, who come under the critically endangered category. These camels are only found in some parts of the world, like China and Mongolia. It’s important to spread awareness about it, and camel crafts like this one from Let’s Explore are a good way to do so.

8. Felt Camel Puppet

This project from Dreamesh is no less than a work of art, especially that fabric laden load on his back! Camels can carry large loads, going up to 400 kg. They can also walk pretty fast with that load, going as fast as a race horse! In fact, there’s a Camel Mobile Library in Kenya, which provides books to people in areas that don’t have a library.

9. Recycled Camel Craft

We love using random materials to create crafts, and that’s one reason we included this project from Krokotak in our list of camel crafts. This camel has two humps, which means it’s a Dromedary camel – two humped camels are called Bactrian camels. Most people think that the humps contain water, but it actually contains fat to help the camel survive without food in the desert.

10. Camel Drawing Tutorial

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to draw a camel, this tutorial from Art Projects for Kids should help. Draw the camel with its long legs, curved neck, humps and thick lips. The lips help camels eat the kinds of plants found in the desert, which are mostly thorny bushes. The lips also help them to spit if they feel threatened – so be careful!

These camel crafts for kids will encourage us to learn more about the terrain and weather of another part of the world, and it can be quite eye opening and intriguing. If you’re doing an Arab study session, you can combine these crafts with other projects like Ancient Egypt crafts, Mosque crafts or Islamic art projects. If you have a friend or neighbour who’s celebrating Bakrid, don’t forget to make him or her a cute little Eid card!