These crumpled paper crafts give little fingers some good exercise for their fine motor muscles, while also boosting their focus and concentration!

There’s something very calming about doing things with your hands, isn’t there? Whether it’s squishing playdough, mixing sand, or tearing paper, something is amazing about tactile, sensory experiences. What’s more, tasks like these strengthen the muscles in the hands, especially for young kids. That’s why experts recommend activities like tearing and crumpling paper for toddlers and preschoolers!

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Tips for Making Crumpled Paper Crafts

Experiment with different kinds of paper – crepe paper and tissue paper are the easiest
Use a thick paper or cardstock as the base to hold the weight of the crumpled balls
You can use colored paper to crumple, or paint on top of the crumpled paper for a different effect
You can try loosely crumpled paper or tightly crumpled – they change the look of the final product
If your child is too young to do it by themselves, you can tear the pieces and hand it to them to crumple

Now that we’ve got the tips out of the way, are you ready to go a-crumpling? We certainly are, so here are some awesome, creative crumpled paper crafts for kids to try, with year-round projects!

15 Creative Crumpled Paper Crafts for Kids

1. Crumpled Paper Turtle Craft

If you’re looking for a craft for World Turtle Day or are learning about reptiles, you’ll enjoy this crumpled paper turtle – we love how colorful his shell is!

2. Crumpled Paper Flower Mother’s Day Card

Crumpled paper is a great choice for making flowers, and flowers are always a great choice for Mother’s Day! We combine both in this easy Mother’s Day card that even young kids can make.

3. Crumpled Paper Sunflower Craft

This sunflower craft is a fun project for little kids learning about the different colors of flowers, or for older kids learning about the parts of a sunflower.

4. Crumpled Paper Hedgehog Craft

A hedgehog is the perfect choice for making crumpled paper crafts – the balls work so well as its spines! This guy is not at all prickly, but is certainly easy to make!

5. Easy Crumpled Lion Craft for Kids

How majestic does this little lion look here, with his lush, thick mane and that bushy tail? Well, we’ve got crumpled paper to thank for these, and I’m sure the lion is glad!

6. Cute Crumpled Sheep Craft for Kids

These sheep-themed crumpled paper crafts are great for Easter, spring, or Bakrid, or for anyone learning about farm animals. These guys are white, but you can also try a black sheep version!

7. Crumpled Crepe Paper Heart Wreath

Decorate your space for Valentine’s Day with this stunning heart-shaped wreath, made entirely out of crumpled crepe paper! You can experiment with different colors to match the decor of your room.

8. Crumpled Paper Butterfly Craft

If you’ve made flower-themed crumpled paper crafts, can butterflies be far behind? Well, The Craft Train shows us how to make some colorful little butterflies using all the colored paper you have!

9. Crumpled Tissue Paper Easter Egg Craft

You can decorate anything as Easter eggs, including plastic eggs or real eggs – and now Happy Hooligans have gone and made Easter eggs out of colorful crumpled paper!

10. Crumpled Tissue Paper Christmas Art

Christmas baubles are always a pretty sight, even when they’re made with crumpled paper! The Craft at Home Family shows that you can make all kinds of patterned ornaments with colored paper.

11. Tissue Paper Rainbow Craft

So we’ve featured crumpled paper crafts for Easter and Christmas, looks like it’s the turn of St. Patrick’s Day! Check out Crafting a Fun Life for a beautiful rainbow project featuring crumpled paper in seven colors.

12. Crumpled Crepe Paper Cardboard Easel Art

Parents shows us that you don’t need a lot to create a masterpiece – just a simple easel and lots of crumpled paper balls! Draw a simple picture on cardstock or cardboard and let kids fill it in with crumpled paper in colors of their choice.

13. Crumpled Paper New Year Wand Craft

If you like hosting a kiddie party for New Year’s, be sure to include this craft from Live Over Cs! They’re super easy to make and you can hand them out as party favors for the kids to take home.

14. Santa Claus Tissue Paper Craft

Simple Everyday Mom brings us another fun Christmas-themed crumpled paper project – Santa Claus! We like how Santa’s eyes are different from the rest of his face – adds interest to the craft!

15. Paper Plate Earth Craft with Crumpled Tissue Paper

We’ve covered the major holidays in terms of crumpled paper crafts, but we’ve left out an important one – Earth Day! The Craft at Home Family shows us a cute way to celebrate this special day, with blue and green tissue paper.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this list of crumpled paper crafts for kids. As mentioned earlier, you can try experimenting with different kinds of paper, although we recommend tissue or crepe paper for beginners or young kids. Even older kids can enjoy these projects since paper crumpling can prove to be quite a therapeutic activity for them!

Here are some more easy paper-themed craft projects you may like: