Paper Plate Beaver

Part of my job at Fun Family Crafts is to make sure we have the widest possible variety of craft tutorials. Rather than add to a topic that is already has dozens of great ideas, I'm always looking to see what we don't have represented. We literally have thousands of animal crafts, yet exactly one of those is a beaver. So I made a paper plate version of this fascinating rodent. 

----------

Paper Plate Beaver

Materials:

• paper plate
• brown paint
• scissors
• construction paper (brown, black, white) 
• black pen
• craft glue

Steps:

Paint the paper plate brown, then set it aside. While it is drying, cut out two small circles (eyes) and one oval (nose) from the black construction paper. Cut two rounded ovals (ears) from the brown construction paper. Cut two rectangles (teeth) from the white construction paper. 

When the paint is dry, cut the bottom of the paper plate to form the beaver's cheeks. Discard the smaller piece.

Glue the ears behind the paper plate at the 2:00 and 10:00 positions. Glue the nose to the front of the plate, slightly below center. Glue the teeth behind the bottom of the plate. 

Experiment with where you want the eyes. I think that close together is cuter...

... and farther apart is more realistic. 

 

Use the marker to add whiskers. 

Here's some fun facts about the American Beaver.

• Beavers are the largest rodents in North America and second largest rodents in the world (the largest is the capybara).
• A beaver’s incisors are harder on the front than on the back. This way the back wears faster, creating a sharp edge that lets a beaver cut easily through wood. 
• Beavers are herbivores. They eat aquatic plants and the soft inner bark of trees. Beavers store green branches underwater so they can eat them throughout the winter.
• The world’s largest beaver dam is in Alberta, Canada and measures 2,790 feet long.  
• Beavers can hold their breath underwater for up to 15 minutes.
• Oregon and New York have both named the beaver as their state animal.