Life-Size Grizzly Bear Paw Craft

When I realized that Montana was the only state with no craft suggestions, I made it a priority. I checked their state symbols and the first thing that popped up was a grizzly bear, Montana's state animal. Cool! It's California's state animal, too.

I don't like to reinvent the wheel, so I always check to see what crafts are out there before I spend time duplicating someone else's efforts. A quick search revealed that there are tons of grizzly bear craft ideas for kids, most of them using a paper plate, cardboard tube, or paper bag to make the bear's face or body. I wanted something different, so I started researching grizzly bears in hopes of finding inspiration. When I learned that a grizzly's paw can be 12 inches long with claws up to 4 inches, I knew what I wanted my craft to be.

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Life-Size Grizzly Bear Paws

Materials: 

• two sheets of brown 9" x 12" construction paper
• one sheet of tan 9" x 12" construction paper
• pencil
• scissors
• brown marker
• glue
• tape

Steps:

Orient the brown construction paper vertically and trim around 2 inches off the top, curving as you cut to round it off. Trim a tiny bit off the bottom corners to round them. Repeat this on the second sheet of construction paper. (You can cut both at the same time to be sure they're exactly the same. For young children, have them draw the cut lines first, then connect the two pieces of paper with paper clips on the sides and bottom before they cut.)

Cut two 8" x 1" strips from the tan construction paper and set them aside. Cut ten claws (elongated narrow triangles) from the remaining construction paper. The claws should be around 4" long. 

To draw the features on the bear paw, imagine it like a dinner plate. Using a pencil first so that you can adjust your lines if needed, draw an egg at the bottom left, a taco at the bottom right, a steak in the middle that stretches from end to end, and five marshmallows touching each other along the top. When you're happy with the lines, trace over them with the brown pen. Then cut a bit out around the toes. This is the right paw. 

To make the left paw, draw the same features but in mirror imagine. Trace over the lines in pen, then cut out the toes. 

Turn the paws upside down. Glue the claws behind each of the toes. Tape just the ends of the tan strips to the paws to make a handle. 

When the glue is dry, your completed paws will look like this. 

 I tried to get Trevor to act ferocious for the camera, but he kept laughing. 

This craft is a fun jumping off point for an in-depth study of this fascinating animal. Stores may be sold out of hand sanitizer and toilet paper, but there are plenty of toys, books, puzzles, and other materials to keep kids busy and learning.