Free Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft —
Four Designs for Kids

Fall crafts project for children; making paper plate scarecrows!

A paper plate scarecrow craft is one of the most beloved fall activities for children — easy enough for preschoolers with a little help, satisfying enough for older elementary children to complete independently. They're cheerful enough to display proudly in a classroom, on a front door, or in the garden itself.

Our Kids Garden Club paper plate scarecrow craft collection gives you four complete designs to choose from, plus a full template sheet for the clothing and accessories, all free to download and print.

Most paper plate scarecrow craft resources offer a single design. We offer four — two versions of a boy scarecrow with detailed step-by-step illustrated instructions, a simpler boy scarecrow for younger children, and a lady scarecrow in a cheerful pink dress.

Every paper plate scarecrow craft design in our collection includes a full eight-step illustrated instruction sheet and a complete list of supplies.

The template sheet is available in both full color and black and white so children can color the pieces themselves before assembling their scarecrow.

These paper plate scarecrow craft designs are from the Kids Garden Club series at Vegetable Gardening Online. All are free to download and use as many times as you like at home, in the classroom, or in a homeschool garden program.

What You Need for the Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft

Handy list of supplies that can be used in making paper plate scarecrow crafts.

Every paper plate scarecrow craft in our collection uses the same basic supplies so you can set up one crafting station for a whole class or family group. Here is what to gather before you begin.

For all paper plate scarecrow craft designs you will need two paper plates — one for the head and one for the body. Standard nine-inch dinner paper plates work perfectly. If paper plates are not available, nine-inch circles cut from white cardstock work just as well.

Additional supplies for the paper plate scarecrow craft vary slightly by design but generally include construction paper in brown, orange, yellow, and your chosen clothing color, markers or crayons for drawing the face and details, scissors, a glue stick or craft glue, and a stapler or hole punch for attaching the head to the body.

Optional but fun additions include raffia, yarn, or straw for the scarecrow's hair and sticking out from the sleeve ends, buttons or fabric scraps for decorating the body, and a sunflower cutout for the hat.

The simpler third design — our most beginner-friendly paper plate scarecrow craft — requires only construction paper, markers or crayons, glue, and scissors. No stapler or raffia needed, making it the ideal choice for very young children or when supplies are limited.

Design 1 — Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft
With Patches and Bow Tie

Gentleman paper plate scarecrow craft plan; click image to download.

Design 2 — Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft in OverallsOur first paper plate scarecrow craft features a friendly scarecrow with a plaid shirt, bow tie, suspenders, buttons, and fabric or paper patches for a cozy, well-loved look.

This is our most detailed and decorative design — the finished scarecrow has real visual richness from the layered clothing elements and makes a beautiful display piece.

The eight-step instruction sheet walks children through drawing the face, adding the hat and raffia hair, attaching the head to the body plate, cutting arms from construction paper with raffia straw hands, adding the shirt front and bow tie, and finishing with patches for a charming patchwork effect.

The Fun Ideas section on the instruction sheet suggests using different colors and patterns, adding a hanging string for display, and making a whole family of scarecrows — boy, girl, and different sizes.

Supplies needed: two paper plates, construction paper, markers or crayons, glue, scissors, stapler or hole punch, raffia or yarn or straw, and optional buttons and fabric scraps.

Design 2 — Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft in Overalls

Color and design your own paper plate scarecrow. Click image to download.

Our second paper plate scarecrow craft features a classic country scarecrow in a plaid shirt and blue overalls with a sunflower on the hat.

This design has a slightly simpler clothing construction than Design 1 but creates a very satisfying and recognizable finished scarecrow.

The overalls are drawn directly on the body plate with markers rather than being constructed from separate paper pieces, making this version faster to complete.

The eight-step instruction sheet covers the same basic framework — face, hat, hair, body, arms, and clothing details — with a Welcome Fall theme and a beautiful autumn harvest background illustration showing pumpkins, sunflowers, and a vegetable garden.

This makes it particularly well suited for fall classroom displays and harvest celebrations.

Supplies needed: two paper plates, construction paper, markers or crayons, glue, scissors, stapler or hole punch, raffia or yarn or straw, and optional buttons.

Design 3 —
Simple Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft
for Young Children

Simple paper plate scarecrow craft project for children. Click image to download.

Our third paper plate scarecrow craft is the most beginner-friendly design in the collection and the best choice for preschool and early kindergarten children.

The supply list is intentionally short — construction paper, markers or crayons, glue, and scissors. No stapler, no raffia, and no optional extras to complicate the process.

The eight-step instruction sheet uses the same clear format as the other designs but with simpler construction steps.

Suspenders and buttons are cut from construction paper and glued on. Shirt sleeves are simple paper rectangles.

Hair is made from yellow paper strips rather than raffia.

The finished scarecrow is simple, cheerful, and genuinely achievable for a three or four year old with minimal adult assistance. Simple and fun and easy to make — the banner on this instruction sheet says it all.

This simple paper plate scarecrow craft also works well as a class set activity where teachers prepare the basic pieces in advance and children focus on decorating and assembling rather than all the cutting.

Supplies needed: two paper plates, construction paper, markers or crayons, and glue.

Design 4 — Paper Plate Lady Scarecrow Craft

Lovely lady paper plate scarecrow craft project for kids. Click image to download.

Our paper plate lady scarecrow craft gives children the option of creating a girl version of the classic scarecrow — something most paper plate scarecrow craft resources do not offer.

The lady scarecrow wears a cheerful pink dress with suspenders and green buttons, yellow straw hair under a brown hat with a pink band and flower, and has feminine eyelashes and rosy cheeks that distinguish her clearly from the boy scarecrow designs.

The eight-step instruction sheet walks through the same clear process — face, hat, hair, sleeves, suspenders, dress front, and final decorative patches — with the finished lady scarecrow looking delightful displayed alongside any of the boy designs.

Making a scarecrow family — using one boy and one lady design, or multiple designs — is one of the most popular suggestions from teachers who use our paper plate scarecrow craft in classroom settings.

The lady scarecrow has a slightly simplified supply list — buttons are listed as a required supply rather than optional, since they are a key visual element of the dress design.

Supplies needed: two paper plates, construction paper, markers or crayons, glue, scissors, and buttons.

Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft Template Sheets

Paper plate scarecrow templates for decorating your scarecrow. Click image to download and print.

Our paper plate scarecrow craft template sheets give children pre-drawn pieces to color and cut out rather than having to draw and cut the clothing pieces from plain construction paper.

These templates are especially helpful for younger children who find freehand cutting frustrating, and for teachers setting up a class activity where consistency of the finished pieces is helpful.

The color template sheet includes two hat designs — a wide-brimmed brown hat with an orange band and a straw hat with a pink band.

Also a sunflower for the hat, two arm styles with straw hands in checkered and polka-dot fabric, a lady scarecrow dress in pink with patches, and a man scarecrow shirt in red and white check with blue suspenders.

All pieces have clear dashed cutting lines and a How to Use box with instructions.

Color your own paper plate clothing and accessories. Click image to download and print this page.

The black and white template sheet contains all the same pieces in outline form for children to color before cutting.

This version uses significantly less printer ink and gives children the additional creative experience of choosing their own colors for every piece — no two scarecrows made from the black and white template will look the same.

Additional Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft Resources

Paper plate scarecrow craft accessories, including a black crow to land on their shoulders. Click image to download and print this page.

Our paper plate scarecrow craft accessories sheet gives children a complete set of cut-out extras to personalize their finished scarecrow.

The accessories sheet includes scarecrow face features in two styles — eyes, noses, and mouths to cut out and glue onto the paper plate instead of drawing freehand.

Also included is a detailed black crow to perch on the scarecrow's arm, a polka-dot bow tie, three sizes of straw hair tufts, eight colorful buttons in orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, and cream, and three patch shapes including a charming heart-shaped patch.

All pieces have dashed cutting lines and a How to Use box with instructions.

A simple and fun fall cut, paste, and color craft project for younger children; making and decorating a pumpkin.

Coming Soon —
Additional Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft Resources

An extra sheet of face piece to cut out and paste on the scarecrow faces if needed.

We are adding more resources to our paper plate scarecrow craft collection. Check back soon for these additional free downloads.

A scarecrow face features template is coming — a printable sheet of eyes, nose, triangular carrot nose, stitched mouth, and rosy cheeks that children cut out and glue onto the paper plate instead of drawing the face freehand. This is ideal for very young children and for teachers who want a more uniform look across a class set of paper plate scarecrow craft projects.

A wearable scarecrow hat is also coming — a child-sized hat template similar to our Vegetable Garden Crown that children color, cut out, and wear. Perfect for fall harvest celebrations, garden parties, and classroom costume days.

A companion crow cutout is in development — a simple black crow with spread wings to cut out and glue onto the finished scarecrow's arm, exactly where every good scarecrow's crow belongs.

A paper plate pumpkin companion craft is planned to pair with the paper plate scarecrow craft for a complete fall harvest classroom display — one scarecrow, one pumpkin, arranged together on a bulletin board or classroom wall.

Using the Paper Plate Scarecrow
Craft in the Classroom

Making paper plate scarecrow crafts in the classroom is a fun project for younger children.

The paper plate scarecrow craft is one of the most versatile fall activities available to classroom teachers and homeschool parents. Here are the most popular ways educators use it.

As a harvest bulletin board display, the paper plate scarecrow craft produces beautiful individual pieces that look wonderful arranged together on a fall-themed board.

Mix boy and lady designs, vary the colors, and the finished display celebrates every child's creativity while creating a unified seasonal theme. Add paper plate pumpkins alongside for a complete harvest scene.

As a fine motor skills activity, the paper plate scarecrow craft builds cutting, gluing, and drawing skills through a project children are genuinely motivated to complete.

The multiple steps — cutting hat pieces, adding hair, attaching head to body, cutting arms, decorating the shirt — provide extended practice with a range of fine motor tasks.

As a fall read-aloud companion, the paper plate scarecrow craft pairs naturally with scarecrow-themed picture books.

Making a scarecrow while learning about scarecrows in the garden is a memorable multi-sensory learning experience.

For homeschool families, the paper plate scarecrow craft fits naturally into an autumn garden unit — scarecrows are garden tools with a real agricultural history that connects directly to the vegetable garden content on this site.

After making their paper plate scarecrow craft, children can visit our vegetable garden scarecrow page to learn about real scarecrows and how they work in the garden.

More Free Kids Garden Club Fall Printables

Scavenger hunts are fun and exciting for children. Click image to download this activity for first grade.

Our paper plate scarecrow craft is part of the Kids Garden Club fall printable collection at Vegetable Gardening Online.

For more free fall and garden-themed activities, visit our Kids Gardening hub for the complete library of free downloads including vegetable garden coloring books, garden scavenger hunts, flash cards, Go Fish card games, cut and paste activity sets, plant life cycle worksheets, and garden craft projects.

For more fall craft ideas for children that complement the paper plate scarecrow craft, Crafts on Sea at craftsonsea.co.uk has an extensive collection of free fall craft resources for preschool and elementary children.

• Vegetable Garden Scarecrows — learn about real scarecrows in the vegetable garden, including the history and how they work
• Vegetable Garden Crafts for Kids — complete collection of free printable garden craft projects including finger puppets, seed packet craft, crown, and more
• Vegetable Garden Coloring Books — free printable coloring pages and coloring books with garden and scarecrow themes
• Garden Scavenger Hunt Printable — free fall garden activity in three grade levels
• Free Worksheets for Kids — mazes, dot-to-dots, word searches, bookmarks, and activity pages
• Kids Gardening — complete hub for children's gardening activities and free printables

Crafts on Sea — More Fall Craft Ideas for Kids

For more free fall craft ideas for children that pair well with our paper plate scarecrow craft — including leaf printing, paper bag puppets, and a roundup of scarecrow crafts for preschoolers — Crafts on Sea at craftsonsea.co.uk has one of the most extensive free fall craft collections available for preschool and elementary children and their teachers.

• Crafts on Sea — Scarecrow Crafts for Preschoolers — free fall scarecrow craft ideas for young children to complement our paper plate scarecrow craft collection