Listening Ears Craft {Easy, Effective, Paper Plate Craft for Kids}

Use this fun listening ears craft to teach kids the essential skills of listening, being attentive, and, following instructions!

Listening is a skill that every child needs to learn! And, I have found that skills seem to stick a lot better with little ones when you can incorporate some sort of crafty idea into the lesson! What better way to be reminded of the importance of listening than wearing these paper plate listening ears! My boys looked so cute wearing their listening ears! 

Confession: I didn’t come up with this idea. My kids brought their listening ears home from church one Sunday. So, I can’t take credit for the super cute idea. However, they seem to be very easy to make! 

Supplies for Paper Plate Listening Ears:

• Small Paper Plates
• Pipe Cleaners
• Clipart Ears
• Crayons or Markers
• Scissors
• Glue or Tape

How to Make Paper Plate Listening Ears:

1) Print clipart ears. Enlarge if needed.

2) Cut paper plate in half.

3) Color and cut out clipart ears.

4) Glue (or tape) ears onto plates.

5) Tape (or glue) pipe cleaners to the back of the plates.

6) Curve pipe cleaners and put listening ears on child’s head.

How to Use the Listening Ears:

The listening ears can be used for all sorts of educational activities and topics! Here are some ideas I have come up with:

• Learning about the 5 Senses
• Teaching about Attentiveness/Following Instructions
• Studying the Anatomy of the Ear
• Bible Lessons (Mary & Martha, Samuel, Solomon)

Books About Listening:

While I love hands-on activities that encourage active learning, I love books too! That’s why I like to pair activities along with books. There are tons of books you can use to help teach about this all essential skill of listening! Here are just a few:

What will you teach using the paper plate listening ears?

I hope you and your children/students enjoy this easy, fun, yet highly effective craft! How will you use the craft to teach your little ones?

This post was originally published on June 11, 2009.