What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than with fun patriotic craft ideas for kids? This popsicle stick bald eagle craft is perfect for kids of all ages.
It is quick and easy to make at home or school and a great way to teach kids that the bald eagle is a symbol of the United States.
To make it easier to create your own craft stick bald eagle, we’ve provided a craft template at the end of this post.
You could also include this project in a presidential themed art center in February for President’s Day along with our popsicle stick flag craft.
More 4th of July Crafts
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Bald Eagle Popsicle Stick Craft Supplies
This project only takes about 30 minutes and uses easy to find materials. In fact, you may already have everything on hand.
If you don’t, you can easily find what you need at the dollar store, your favorite craft store, or through my Amazon craft shelf.
Here is everything you will need:
- Bald Eagle Printable Craft Template (available through form at bottom of post)
- Jumbo Craft Sticks
- White, Yellow, and Brown Craft Foam or Construction Paper
- Brown Craft Paint
- Googly Eyes
- Black Permanent Marker
- Low Temp Glue Gun or Tacky Craft Glue
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Pencil
Craft Material Substitutions
If you don’t have jumbo craft sticks, you could use regular sized craft popsicle sticks (also known as ice cream sticks or treat sticks). They are thinner than the jumbo ones, so you would want to use more when making the body.
The craft foam can be substituted with construction paper, cardstock, or craft felt, depending on what you have at home.
Throughout the directions and step-by-step tutorial photos, we used a glue gun. However, you may use tacky craft glue instead. Using a glue gun is often faster since liquid glue will take time to dry.
More Popsicle Stick Crafts
How to Make a Popsicle Stick Bald Eagle
Start by lining up four jumbo popsicle sticks vertically. These will be the bald eagle’s body. Use scissors to cut another craft stick the width of the body to glue across and hold them in place. You could also attach it diagonally across the back.
Flip the craft sticks over and paint them brown. Set aside to dry and apply a second coat if needed.
Print out the Bald Eagle Printable Craft Template (available at bottom of post) and cut out the pieces. Have the kids trace their hands to make the wings or use the handprint template we included.
Trace two handprints on brown craft foam and cut them out. Trace the beak shape once on yellow craft foam. Trace the talons twice on yellow craft foam.
Trace the bald eagle head shape on white craft foam. Cut everything out.
Reminder: If you don’t have craft foam you can use paper or craft felt for this project.
Flip the brown popsicle stick body over and attach the handprint wings on the unpainted side.
Turn the eagle back over and glue the white head on along the top part of the painted craft sticks. The bottom of the head should line up near the top of the handprint wings.
Then glue two googly eyes onto the head, then glue the yellow beak below the eyes. Use a black marker and draw two dots on the beak.
Glue the talons to the bottom of the jumbo craft stick body. Now you’ve created a majestic Bald Eagle!
Once your eagle is completely dry, you can add a name across his body or glue a loop of twine on the back to hang for decoration.
More Eagle Activities
Keep the learning going by adding on more eagle books and activities. You could include them in a Fourth of July themed week for summer camp at home or an eagle unit study.
DK Eyewitness Eagle and Birds of Prey – Learn interesting facts and see photos of eagles, falcons, vultures, and more!
The Bald Eagle by Lisa M. Herrington – This book is part of the Rookie Read About: American Symbols series. It provides young readers information about the significance of the bald eagle’s symbolism.
Eagle Toilet Paper Roll Craft – an easy preschool craft using empty TP rolls!
Pom Pom Bald Eagles – a quick and super adorable project from The Soccer Mom.
Bald Eagle Popsicle Stick Craft
Make a cute popsicle stick bald eagle craft with the kids for the 4th of July!
Materials
- Bald Eagle Printable Craft Template (available through form at bottom of post)
- 5 Jumbo Craft Sticks
- White, Yellow, and Brown Craft Foam or Construction Paper
- Brown Craft Paint
- 2 Googly Eyes
- Black Permanent Marker
Tools
- Low Temp Glue Gun or Tacky Craft Glue
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Pencil
Instructions
- Take four jumbo popsicle sticks and line them up vertically.
- Glue another stick across the top and bottom (or one diagonally) to keep it assembled. Use scissors to trim the craft stick to fit.
- Flip over and paint craft stick body brown. Set aside to dry. Paint again if needed.
- Print out the Bald Eagle Printable Craft Template (available at bottom of post). Kids can trace their own hands for the wings or use the hand shape included in the template.
- Trace two handprints on brown craft foam.
- Trace beak and talons on yellow craft foam.
- Trace the bald eagle head shape on white craft foam.
- Cut out each piece.
- Attach handprint wings to each side on the back (unpainted side).
- Glue the white head to the top of the popsicle stick body.
- Glue two googly eyes and yellow beak onto the head.
- Draw two dots on the beak with a black marker.
- Glue two talons at the bottom of the craft stick body.