“You Are My Sunshine” Paper Plate Craft

A spinning surprise! Kids can make this “You Are My Sunshine” paper plate craft for Mother’s Day, birthdays, or any occasion!

A spinning surprise! Kids can make this "You Are My Sunshine" paper plate craft for Mother's Day, birthdays, or any occasion!

“You Are My Sunshine” Paper Plate Craft

We love to re-purpose or upcycle materials we already have at home to make crafts and cards, like our Cupcake Liner Christmas Wrapping Paper and this Paper Plate Color Matching Game.

That way we don’t need to run out to the craft store to purchase materials every time we feel crafty!

If you don’t already, the supplies used to make this paper plate sun craft are good ones to have on hand year-round, because they are so versatile. Paper plates and paint markers can be put to use for just about anything!

This cheerful sunshine card is made using two paper plates, and it spins to reveal a sweet message inside. Super cute and super easy to create!

You could use this idea for a Mother’s Day card, birthdays, teacher cards, or just about anything really!

Related: For another cute paper plate craft for kids, check out our Paper Chain Octopus Craft!

Supply List

For your convenience, I’ve provided shop-able ad links to products used to make our sunshine paper plate craft; disclosure policy available here.

A spinning surprise! Kids can make this "You Are My Sunshine" paper plate craft for Mother's Day, birthdays, or any occasion!

Instructions

Start by trimming one of the plates about 1/2″ outside the circle imprint in the middle. You’re trimming off the ruffled edges on this plate because it will be our spinner.

Cut a semi-circle out of the top middle of the second plate, using the circle imprint as your guide. Cut along the line, and then straight across the middle of the plate, halfway down.

Drawing a yellow circle with paint markers

Paint your small circle yellow and allow to dry. We painted on the back side of the plates because the paint doesn’t stick as well to the shiny coated side.

TIP: We use Kwik Stix paint markers for a lot of our craft projects because they are thick, vibrant colors AND they dry in less than 90 seconds – mess free painting! (We’ve worked with Kwik Stix in the past, but this particular project is not sponsored. We just love them as an art supply!)

Color your second plate yellow as well. We used an orange marker to draw short lines around the edge of the plate, like the sun.

Drawing a smiley face on a paper plate

Once paint is dry, draw a smile to cover the bottom half of your large plate.

Drawing eyes on a smiley face

Draw two eyes on the top half of your small plate.

Flip the plate around and write your message on the bottom half of the small plate.

Making a paper plate sun craft

Use a brass fastener to attach the small plate to the back of the large plate.

using a brass fastener to attach two paper plates

When you spin the small plate, your finished paper plate card will alternate between a smiley face and a surprise message!

A spinning surprise! Kids can make this "You Are My Sunshine" paper plate craft for Mother's Day, birthdays, or any occasion!

More of our Favorite Kid Made Cards

See all of our favorite Mother’s Day Card Ideas here:

A collection of the cutest Mother's Day Card Ideas and homemade gifts that kids can make themselves. Handprint cards, pop-up cards, photo cards, and more adorable keepsakes that mom will treasure!

…and all of our favorite Kid-Made Father’s Day Cards here:

 

Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
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