Today we are doing a compass craft! My kids and I have been working on camping crafts recently, and we’re excited to share this DIY paper plate compass with you. Kids of all ages will love making this simple compass craft with movable compass needles so your kids can pretend to be explorers! This compass craft takes minimal crafting supplies and can be made at home or in the classroom!
Compass Craft
This compass craft is a budget-friendly camping craft that promotes pretend play. Kids can move the compass needles to different directions, just like a real compass! They will also be able to learn about the different cardinal directions. It pairs well with some of our other fun compass crafts at Kids Activities Blog.
Younger kids and older kids alike can benefit from learning about compasses, even if they’re just pretend ones right now. Because being able to read a compass and understand how a compass work is a very valuable life skill. I remember learning about cardinal directions. To help us our teacher always told us “Never Eat Shredded Wheat” so we can remember it goes N, E, S, W on the compass.
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Related: Check out our DIY Compass Rose & Compass Rose Template Printable with Map!
Supplies Needed To Make This Preschool Paper Plate Compass
Step 1
Paint your paper plate and let it dry.
Step 2
Draw a large triangle on your first piece of construction paper.
Step 3
Fold your paper in half and cut out a large triangle. You should have what looks like a large diamond.
Note: The diamond should be about 5 inches.
Step 4
Now on the other sheet of construction paper, draw 2 attached triangles a little smaller than the first one you drew on the first page. These triangles should be attached. Fold the paper in half and cut out the triangles. You should have what looks like a ninja star.
Note: This star should be about 4 inches.
Step 5
Using your marker, put a dot in the middle of the star, diamond, and plate.
Step 6
Carefully poke a hole using your scissors or other sharp object through the dot.
Step 7
Secure the paper star and diamond (the star on bottom and the diamond on top) to your paper plate using the paper fastener. The larger star should face North, South, East, and West.
Step 8
Write your directions out. (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW)
Step 9
Have fun and playing with your pretend compass!
Our Experience With This Compass Craft
We are camping and outdoors people. So learning how to use compasses while camping is an important skill. My kids are a little too young to be handling real compasses still, so we thought this paper plate compass would be a fun way to teach them about the different parts of a compass and directions while making a fun craft.
This paper plate compass craft can be used as a preschool lesson or an elementary school lesson. Once you make your homemade compass your kids can play with it by moving the compass point to a different direction. They’ll have so much fun with their very own compass!
Also, my first grader is obsessed with Minecraft so they were doubly happy to make paper plate compasses. Apparently it helps you get to your spawn point or something? Either way it was a fun and educational craft and that’s the important thing.
You could easily use this as a fun summer camp art activity or use it to go along with another fun activity like map activities. Use it for a themed unit or themed classroom, and it’s great fine motor skills practice.
Materials
- Paper Plate
- Black Marker
- Acrylic Paint (We used red)
- Paintbrush
- Paper Fastener
- Scissors
- Construction Paper (We used yellow and blue)
Instructions
Paint your paper plate.
Let it dry.
Draw a large triangle on one piece of your construction paper.
Fold your paper in half and cut out a large triangle. You should have what looks like a large diamond.
Now on the other sheet of construction paper, draw 2 attached triangles a little smaller than the first one you drew on the first page. These triangles should be attached.
Fold the paper in half and cut out the triangles. You should have what looks like a ninja star.
Using your marker, put a dot in the middle of the star, diamond, and plate.
Carefully poke a hole using your scissors or other sharp object through the dot.
Secure the paper star and diamond (the star on bottom and the diamond on top) to your paper plate using the paper fastener. The larger star should face North, South, East, and West.
Write your directions out. (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW).
Have fun and playing with your pretend compass!
Notes
The diamond should be about 5 inches.
The star should be about 4 inches.
More Camping Crafts From Kids Activities Blog
How did your compass craft turn out? Did your kids have fun playing with their paper plate compass?
