Excavator Craft (with Template)

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Are you ready to do a construction vehicle craft? This Excavator craft moves! Find step-by-step instructions and Free Templates for Craft Printables on CraftingJeannie.com!

paper excavator craft for crafting Jeannie

Do your kids love construction vehicles? Digging, grinding, lifting and getting dirty are so much fun! No dirt with this craft, just paper and glue.

Get the Free Excavator Printable below and you will be able to make enough supplies for a group of 20 kids (or more!) with only about 10 minutes of cutting.

Do you want more transportation themed fun? With the Transportation Activity Party Pack you can entertain your kiddos for hours! It includes 11 different activities and 2 craft templates!

Transportation Activity Packet — Get The Transportation Activity Pack

Watch the Excavator Craft video and see how easy it is to make the supplies and assemble this construction vehicle craft:

Did you know that an excavator is also called a digger or a mechanical shovel? Read more at Wikipedia.com.

Here’s What You Need

Here’s your Easy Excavator Craft supply list (This post contains affiliate links to the products mentioned. Read my disclosure policy for more information):

Free Excavator Printable <— Get it Here!
colored copy paper, colored cardstock, or construction paper
scissors
glue sticks
brass fasteners

Step 1: Download and Print the Free Excavator Craft Template

Download the Free Excavator Printable. In the next step, learn how to quickly cut out as many shapes as you need.

excavator craft template printable pages — The excavator template pdf includes everything you need for this craft.

Step 2: Staple and Cut Out the Construction Craft Shapes

preschool excavator craft template ready to cut — Staple each part of the template to multiple sheets of paper to quickly cut out lots of shapes.

Once you have the excavator template printed out, staple it to construction paper and cut out multiple shapes at a time.

Note: If you want to make this craft with a group of kids, you can staple the template to up to 10 sheets of copy paper, 5 sheets of cardstock or 6-10 sheets of construction paper.

So, did you know, you can staple together 10 pieces of copy paper and cut out 10 shapes at a time?! That’s my SECRET to fast & easy crafting.

Stapling the paper is very important because it makes sure it doesn’t move as you cut. The more staples the better. Cardstock is the thickest so you may only be able to cut 5 sheets at a time.

Step 3: How to Assemble

The kids will have so much fun making this construction craft!

I recommend having a excavator that is already put together so the children can see what the final version will look like.

start with the large yellow part of the excavator
glue on the black track at the bottom of the excavator
glue on the black window
glue the white circles onto the black track
place the arm pieces where you want them
poke the brass fastener through both pieces of paper (arm and truck) to connect the first part of the arm to the main part of the excavator
flip the truck over and bend the brass fastener pieces down so that it stays in place. Tip: don’t push it too tight or it wont move smoothly
repeat this process to add the final two pieces of the arm with the brass fasteners
don’t forget to write your name on the back

glue window and track onto main excavator piece — Start by gluing the window and black track onto the main yellow truck piece.

glue white hubcabs onto the black track — Next, glue the white circles onto the black track.

arrange excavator arm pieces before attaching them — Arrange excavator arm pieces before attaching them.

attaching brass fastener to excavator craft — Attach the first piece of the arm by poking a brass fastener through both pieces of paper.

back of excavator and hands bending brass fastener — Turn the excavator over and push down the sides of the fastener to hold it in place. **Tip: don’t push it too tight or it wont move smoothly**

Finish the craft by adding the rest of the arm using the brass fasteners.

back of the excavator showing all of the brass fasteners — The back of the completed excavator craft.

And you’re finished!

This is such a fun and simple construction craft for kids. This paper excavator is perfect for a Things That Go or Construction Vehicle lesson plan. And it’s easy enough for preschool, elementary, Scouts or just a fun craft at home idea.

More Vehicle Crafts

If you liked this craft, check out some of my other Vehicle Crafts:

easy paper bulldozer craft — Bulldozer Craft – Free Template

paper cement truck craft for crafting Jeannie — Bulldozer Craft – Free Template

As always, I try to make my crafts fast, easy & inexpensive. Enjoy!

Download the Free Excavator Printable

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Want to remember this Paper Excavator Craft? Post it to your favorite Pinterest board!