Kids of all ages will love this easy craft idea. Make a Paper Plate Bus Craft with your little kids, it’s the perfect way to get them excited about the first days of school.
Disclosure: Adult supervision is required for all activities at all times. Some of the links provided in this blog are affiliate links. I will be paid a small commission if you use this link to make a purchase.
More Transport Themed Arts and Crafts to Try
If you love a fun craft that explores marvelous machines, then check out these other transportation themed crafts. Perfect for kids of any age who are looking for a fun way to get creative.
- Black Glue Hot Air Balloon
- Traffic Light Silhouette Art
- Car Painting
- Craft Stick School Bus
- Tissue Box School Bus Craft
For more ideas, check out these 60 Transportation Arts and Crafts for Kids.
Materials Needed
- Paper plate
- Yellow, black, red, white and blue paint (or paint pens)
- Scissors
- Glue
How to Make A Paper Plate Bus Craft
1. Paint half of the paper plate yellow.
If you don’t have any paper plates on hand, you can always use yellow construction paper instead. Or maybe glue yellow tissue paper to make your own school bus.
2. Paint two black circles on the other half of the paper plate.
Once again, you can use black construction paper for this step if you prefer.
3. Cut out the painted sections.
Use a pair of scissors to cut down the middle of the paper plate, and cut out the black circle shapes.
Scissors are an easy way to help young children develop fine motor skills through play.
4. Glue the black circles to the bottom of the paper plate.
You can use glue or double sided adhesive tape to attach the wheels of your school buses to the yellow school bus shapes.
5. Use a black paint pen to draw the windows and school bus signs.
Draw the school bus windows using a black paint pen, black marker or with regular black paint and a paintbrush.
I personally love my paint pens over anything else. They’re so easy to use, don’t require any cleaning up afterwards, and they don’t get damaged when drawing on acrylic paint the way black markers do.
6. Draw a brake light.
Use a red paint pen to draw a small semi circle on one end of your paper plate school bus craft. This will end up being the brake light that belongs on the back of the bus.
If you don’t have any red paint, feel free to skip this step altogether.
7. Make the spokes on the wheels.
I used my white paint pen to draw the details on the bus wheels. Once again, you can either use regular white paint or skip this step completely if you want to.
8. Paint the windows blue.
I kept my bus simple, but I love the idea of painting a school bus driver in the front window. Or getting my kids to paint a picture of themselves sitting in the bus and waving out of the windows.
You may love this idea if your kids are going to be getting on their local school bus for the first time this new school year.
9. Let it dry.
Once you’ve finished decorating your fun school bus craft, all you have to do is let the paint dry.
Are you going to make this Paper Plate Bus Craft with your kids?
Don’t forget to pin the idea for later.
