Roll up those sleeves, flex those fingers, and prepare to dive into a world of color and creativity for this fun kid-made chameleon craft that uses bubble wrap to stamp out scaly patterns in vibrant hues.
Whether you’re looking for a rainy day project, a cool classroom activity, or just a chance to get messy with some paints and bubble wrap (we see you, grown-ups!), this cute little guy has got you covered.
He looks so adorable that I’ve put him on a stick for puppet shows – and later we can make him his own play aquarium…!
If you haven’t tried bubble wrap painting with your kids before, this project is a great way to dip your toes in because the effect just works SO well. Try this, then move on to bubble wrap printed dinosaurs, fish, turtles…the parade of animals you can make with this technique never ends.
Love this little chameleon? Move from reptiles to adorable amphibians with our climbing paper tree frogs and hopping spring peeper poppers!
To make your own upcycled bubble wrap stamped chameleon craft you’ll need:
BASIC SUPPLIES:
- A cereal box or cardboard (or 1-2 sheets of heavy cardstock)
- Scissors
- Acrylic paints or tempera paints in bright colors
- Bubble wrap
- A bottlecap
- A drinking straw or pipe cleaner
- Craft glue or a hot glue gun
OPTIONAL SUPPLIES:
- Our chameleon & jungle leaf PDF template set
- Extra-large popsicle sticks like these or a craft dowel (for a stick puppet)
FOR OUR FASCINATOR:
- A headband
- A green plastic bottle
- A brown paper grocery bag
- A mesh produce bag
DIY Bubble Wrap Stamped Chameleon Craft
Draw a chameleon and jungle leaves or print our template.
Print out the desired printable chameleon template pages on a sheet of white or color cardstock (or trimmed cereal box as we did!) and cut your chameleons and leaves out.
You can also print onto a page of scrap paper, cut out and trace onto thicker materials like cardboard that may not run through your printer.
Use bubble wrap to print a colorful pattern onto your chameleon.
Time to paint! I had hand-drawn the shapes onto a cereal box, so I started by painting a layer of flat color onto all of my pieces. If you want to speed up the project or avoid a lot of paint and longer drying times, you can print directly onto colored cardstock instead.
After letting the first layer dry, I added scales to the chameleon by printing with small squares of bubble wrap. Smush a dab of paint out so it’s flat, thin, and evenly spread, gently dab your bubble wrap in, then start using it as a stamp on your chameleon!
Be sure to give it a good, even press when you stamp to get a nice textured scale look! I used quite a few bright colors, but you can use any combination you want.
You can also paint or draw embellishments on, add glitter, or use other printmaking techniques to create a whole bunch of colorful chameleons!
Add details with recycled scrap items.
Add a lizard-like bulging eye by gluing a bottlecap on. You can add a dot of paint to create a tiny eyeball as we did, or glue on a googly eye.
A brightly-colored drinking straw makes the perfect tongue! Roll one side up and give it a pinch, then glue it to the back of your chameleon. You can also use a pipe cleaner or a thin strip of rolled-up paper.
A fascinator fit for a queen! And just wild enough for a royal wedding…might want to check your mail for an invitation if you decide to make one of these!
Eight more ways to play with your handmade chameleon craft
Not feeling headwear? There are so many ways to have fun with this little guy! Here are a few of my favorite ways for kids to put their chameleons to use…
1. Make a Chameleon Stick Puppet
Glue a popsicle stick to the back and put on your own Amazon-inspired puppet show complete with a recycled cardboard puppet theater.
With their homemade chameleon puppet in hand, kids can dive into the world of imagination. Make a menagerie of animal puppet friends. Or tell a superhero story using camouflage as a superpower. They can go on wild adventures and narrate epic tales for an afternoon activity that sparks creativity and enhances their communication skills.
2. Build a Home for Your Handmade Chameleon
Give your chameleon a home in a DIY cardboard pretend play pet tank – perfect for kids who are interested in a pet, but not quite ready for the real thing…!
3. Go on an Indoor Safari
Put on a jungle-themed DIY scavenger hunt using your cheeky chameleon as the ultimate spotting – but where has it hidden? Amongst a set of green pillows, tucked into a fruit bowl or beside a colorful painting, or perhaps in a pile of multicolored socks?
It’s a wild safari search that will have kids running from room to room, using the specific colors of their chameleons as the ultimate clues. This is a great way to learn about colors and the concept of camouflage.
4. Use Your Chameleon Craft as a Learning Tool
This isn’t just an ordinary chameleon, you know. It’s your kiddo’s ticket to discovering and understanding the wild. Want to learn why chameleons change color? Or why they have those bulging eyes?
Our cardboard buddy is here to show us that learning isn’t about cramming facts; it’s about curiosity, exploration, and having fun. Use the chameleon as a tool to teach about reptiles, habitats, and adaptation mechanisms.
Kids can actively participate in discussions, ask questions, and gain knowledge in a fun way.
5. Use Your Chameleon for Room or Party Decorations
These colorful little guys provide the coolest way to instantly jazz up your next bash, brighten up your classroom, or give a dash of pizzazz to your room.
String up your chameleons like exotic party streamers, or stick them on the walls as wild decorations at your next tropical themed shindig.
Looking to spruce up your classroom? Chameleons to the rescue! Students can help create a “Chameleon Corner,” full of these bubble-wrap beauties. They can be the stars of your “Fun Fact Friday,” teaching kids about color-changing creatures in the wild.
And who wouldn’t want a chameleon buddy hanging out in their room? For the adventurous decorator, a chameleon mobile add JUST the right touch. Hang these adorable creatures from a tree branch and let them add a pop of color and fun to your kids’ personal spaces.
6. Create a DIY Chameleon Necklace or Badge
Attach your chameleon to a length of yarn or ribbon along with some rolled paper beads or for an exotic DIY necklace.
For a different type of wearable art, hot glue your chameleon to a pinback back to create a large and amazingly awesome DIY badge for jungle-lovers.
7. Use Your Chameleon Craft for Bookish Play
There are a SLEW of fabulously illustrated picture books you can pair this activity with for some crafty kid-lit art and reading time. A few of my favorites are:
- A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
- My Colorful Chameleon by Leonie Roberts
- Gecko by Raymond Huber
- Neon Leon by Jane Clarke
- The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
8. Introduce Role-Playing
Children can use their chameleon craft for role-playing activities, pretending to be wildlife explorers or veterinarians. This can develop empathy for animals and an understanding of different professions.
How to Make a Jungle-Themed DIY Fascinator
We’ve gone absolutely WILD for spring hat season this year! Something about the month of April makes me want to doll myself up, put on a fancy hat, and strut my stuff in this GORGEOUS weather.
This year, instead of an Easter bonnet we decided to go avant-garde with an exotic DIY fascinator – accessorized with our own alluring bubble wrap printed chameleon!
Want to really get crazy with this bubble wrap chameleon craft and make some wearable art as we did?
You can hot glue your chameleon craft and a few of our leaves to a headband and turn it into a crazy cool fascinator!
Can you match up each supply we saved from the recycling bin to the other details of our fascinator…??
The cereal box and bottle cap were used for our chameleon and leaves. We added some mesh netting from a lime bag to create a soft netting decoration that covers our forehead. Some green plastic bottle cuttings were used to create jungle-like “foliage”. To give our chameleon a “branch” to sit on, we twisted up a strip cut from a paper grocery bag.
Inspired by green (the ultimate color of spring!) our cardboard chameleon craft and DIY fascinator start with an incredibly fun process your kids can try as a stand-alone chameleon art activity.
The star of our headpiece was printed with bubble wrap to give the illusion of colorful rainbow scales.
Along with some of our favorite creative confidants, we crafted a whole rainbow of headwear! You can take the colorful tour by visiting Start Creative Studio’s red head-turner, Cinta & Co.’s orange amazement, Creating Creatives’ enchanting yellow charmer, ART CAMP’s vision in blue, and Make it Your Own’s purple blooming desert splendor!
Find More Animal Crafts for Kids
If you’re looking for more reptile crafts, you will definitely want to stop by our toddler turtle play dough invitations (with a free printable playdough mat!). Or make more recycled animals with our simple DIY tutorials for (floating!) egg carton ducklings and egg carton whales.
*A note about affiliate links: We strive to use simple, earth-friendly supplies that can be purchased locally whenever we can, but sometimes we find the best universally available options, a rare eco-friendly find, or a niche product only available on Blick Art Materials, Amazon, Etsy, or Woodpeckers Crafts. When included in our supply list, these products are affiliate links, and if you click through to make a purchase we receive a small commission that helps us re-order these supplies!
This was a fun collaboration! I just love yours!
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