Brighten every school day with our Felt Animal Pencil Toppers—charming, DIY-ready felt creatures that perch atop pencils and ignite creativity at every turn! Whether decorating a cozy classroom corner or crafting holiday party treasures, these toppers are as fun to make as they are to use. Cute, customizable, and perfect for hands-on learning—get ready to write, inspire, and imagine!

Materials:

• Felt sheets (variety of colors)
• Paper templates or stencils for body and animal features (ears, wings, tails, etc.)
• Scissors (regular craft scissors work fine)
• Fabric glue or low-temp hot glue (adult-supervised)
• Pencils (#2 pencils fit best)
• Markers or pens for tracing templates
• Optional decorations: googly eyes, buttons, tiny pom-poms, ribbon scraps, rhinestones
• Optional: small felt strip (to reinforce pencil opening)

Step 1: Prepare Templates. Draw or print a simple body shape (about 1.5″ wide x 2.75″ tall) with a flat bottom. Create smaller add-on templates for features like ears, beaks, wings, or tails.

Step 2: Cut Out Felt Pieces. Use the body template to cut two identical felt bodies for each topper. Cut animal features from contrasting colors of felt.

Step 3: Decorate the Front Piece. Arrange features (ears, eyes, beak, etc.) on one felt body piece. Glue them down to create the animal’s face and let it dry for a few minutes.

Step 4: Assemble the Topper. Place the decorated front piece on top of the plain back piece. Sandwich any ears, wings, or tails between the two layers. Apply a thin line of fabric glue along the sides and top edges only. Do not glue the bottom edge—this will be the pencil opening.

Step 5: Secure and Press. Press the two pieces firmly together and smooth out edges. Allow the glue to dry completely (check drying time on glue label).

Step 6: Reinforce the Opening (Optional). For extra durability, glue a small felt strip inside the bottom edge as a “collar” to prevent stretching.

Step 7: Final touches. Once fully dry, slide the topper onto the eraser end of a pencil. Adjust the opening gently if needed. Enjoy your new animal friend that makes writing more fun

Further Learning and Discussion Questions:

Discussion questions for reflection:
– Design Choices – What inspired the colors, shapes, or animal you chose for your pencil topper?
– Creative Process – Was there any part of the project that felt challenging, and how did you solve it?
– Personal Connection – Does your animal topper remind you of a pet, favorite character, or animal you admire? Why?
– Use and Purpose – How do you think having a fun pencil topper might change how you feel about writing or drawing
– Sharing and Community – If you could make a pencil topper for a friend or family member, what animal would you choose and why?

Further Learning
Literacy and Storytelling: Now that your animal toppers are finished, let’s use them for a little storytelling fun.
– Meet Your Character. Hold up your topper and give it a name. What kind of personality does it have—silly, serious, adventurous, shy? Maybe it even has a favorite food or a special talent.
– Tell a Story. Your topper is ready for an adventure! Think about this question: What adventure will your animal go on today? Maybe it discovers a magical forest, goes to outer space, or sneaks into school to take a math test. You can write down your story, draw it as a comic, or just tell it out loud.
– Folktales from Around the World. Did you know animals appear in stories all over the world? For example, foxes are often clever tricksters, turtles are patient and wise, and owls are thought to be very smart. Take a moment to think: does your topper act the same way as in those stories, or is it different? You can even retell an old folktale but swap in your animal topper as the main character.
– Group Story Game. Let’s make a story together. One person will start with their animal—“Once upon a time, a rabbit topper hopped into the forest…”—and then the next person adds their animal into the adventure. We’ll keep going until everyone’s topper has joined the story.
– Share Your Creation. At the end, you can show off your topper’s story, perform a mini puppet show, or even act it out with a friend. Your pencil toppers aren’t just decorations—they’re characters waiting for their story to be told!