At Glued To My Crafts, we strive to share creativity and inspiration, one post at a time! Today we are focusing on a beloved children’s book and sharing our latest “Kissing Hand Raccoon” kid craft idea that just involves popsicle sticks, glue, paint and cardstock!

Keep scrolling for the full how-to so you can turn today into the PERFECT craft day and in-cooperate this tutorial into your back-to-school plans!

With the first day of August in the books, back to school season is officially here!

Many teachers {& parents alike} will be reading the book “A Kissing Hand for Chester Raccoon” by Audrey Penn to their young school age children, as they approach their first day school in the coming days.

It’s such a great feel-good story and that’s why I’m so excited to be sharing today’s Craft Stick Raccoon kid craft tutorial with you all today! My favorite part of this art project is not only that it ties well with the book BUT I also love the fact that your new little creature friend can hold a “heart” in between his hands & really tie the theme together!

So my dear friends… please don’t delay on recreating this kissing hand raccoon craft idea. You don’t want to miss out the fun and it’s the perfect way to also kick those first day jitters to the curb, with a little crafty fun instead!

Find the full step-by-step tutorial below and get ready to bring to life your own popsicle stick kissing hand friends today! I just know you are going to have a blast pulling it together for your child and giving it your own unique spin! Don’t forget – you can also pinch other items between their “hands.” Take for example, a small printed picture of your child, a written message on paper or even a small gift card so you can give it to someone special today – hint hint!

Happy crafting, my friends! Don’t forget to share pictures of your popsicle stick raccoon creations! I can’t see what you both come up with! Tag us on Facebook or use our special branded hashtag. #gluedtomycrafts

RELATED POSTS: Q-Tip Painted Back To School Apple Craft and Kissing Hand – First Day of School Gift Tag Printable

Craft Stick Raccoon Friend Supplies:

* Jumbo Popsicle Sticks {3 per raccoon craft}
* Mini Popsicle Sticks {2 per raccoon craft}
* Mini Clothespins {2 per raccoon craft}
* Small Felt Heart {or substitute for paper instead}
* Low Temp Glue Gun or School Glue
* Small Paper Plate
* Gray Craft Paint
* Foam Paint Brush
* Black Colored Cardstock
* White Cardstock
* Gray Colored Cardstock
* Black Sharpie Marker
* Small Wiggle Eyes
optional – small stickers, glitter, rhinestones etc.

Directions:

* First get the glue gun hot and ready! Adults should do this step. If you don’t feel comfortable working with a hot glue gun around children, please switch it out with school glue instead. This craft will still work regardless of what you use but your drying time will take longer. Please use good judgement when working with smaller children :-)
* Assemble the base of your raccoon friend by gluing THREE jumbo popsicle sticks and TWO mini popsicle sticks together to look like a fence {3 jumbo next to each other and the mini popsicle sticks across}
* Set aside to let it dry completely. Repeat for each raccoon piece you want to make.
* When the popsicle stick shape is dry enough to the touch, grab your gray craft paint, paper plate and paint brush.
* Squirt the gray paint on the paper plate.
* Go ahead and paint your popsicle stick shape completely gray, along with the TWO clothespins.
* Again, set them aside to allow them to dry completely.
* Now grab ALL your sheets of cardstock paper and scissors.
* Cut out pointing ears, facial features and a bushy tail for your raccoon friend. See our pictures for an example.
* Now go ahead and glue ALL the paper pieces to the popsicle stick shape you made earlier.
* At this point in time you should also use the black Sharpie marker to draw on a smile and glue the wiggle eyes in place.
* This next step is CRUCIAL. Take your TWO painted mini clothespins and pinch them {one on each side} around the decorative heart cutout, to look like the raccoon’s hands/arms are holding it.
* Go ahead and glue the combined piece you just made, to the center of the decorated popsicle stick shape.
* To finish off the Popsicle Stick Kissing Hand Raccoon craft, add any other embellishments you see fit.
* Then let it dry completely before displaying proudly!
* Don’t forget to snap a few pictures to share with us! #gluedtomycrafts

Make It Your Own:

Remember, our tutorials on Glued To My Crafts are just a starting point and we hope that through our words, we get the creative juices going. You can ALWAYS change up things for this kissing hand raccoon craft, to fit your needs, certain supplies or desires.

Take for example {like I mentioned above} you can also pinch other items between their “hands” to give them a unique look & feel. You can add a small printed picture of your child, a written message on paper or even a small gift card so you can give it to someone special.

Adding small magnets to the back would also be a creative way to display the finished pieces in your home!

Our site is FULL of amazing kid craft tutorials centered around this time of year, so be sure to click on over to our Back To School Roundup post and check them ALL out in one place!

You can also search our website for specific tutorials by typing in what you’re looking for at the top of the page where the search icon is. You can also just browse our category pages that are located above.

And phew! Once last thing before you click away- I wanna be BFF’s on Facebook with you as well! Come join our private Facebook group and get crafty with us!

Now go! Go get crafty with your child and snap a few pictures of those adorable kissing hand raccoon creations to share with us! #gluedtomycrafts