Here’s a simple hanging bat craft for kids using empty toilet paper rolls. These adorable cardboard tube bats are a great way for kids to help decorate for fall or Halloween. They also make a great activity to go with the children’s book, Stellaluna! (Free bat wing template is provided.)

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We’ve been having so much fun decorating for fall! Recently we made these tear art fall wreaths, and now we have some hanging bats to add to our fall decorations. These bats are super simple to make and have the added fun element of being able to hang.  (This post contains affiliate links.)

This post was originally published on September 17, 2014 and has since been updated.

Hanging Bat Craft for Kids

Materials for Bat Craft

• Cardboard tube (We used an empty toilet paper roll.)
• Tempera paint (black or brown) and paintbrush
• Construction paper (black or brown)
• Black pipe cleaners
• Scissors
• Single hole punch (This is my favorite! It can punch through multiple sheets without making your hand sore!)
• Glue
• Googly eyes
• Marker (We used black and silver Sharpies.)
• Bat wing template (optional)

How to Make the Bat Craft

1. Paint your cardboard tube either black or brown (depending on the color bat you’d like to make). This is our favorite tempera paint to use. I love the colors and it doesn’t have a strong paint odor like other tempera paints.

2. While the cardboard tube is drying, draw some bat wings onto construction paper and cut them out. (If you don’t want to draw them yourself, you can use our bat wing template.)

3. Glue the wings onto the back of the cardboard tube.

4. Cut out some little triangles from your construction paper to make ears. Glue these onto the bat, along with some googly eyes. Use a marker to draw a mouth.

5. Punch two holes in the bottom of your cardboard tube. This is where the legs will go.

6. Cut a black pipe cleaner in half. Twist one end of each pipe cleaner through each punched hole.

7. To make the feet, snip off the last inch of each leg. Wrap the one-inch piece of pipe cleaner around the bottom of each leg. Fold the middle part of the foot to make a hook for hanging.

8. Hang you bat up for fall or Halloween!