A Gruffalo, what's a Gruffalo?
A Gruffalo! Why, don't you know?
The Gruffalo is a great way to introduce and teach the letter G and its /g/ sound to children. G is for Gruffalo... g, g, Gruffalo. This fun craft turns the letter G into the Gruffalo, helping little learners connect the letter shape and sound with one of their favourite literary characters.
I've put together a free printable Gruffalo inspired letter G template to make this craft even easier. Cutting out the template pieces, tearing the paper and gluing on the Gruffalo features will all help children to build their fine motor skills, hand strength and dexterity.
LEARN THE LETTER G WITH THE GRUFFALO
Although the Gruffalo is an imaginary creature created by renowned children's author Julia Donaldson, children can bring him to life with this fun letter G Gruffalo craft.
In the book The Gruffalo, he's characterised by his terrible tusks, terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws. His knobbly knees, turned out toes and a poisonous wart on the end of his nose. His eyes are orange. his tongue is black, he has purple prickles all over his back.
I designed the craft to focus more on the Gruffalo's facial features and using the letter G to represent his body, so the letter G Gruffalo has brown scruffy fur, orange eyes and pointy horns and is a little less scary than the real Gruffalo. If you want to you could also add some small purple prickles down his back on the left side of the G.
Supplies Needed:
- Letter G template
- White cardstock
- Brown cardstock
- Orange cardstock
- Scissors
- Glue
If you want to make your letter G Gruffalo more textured then you can substitute the brown cardstock for brown felt, brown tissue paper or brown yarn strips to give the Gruffalo fur a more realistic feel. You can also choose whichever background colour you like, we went with orange because it was a nice contrast to the Gruffalo's brown colour.
HOW TO MAKE A LETTER G GRUFFALO
1. Print out the template onto white cardstock. I recommend using cardstock as it is sturdier than paper and will make it easier for children to cut out the pieces.
2. Cut out all of the template pieces. Younger children may need help with this step depending on how well developed their scissor skills are. If you're doing this craft as a classroom activity you may want to cut out all the templates beforehand to save time.
3. Tear brown cardstock into small pieces. Don't worry about what sizes they make them, the more random the better as it will add to the textured effect of the Gruffalo's fur once they're glued onto the G.
4. Glue the brown pieces onto the letter G. The idea is to cover the entire letter G with brown pieces, however don't worry if younger children glue them on more haphazardly. Once the G is finished set it aside to dry.
5. Arrange the horn, ear and G template pieces onto the background cardstock to determine their placement. The G should be positioned in the centre of the page with the horns and ears behind it.
6. Glue the horns and ears onto the page. The horns should both be facing in the same direction.
7. Glue the letter G onto the page. It will be slightly overlapping the horns and the ears.
8. Glue the eyes onto the letter G. Finally glue the eyes onto the top of the letter G to complete the Gruffalo's face.
In addition to using this craft during a letter G week to learn about the letter G, it would also be a great craft to complete during book week alongside reading the Gruffalo and learning about Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler.
DOWNLOAD GRUFFALO INSPIRED LETTER G TEMPLATE
Click the download template button below to download the letter G Gruffalo template. This will take you to the PDF that can be downloaded to your device and printed. The PDF is a single A4 page, however you can print as many copies as you need.
Please note that this free printable letter G template is for personal or classroom use only and may not be shared electronically, uploaded or sold on any platform. If you would like to share or feature this craft in a blog post please link back to this post directly.
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