Ever tried to keep eight sugar-fueled six-year-olds occupied for more than eleven minutes at a birthday party? It’s not easy. Balloons pop. The bounce house line turns into a shoving match. Someone cries about cake flavor. But hand those same kids a spork, a lump of clay, and a googly eye, and something shifts – they go quiet, focused, hunched over their craft like tiny sculptors. That’s the magic of Toy Story birthday party crafts for kids: they’re not just decorations, they’re an entire chunk of the party, solved.
This guide walks you through five complete crafts – Forky, the paper plate alien, alien slime, a photo prop corner, and how to turn all of it into a working “Andy’s Room” craft station. Step by step, with real supplies, real quantities, and zero guesswork.
Why Toy Story Crafts Are the Move for Your Kid’s Birthday Party
Here’s what most party guides miss: a craft table does three jobs at once. It’s an activity. It’s a favor. And once the kids are done, the finished pieces become part of your decor – line them up on the snack table and you’ve got a centerpiece nobody paid extra for.
Pinterest already tells the story. Scroll through the top-performing Toy Story pins and you’ll see the same pattern over and over: step-by-step Forky tutorials, alien slime recipes, printable Buzz and Woody props. Not party roundups. Not decor mood boards. Actual instructions. Parents aren’t looking for inspiration – they’re looking for a plan they can execute on a Tuesday night before the weekend party.
And kids love having something to hold onto after the cake’s gone. A homemade Forky beats a plastic goodie bag trinket every single time.
Gather Your Core Craft Supplies First
Before anyone touches clay, get the basics in one place. You’ll need paper plates, safety scissors, school glue or a low-temp glue gun, washable paint in green and white, black and red markers, googly eyes in a couple sizes, pipe cleaners in red, green, and yellow, and a stack of white cardstock.
Dollar Tree covers about 90% of this list for a few dollars per pack. Pom poms and craft sticks live in the same aisle – grab extras, because somebody always drops a googly eye on the floor and it rolls under the couch forever.
Skip the Cricut, Unless You Already Own One
If you’ve got a Cricut sitting in a closet, now’s the time to cut alien eye shapes and Buzz visors in bulk. If you don’t, don’t buy one for this. Scissors and a printed template work fine for a single party.
Stock Up on Forky and Alien Slime Extras
For Forky, you need one plastic spork per kid, a container of air-dry modeling clay, popsicle sticks, red pipe cleaners, red and blue sticky wax sticks (the kind used for braces – a pack of 20 runs about $3), rainbow stickers, and a red marker for cheeks.
Can’t find sporks anywhere? Check your kid’s school cafeteria – plenty of cafeterias stock the exact plastic spork Forky is modeled after, and most will hand over a bag of them for free if you ask the lunch staff.
For alien slime, grab clear or white school glue, baking soda, contact lens solution (the saline kind, not the multipurpose enzyme cleaner), and green liquid food coloring. That’s the whole list – four items, maybe $10 total if you’re starting from zero.
How to Make a Forky Spork Craft, Step by Step
This is the craft dominating Pinterest right now, and for good reason – it’s cheap, it’s recognizable, and kids finish with something that actually looks like the character.
Step 1: Prep the Legs
Cut roughly one-inch lengths off each end of a popsicle stick. These become Forky’s two feet. Set them aside.
Step 2: Shape the Base
Take a chunk of clay about the size of a quarter and roll it into a mound. Press the two flat stick ends into the bottom so the mound stands upright on little legs.
Step 3: Seat the Spork
Push the spork handle down into the top of the clay mound until it holds steady on its own.
Step 4: Add Arms
Wrap a red pipe cleaner around the middle of the spork handle, twisting it snug. Bend each end into a three-fingered hand shape, just like Forky’s.
Step 5: Build the Face
Shape the red sticky wax stick into two small eyebrow arches and press them onto the spork’s face area. Glue on two googly eyes below the brows. Shape the blue sticky wax stick into a jagged, stitched-looking mouth and press it below the eyes.
Step 6: Finish the Details
Smudge a little red marker onto your finger and dab rosy cheeks under the eyes. Press a rainbow sticker onto one of the popsicle-stick feet. Let the clay set for about 20 minutes before anyone starts swinging it around.
Common mistake: kids press too hard on the googly eyes before the wax stick eyebrows have set, and the whole face slides sideways. Let each layer sit for a minute before adding the next one.
How to Make a Paper Plate Alien
This one’s the safest bet for toddlers and younger siblings – no clay, no sharp handles, nothing that requires steady hands.
Paint the back of a paper plate lime green and let it dry for about 15-20 minutes. While it dries, cut two large oval eyes from white cardstock and draw small black pupils near the top of each. Glue the eyes high on the plate, close together – that’s the signature Toy Story alien look. Draw a small round mouth in black marker, add two pipe cleaner antennae with a pom pom glued to each tip, and tape a craft stick to the back so it works as a hold-up mask.
How to Mix Up Alien Slime
Pour a half cup of school glue into a bowl with a half cup of water and a few drops of green food coloring. Stir until the color’s even, then mix in a half teaspoon of baking soda. Add contact lens solution a little at a time – usually a tablespoon or two does it – stirring as the mixture starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
Once it’s too thick to stir, pick it up and knead with your hands for a minute or two until it stops sticking to your fingers. Store each kid’s batch in a small plastic container or snack bag, and glue a pair of googly eyes to the outside so it doubles as a party favor.
How to Build a Buzz and Woody Photo Prop Corner
Print or trace a free Toy Story photo prop template featuring Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger visor and Woody’s sheriff badge and hat. Cut them out of cardstock, then tape or hot-glue each one to a wooden dowel or a long paint stick so kids can hold them up like a fan.
Hang a solid-color backdrop – blue paper works, so does a plain sheet – and set up a small table with the props and a “Space Ranger Photo Zone” sign nearby. Kids naturally gravitate toward it between other activities, and parents get a phone full of pictures without you lifting a camera.
Turn These Crafts Into Party Favors (Craft Station Setup)
Set every craft up as its own labeled station instead of one giant messy pile. Blue and red tablecloths, a hand-lettered “Andy’s Room Craft Station” sign, and printed step-by-step picture instructions taped to each station keep kids moving without needing you to explain the same steps six times.
Have one adult stationed near anything involving a glue gun or scissors, especially for kids under six. Once everyone’s finished, tuck each craft into a small drawstring bag – the finished Forky or alien becomes the party favor, no extra shopping required. Line a few of the best ones up on the snack table before guests arrive, and you’ve turned craft time into decor, too.
Back to that room full of quiet, hunched-over kids – that’s what you’re aiming for. Not chaos. Not a bounce house line. Just a table full of spork aliens and clay astronauts, and a stack of favor bags that made themselves.
FAQ
What supplies do I need to make a Forky craft?
You’ll need a plastic spork, air-dry modeling clay, a popsicle stick, a red pipe cleaner, red and blue sticky wax sticks, googly eyes, and a rainbow sticker. Nearly everything comes from Dollar Tree, and school cafeterias often have spare sporks to give away.
What’s the best Toy Story craft for young kids at a birthday party?
The paper plate alien wins for toddlers and preschoolers – it’s just paint, glue, and marker, with no sharp handles or small clay pieces to manage. Older kids can move on to Forky once their fine motor skills catch up.
How do I make Toy Story party favors without a big shopping trip?
Lean on supplies you likely already have – paper plates, pipe cleaners, and markers – then let each child’s finished Forky or alien craft double as their take-home favor. That skips the separate goodie bag purchase entirely.