Cardboard Cow Craft

A cardboard cow that hangs on the wall, plus a little trick with a glove that makes her actually "give milk" into a bucket. My son has milked her about 400 times now ๐Ÿ„

โœ‚๏ธ Everything we used Cardboard, paint, and craft supplies

Size it up

Use her as your outline โ€” just scale her up to these measurements. Each lettered point is measured in the key below.

A cow line drawing used as the cardboard cut guide, with three lettered measurement points, A, B, and C, measured in the key below the diagram.

What you'll need

Build it

  1. Draw the cow, all in one piece. Use the size guide above โ€” about 30" ร— 10" for the body, 15" ร— 15" for the head โ€” sketched right onto your cardboard. Doesn't need to be perfect, cow faces are forgiving.
  2. Cut her out. A craft knife makes the tight curves around the ears and legs easier than scissors.
  3. Paint the spots. Black patches on the body, plus the face details, and let everything dry.
  4. Pour diluted pink paint into a disposable glove โ€” this is your "milk" โ€” then prick a few tiny pin holes in the fingertips. Tuck the glove through a slit cut into the body (right where the udder would be) so it hangs through to the front, with a bucket underneath. Give a gentle squeeze and the "milk" streams out ๐Ÿฅ›
Where to hang her: we mounted ours on a playhouse wall with the udder poking through a gap, so the bucket sits right underneath. A fence, shed door, or even a cardboard stand works just as well.
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