These Children in Need crafts are for the week before Appeal Night, when school sends home a note saying “wear something spotty on Friday” and you’ve got three days and a craft drawer. Appeal Night 2026 is on Friday 13 November. There are 15 ideas here: bear crafts, spotty day ideas, a few for toddlers, and some easy fundraisers kids can run themselves.
Each idea has an age, a rough time and how messy it gets. The templates (bear ears, a bear mask, a chain of bears, spotty bunting, bake sale signs and more) are all in one free PDF further down. No email needed.
Why spots? Pudsey, the Children in Need bear, wears a spotty bandana, so spots have become the uniform for the day. Our printables use our own spotty teddy rather than Pudsey himself. If you want the real Pudsey to colour, the charity has an official Pudsey colouring sheet.
Bear Crafts for Children in Need
Spotty Paper Plate Bear
Ages 3+, about 20 minutes, a bit messy.
Paint a paper plate brown or yellow. Glue on two small circles for ears and a lighter circle in the middle for the muzzle. Then the fun part: kids add spots all over with a cotton bud dipped in paint, or with round stickers if you’d rather skip the paint.
Uncoated plates hold paint much better than the shiny ones.
Paper Bag Bear Puppet
Ages 3+, 15 minutes, low mess.
The flap at the bottom of a paper lunch bag is the bear’s face. Glue on ears, eyes and a nose, and give him a spotty bow tie just under the flap. Kids can put on a little puppet show for whoever donated a pound.
Bear Ears Headband
Ages 3+, 10 minutes, low mess.
Print the ears from the template, colour them in, and staple them to a strip of card that fits round your child’s head. It’s the quickest way to dress up for the day if you’ve forgotten until Thursday night. Most of us have.
Spotty Bear Mask
Ages 4+, 20 minutes, low mess.
Colour the mask template, cut it out (grown-ups do the eye holes), then tape a lolly stick to one side. Holding a mask on a stick is easier for little ones than elastic, and it doesn’t pull their hair.
Chain of Paper Bears
Ages 6+, 25 minutes, low mess.
Fold a long strip of paper back and forth like a fan, trace the bear from the template onto the top, and cut round it without cutting the paws on the folds. Open it out and you’ve got a row of bears holding hands. Each bear gets a different pattern of spots. It looks great strung across a classroom window.
Toilet Roll Bear
Ages 4+, 20 minutes, a bit messy.
Paint a cardboard tube brown, add two ears cut from the top edge (or glued on), and draw a face. A strip of spotty paper round the middle makes a scarf. Make a few and line them up as a bear family on the windowsill.
Spotty Day Ideas
Spotty day is the easiest bit of Children in Need to join in with, and you don’t need to buy anything new.
Spotty T-Shirt (No Sewing)
Ages 4+, 15 minutes plus drying, messy.
Put a sheet of card inside an old white or plain t-shirt. Kids dip the end of a bottle cap or a cork in fabric paint and press spots all over. Leave it flat overnight. Round stickers stuck on the morning of the day work too, they just won’t survive the wash.
Spotty Bunting
Ages 4+, 30 minutes, low mess.
Print the bunting flags, let kids fill them with spots in every colour, then thread them onto string. It’s a good one for a class to make together, because everyone does a flag or two.
Spotty Biscuits and Cupcakes
Ages 3+, 30 minutes, very messy.
Plain biscuits or cupcakes, a thin layer of yellow icing, and chocolate buttons or sweets for spots. Kids do the decorating and you sell them at the bake sale (idea 13). Check for allergies if they’re going into school.
Children in Need Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Cotton Bud Dot Painting
Ages 2+, 10 minutes, a bit messy.
Print the spotty bear colouring page. Toddlers dip cotton buds in paint and dot it all over the bear. It’s great for little hands, and nobody can do it wrong.
Sticker Spot Bear
Ages 2+, 10 minutes, no mess.
Give them the bear outline and a sheet of round stickers. Peeling stickers is surprisingly hard work for a two-year-old, which is the point. Count the spots together when they’re done.
Small stickers can be a choking risk for under-3s, so stay close.
Fundraiser Activities Kids Can Run
These are simple enough for kids to run with a grown-up nearby. Money raised is paid in through the official Children in Need schools page or the main site.
Guess the Number of Spots
Ages 5+, 20 minutes to set up.
Fill a clear jar with spotty sweets or pom-poms, stick the printable label on the front, and charge a small amount per guess. Use the guess sheet in the PDF to write down names and numbers. Closest guess wins the jar.
Bake Sale With Printable Signs
Ages 5+, an afternoon.
The spotty biscuits from idea 9, plus anything else your family bakes. The PDF has a big “Bake Sale” sign and price tags kids can fill in. Older kids can handle the money box, which is good practice for adding up change.
Sponsored Colour-In
Ages 4+, as long as they like.
Kids ask family to sponsor them for each page they colour in from the pack. There’s a simple sponsor sheet in the PDF. It’s calm, cheap, and works well for kids who don’t want to do anything sporty.
Teddy Bear Hunt
Ages 3+, 30 minutes to set up.
Print the bear cards, hide them round the house, garden or classroom, and give each child the spotter sheet. Charge a pound to join in. Kids tick off each bear as they find it. You could also ask everyone to bring a teddy in for a teddy bear picnic at lunch.
Which one will be the hit? Hard to say. It probably depends on how much paint you’re willing to clean up.
Free Children in Need Printables (PDF)
[Download button here. Link straight to the PDF, no email form.]
The free pack has everything the Children in Need crafts above need: bear ears, a spotty bear mask, the chain of bears template, spotty bunting flags, a spotty bear colouring page, a guess the spots label and sheet, bake sale signs and price tags, a sponsor sheet, and the bear hunt cards. It prints on A4 and US Letter.
More Free Crafts for November
- Indoor crafts for kids for rainy November weekends
- Autumn leaf crafts for kids
- Christmas crafts for kids: 25 easy ideas with free templates
- Winter crafts for kids
Children in Need FAQs
When is Children in Need 2026?
Appeal Night is on Friday 13 November 2026. Most schools hold their spotty day on the same Friday.
What are easy Children in Need crafts for kids?
A spotty paper plate bear, bear ears headband, paper bag bear puppet and a chain of paper bears are all quick and use things you’ll have at home.
What can toddlers do for Children in Need?
Cotton bud dot painting and a sticker spot bear. Both need no cutting and almost no glue.
What can I wear on spotty day if I don’t have anything spotty?
Stick round stickers on a plain top, wear a homemade bear ears headband, or paint spots on an old t-shirt the night before.
How can kids raise money for Children in Need?
A guess the spots jar, a bake sale, a sponsored colour-in or a teddy bear hunt. All four can be run with the free printables on this page.
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