Want to get your kids (or yourself) excited to open their books? Let’s turn their favorite screen-time expressions into a hands-on craft!
These colorful DIY emoji bookmarks are incredibly easy to make, require zero fancy supplies, and look absolutely adorable peeking out from the top of a chapter book. They’re a fantastic weekend project or a quick classroom activity to encourage a love of reading.
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50 paper crafts your kids can actually do themselves
No fancy supplies — just paper, scissors, and a little imagination.
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Why you’ll love this project:
Great for motor skills: It’s a sneaky way to practice tracing, scissor control, and gluing!
No fancy stencils: No fancy template needed, we’re using a roll of tape to get the perfect circle. And you can use any round object you have at hand.
Completely customizable: Kids can recreate their go-to emojis or invent totally new, silly faces.
How to Make DIY Emoji Bookmarks
What you need:
- white cardstock
- paper roll (or any circular object)
- pencil
- markers (acrylic markers are an absolute blast)
- scissors
- glue
- hole punch
- ribbon
Step by Step Tutorial
Use a roll of tape as a stencil (or any other circular object you have at home) to trace a circle onto your white cardstock.
Ensure you have a clear circular shape on your white cardstock to serve as the base for your first emoji.
Use a yellow marker or other coloring supplies to color the entire surface of the circle.
Use a black marker to draw your chosen emoji expression.
Add personality to your emoji by drawing rosy cheeks with a pink marker.
Feel free to create a whole collection of emojis using different colored circles.
Once you have enough (we made 6), cut out all your finished emoji faces so they are ready for assembly.
When we cut out the emojis, we left a white edge to give each emoji a pop-out look!
Arrange your finished emoji circles in a vertical line to plan your bookmark stack, then glue them one on top of the other.
Apply a small amount of glue to the edges to begin joining the faces together.
See how they overlap just a tiny bit?
Use a hole punch to create a hole at the top of the uppermost emoji in your stack.
Thread a colorful ribbon through the hole and tie it securely to add a decorative touch.
Your project is complete and ready to use in your books.
More DIY Bookmark Ideas to Make
Print out our summer-themed bookmarks to color.
Use paper clips to make paper clip bookmarks.
Turn a square piece of paper into a cool corner bookmark.
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