Build A Rat / Free Printable Paper Rat Template

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Continuing on in my printable Build An Animal series, I’d like to introduce to you Rusty the Rat! A free printable paper rat template that can be cut and stuck together.

The build-a-rat printable helps children with their cutting and pasting skills, as well as the opportunity to get creative with other materials too – like sticking on pieces of fabric, or buttons for eyes for example.

Free Printable Build-A Rat - Paper Rat Template

Build A Paper Rat Template

My build an animal series started with Rudy the Rooster and many other animals (and characters) have followed since! You will find all of my buildable printables at the end of the post.

Since Chinese New Year 2020 is the Year of the Rat, I’ve made a free printable paper rat template for you to download and build your own cute rodent!

There are lots more buildable paper animals on their way, so make sure you are part of The Pumpkin Patch so that you don’t miss out!

Grab the black-and-white printable rat to color and build over in the Purple Pumpkin Printables Shop!

Introducing Rusty the Rat!

Build a Rat Minifig

If you are a regular on my blog you’ll notice that my characters have a cute chubby style, and if they are animals they are anthropomorphic, which basically means that they have human traits – like standing on two legs instead of four.

As with [most of] my printables, they are available in two paper sizes – A4 and US Letter (8.5″ x 11″)

Download your chosen printable from the list further down the page (they’re surrounded by a purple box), and print onto thick paper or thin card. Cut the pieces out, then build a rat!

Included with this printable rat craft are the following pieces:

  • Body (with facial features)
  • Ears
  • Arms
  • Feet
  • Tail

Photos of the completed printable paper rat are on their way! Printing issues are always the uh, issue, but I’ll be adding them as soon as possible!

I’ve created two sizes for Rusty the Rat: Regular size, which is what you see above, with all of the pieces on one sheet of paper; and Large size with bigger pieces spread over several sheets.

The regular size printable is for children that are more skilled at cutting. The large size should be a lot easier for younger children. Or you could cut them out for them. Of course, you know your children, so will know what suits them best!

The body and face are all included in one piece in the regular size printable.

In the large printable, you have two options. One with all the facial features in place, and the other where you can stick on the snout and draw on whiskers with a pencil or marker.

You can stick the pieces together if you wish using glue or tape. Or you could use a laminator and laminate the pieces and use them over and over again.

You could mount your rat onto a larger piece of construction paper and use other craft materials to embellish it – furry material, glitter glue, googly eyes, sequins, buttons, tissue paper, for example.

Most of all, just have fun with this printable!


Handy Crafting Supplies (on Amazon) to Build-a-Rat!


Build A Rat Downloads

Paper Rat Template Large

Paper Rat Template Regular

(Download links open in a new tab/window)

Other Buildable Characters!

I have lots of other buildable characters that you may like to download.

These links open in the same tab/window, so just right-click to open in a new one and you’ll have them all ready to go!

The free printables are in PDF format and can be opened with the free-to-use Adobe Acrobat Reader (or other PDF Readers). If the download is a Zip File, it can be downloaded with WinZip, WinRar, or other software typically bundled on computers. Printables designed and created by The Purple Pumpkin Blog and its Designers are for PERSONAL USE ONLY and NOT FOR RESALE under any circumstances. Please read our full Terms and Conditions. You are welcome to print these free printables at an online print shop or print shop in-store if you don’t have access to a printer; however, some print shops may not print licensed characters. Colors may vary slightly on printing due to different screen and printer settings. You may share this free printable blog post on social media, including Pinterest, and on your blog/website with a link to this blog post. Please DO NOT share the PDF on social media or your blog/website. If you use any of our printables, it would be awesome to know about it! Post a picture on the social media platform you hang out on, and follow us on FacebookInstagram, or Pinterest. Use the hashtag #TPPBprintables so we can find you!

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