Crab Paper Plate Craft

The boys recently came down with a horrible virus. Strep Throat is fairly common from my understanding but their Strep then turned worse and became Scarlett Fever. This was NO fun and I had to keep the boys inside for about a week and a half until I got the all clear from the doctor that they where feeling better and where no longer contagious. It was horrible and I don’t wish it on anyone. So this left me having to think of ways to entertain the kids while we stayed inside for so many days. I tell you… I was going insane in my mind!

I love to craft with my boys. Cooper is still very little so he doesn’t craft very often but I do a lot of craft with Locky.

While Cooper played with playdough in his highchair Locky and I concentrated on making a cool Crab Paper Play Craft. 

This was so much fun to make because there is lots of painting, gluing and using sticky tape involved so very fun for any toddler or pre-schooler.

We are always talking about animals and recently have really started focusing on the subject under the sea. Locky is fascinated with Crabs, dolphins and start fish right now so I’m coming up with ways to get him to craft using those three creatures in mind.

To make this Crab Paper Plate Craft you will need:

Materials
Orange or Red Paint
Paper Plates
Orange or Red Piper Cleaners
Sticky Tape
Large White Circles (made of paper for the eyes)
Small Black Circles (made of paper for the eyes)
Craft Glue
2 x Paint Brushes (for glue and paint)
Scissors
Black Marker or Sharpie

Start by getting your child to paint as many paper plates as you wish to turn into crabs. If you have a toddler like mine then this will actually be a challenging task! Allow to completely dry.

Cut out the eyes for the crab. I had mine pre-cut because I know Locky all too well and he would have wanted to try and cut the eyes and it would have ended up in tears.

Get your toddler to place glue on the eyes and glue them to the face of the crab. Then draw a smile with a black marker or sharpie pen.

Turn the crab over and tape the piper cleaner legs down with sticky tape or in my case washi take which is a very expensive way of doing it and the only tape I could find at the time…. I do not recommend doing this. painters take or marking tape are also great for this project.

I had already made two crab claws with pincers to be taped above the eyes. Then we taped 4 additional legs to each side of the crabs body.

Once you toddler has used about half a roll of tape you will be done and your crab complete! We made two and they now hang in the playroom where Locky screams (very loudly I might add) “CRAB!!!!!!!” every time he sees them. Haha. Quite adorable.

This is a fabulous craft for any time of the year but it’s perfect for a rainy day or a summer project also!

If you like this post you may also like some of my other kids crafts and projects!