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Paper Plate Sea Crab

Paper Plate Sea Crab craft

Summertime means spending time at the beach, and for many families, a trip to the ocean! Talking to kids about the different animals that live in the ocean is always fun, and creating a craft to make one is even better. Instead of your everyday flat paper plate crab, I’ll show you how to make one with a bit more dimension!

You will need:

Paper plate
Red craft paint
2 googly eyes
Red pipe cleaner
Tools: paintbrush, scissors, hole puncher, hot glue gun or quick drying glue
Print the pattern here

SAFETY NOTE: We recommend that parents handle the glue gun, or if your child is familiar with handling one safely, to supervise them closely.

paint both sides of the paper plate red

Start by painting both sides of the paper plate with red paint and let it dry completely.

Cut plate using the pattern

Print the pattern above and use it to cut the paper plate. The legs are cut from the top of the plate, as indicated by dashed lines in the pattern.

Fold arms to make them three dimensional

To make the front claws stand up and be three dimensional, first fold them upward on over the paper plate body.

You may need to fold the legs a few times to get them where you want them

Next, fold down about an inch or so from your first crease and fold upward. Then a few inches after that, fold down again.

punch two holes on the head for the eyes

For the eyes, use a hole punch to create two holes about an inch apart on top of the head.

cut pipe cleaner in half and bend each of them in half, hot glue googly eyes on

Cut your pipe cleaner in half, then fold each piece in half. Glue an eye to the top of each pipe cleaner. Insert the pipe cleaner eyes into the holes in the head about halfway. Turn the plate over and bend the pipe cleaners flush with the plate. Hot glue them in place. Turn the plate back over and bend the eyes to stand straight up.

cut legs from plate and bend in half

Take the six back legs you cut from the top of the paper plate and bend each one in half.

glue legs to the plate

Glue one to the back of the paper plate, just behind where the front claw begins. Glue the other two legs in place as well. Do any adjustment bending and creasing needed and your crab is all done! Cuteness!

Paper Plate Sea Crab by @amandaformaro

Amanda FormaroProject created by Amanda Formaro for Kix Cereal. Amanda is a well-known craft expert and author of the  books “Rubber Band Mania” and “Duct Tape Mania”, the first two in a series of craft books for kids. She has been writing and crafting on the Internet for over fifteen years. Find out more on her blog, Crafts by Amanda, where she shares tutorials with step-by-step photos for adults and kids alike.