This adorable moving paper plate crab craft is the perfect activity for kids who are fascinated with ocean animals and sea creatures.
Young kids will have lots of fun creating this easy crab craft using our free printable crab template.
Paper Plate Crab Craft
We’re so excited to share this adorable paper plate crab craft with you today.
On our beach vacation to Ocean City Maryland last summer, our daughter spent most of her time digging for little crabs on the beach.
So, we decided to create this cute paper plate crab craft for her to make since she was so fascinated by these small ocean creatures. From studying their front claws to the crab’s body – she was really curious about these interesting and different animals.
This simple painted paper plate craft is really quite easy to make using our free printable crab template.
The best thing? Our paper plate crab craft uses very simple supplies that you likely already have laying around at home.
This makes our easy craft a great last minute crab paper plate craft idea for times when you’re looking for a screen free boredom buster.
Related: Float into summer pool float craft for kids
What You’ll Need
Making this paper plate crab craft requires supplies you likely already have laying around at home.
For convenience, we’ve linked to these items on Amazon. You can also buy these supplies at your local dollar store or Dollar Tree.
- A copy of our free template – the free printable template you need to make this simple crab craft can be found at the bottom of this post
- Printer and white paper for printing the crab template
- Paper plate
- Popsicle stick
- Construction paper – you’ll need brown, green and red construction paper
- Brown and blue paint & paint brush
- Glue stick or white school glue
- Scissors
- Black marker pen
- Googly eyes
How To Make A Paper Plate Crab Craft
Download and print our crab template.
The crab template comes in pdf format and includes the crab’s claws, crab’s body and crab legs.
The template also includes a rock and a few blades of grass.
The template is available for download at the very bottom of this post.
For detailed download and print instructions see the next section of this post.
Paint one entire paper plate blue using acrylic paint or acrylic paint markers.
Cut another plate in half and then paint it brown.
You may need to apply more than one coat to really cover the surface of your plates.
Let your painted paper plates dry well before moving on to the next steps.
If you’re in a rush, you can use a hair dryer to speed up the process.
Cut out the various parts of the crab template using scissors.
Trace all the parts of the crab body including the crab legs and crab claws on red paper.
Trace the grass blades on green construction paper and the rock on black or brown paper.
Cut out all your pieces.
Assemble your red crabs by gluing the crab legs and claw shapes to the crab body.
Glue on the crab’s eyes using self-adhesive googly eyes (black beads would work too if you don’t have eyes).
Use a black pen or marker to draw a mouth.
Assemble your grass by gluing the long strips together.
Glue the assembled grass blades to the bottom part of the rock.
Attach the half brown paper plate to the full blue paper plate by gluing the sides of the paper plate pieces together.
Remember to leave a space towards the center where you will insert the popsicle stick.
If glue doesn’t seem to be doing the trick to keep the two pieces together you can also use a glue gun.
Glue the rock with blades of grass to the right side of the plate.
You can also attach it to the left side if you would prefer.
Attach the popsicle stick to the back of the crab with glue.
Again, if your glue stick or white glue isn’t holding you can use a glue gun.
Insert the popsicle stick crab into the hole on the paper plate to make your little guy move!
More Screen Free Activities For Kids
Here are more fun activities that encourage screen free play and creativity.
All these activities are a fun way to keep kids aged 5-12 off their screens!
Pool float craft – this is one of those fun crafts that kids of a variety of ages enjoy making. A simple craft to make this is the perfect way to inject some creativity into a hot summer day.
Ice cream cone craft – this great craft idea has young children creating their very own frozen treat. A great way to encourage imaginative play this fun activity is a great way to work on fine motor skills.
Boredom busting summer crafts – a large collection of our favorite summer themed crafts for children of all ages. From pipe cleaner crafts to paper plate crafts with a wsummer vibe we’ve collected the best summer craft for kids.
Kids bingo – a free printable bingo game with 18 unique cards. This game is perfect for birthday parties, play dates or family game night.
Download & Print Instructions
To download the crab template to make this paper plate crab craft you’ll need to fill in the download forum located at the bottom of this post.
Once you’ve joined and confirmed you’ll become a member of our mailing list and receive a direct link to instantly download the template to make this fun crab craft.
If you have downloaded from us before and are already subscribed to our updates, simply complete the forum and our software will automatically redirect you to the download link.
For best results, we recommend printing our cute crab craft template on high quality cardstock paper. It makes for a better quality craft experience and is far more durable than standard copy paper.
Got a question? Reach out to us on any of our socials and we’ll do our best to get in touch with you. Find us on our Facebook page or Pinterest.
This paper plate crab craft was so much fun to make. It’s one of those easy crafts that kids of all ages (including older kids) will enjoy creating.
We had lots of fun reminiscing about our trip to Ocean City and all the fun we had searching for little crabs and shells on the beach while making today’s craft! We even came across horseshoe crabs on one of our adventures on the beach last summer!
We’d love to see your finished crab if you decide to make this paper plate crab craft with your child.
Snap a photo of your finished ocean crafts and reach out to us on social media to show us your finished product.
We can be reached on Facebook, Pinterest or by email!
🦀 Happy Crafting! 🦀
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