Try It Tuesday: Paper Plate Fish Craft

This is a fun & easy project for any kids. You just need 1 paper plate to make a fish, some paint (or something else to color it with), glue (or tape to attach the tail) and a googly eye (optional). My daughter wanted a glittery fish, so she sprinkled glitter on to the wet paint and it sticks pretty well.

This is just a picture of the basic supplies you need for this project.

I found that it is easiest if you have the child paint the paper plate first. Then allow to dry and cut out a triangle from one side to create the mouth and tape it to the back side to create a tail.

Your child may enjoy helping you tape the tail in to place, as well as glue a googly eye on.

This is my son's Nemo fish.

Try It Tuesday - Sea Urchin Craft

This is such a super simple craft that it is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers and gives ample opportunity to teach them about a sea creature they may never have heard of because it doesn't get too much attention

 Gather your supplies. You really need only Model Magic (or playdough or clay) and colored toothpicks. If you don't have colored toothpicks, but have the natural wood kind, I am going to tell you how to make some, but then you will also need a plastic baggie, paint & wax paper.

 To make the colored toothpicks for this project, just put your desired amount of toothpicks in a plastic baggie and squirt in some paint. I think I used about 30 toothpicks and maybe 2 teaspoons of paint. Squish the paint around over the top of the toothpicks until they are all covered.

 Take out toothpicks and allow to dry on top of a piece of wax paper. The wax paper prevents it from sticking. It will dry fairly quickly.

 For a 1" ball out of your Model Magic (or playdough or clay).

.Allow the child (under supervision, toothpicks can be sharp) to pierce the toothpicks in to the ball. You may need to provide a little guidance so they spin the ball and get some placed on all sides, but they can do this project pretty independently.

I just love this picture! You can tell that he is trying so hard to concentrate on pushing in the toothpicks.

Try It Tuesday - Clothespin Mermaid Doll

 Above is the finished Mermaid Clothespin Doll that my daughter made on her own. She asked for googly eyes & some beads to give her mermaid a crown (those are not pictured in my supplies below.)

I love the polka-dots she made on the Mermaid's top. she thought there needed to be green in the top as well as the bottom.

 The first she did was paint a "flesh" color over the clothespin. You wouldn't need to do that, but I had suggested it to her as a way to hide the wood grain look. They also do sell flesh colored (in a variety of flesh colors) packs of clothespins and pegs. Look for those at a craft store.

Next she painted the top & bottom of the mermaid, then cut strips of yarn for the hair (Thanks to Disney a Mermaid must have red hair), glue them to the top of the head, glues on googly eyes and a skirt (to make it look more like a tail and less like two legs), and some beads for a crown. And finally she used some permanent markers to draw on a tiny dot for a nose and a mouth.

If you think this is cute, then check out the Rainbow Fairies Clothespin Dolls I made for my daughter.