Swimming Jellyfish Craft {Paper Plate Craft for kids}
Crafts are fun, but making one that moves is double the fun. Use a few simple items to create your very own moving jellyfish from a couple paper plates.
This craft can be just for fun or used as part of an ocean themed unit study or to celebrate a trip to the aquarium.
P.S. You could also call this an Octopus craft but it looks more like a jellyfish to me.
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If you want to keep this craft simple you can also skip the moving part and just make a cute jellyfish craft.
Supplies
- Paper Plates
- Paint – at least 2 colors
- Paintbrush
- Yarn or Ribbon (bright colors will work best)
- Hole Punch
- Black Marker
- Googly eyes (or you can use the marker)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Packing Tape
- Popsicle stick or straw
Directions
1 – Paint
You’ll need to paint 2 paper plates and let them dry before you move on with your craft.
The first plate will be your jellyfish body. I recommend you start with it as it needs to be dry before you can move on.
You only need to paint the middle section of the plate. You’ll be cutting your jellyfish body out of this. Again, this can be any color you wish but I suggest something brighter that will show up well against the ocean color.
The second plate will be your ocean. Traditionally this would be a darker blue color but your ocean can be blue, purple, green, etc. Whatever color you imagine your ocean to be.
2 – Cut out your jellyfish body
Once the jellyfish plate is completely dry cut a half circle out of the middle of the plate. You’ll want it to be smaller than the middle section so that it will have room to move in your ocean.
3 – Add some tentacles
Grab a hole punch and punch holes all along the straight, bottom edge of your jellyfish body. Make as many holes as will fit without them being so close that the holes will rip.
Then, tie a piece of yarn or ribbon to each hole. The tentacles can be as long as you’d like them to be. (You’ll want the pieces of string to each be the same length.)
We used a sort of loop knot for ours. My five year old could do the knots herself with a bit of help, but it was a bit of a struggle for her. My 7 year old was able to do them all by herself once I showed her how to do it.
4 – Complete your jellyfish.
Bring your jellyfish to life by adding googly eyes, a cute mouth, and some eyelashes if you like. Then set it aside or any glue to dry.
We did our faces first but I would suggest at least punching the holes for the tentacles before doing the face. One of ours had the mouth so low that it almost got hole punched!
5 – Once your ocean paper plate is dry flip it over and draw a straight line on the back using a pencil if you need a guide to cut.. You can use your black marker as well.
Next, use your scissors or a knife to cut a line across the plate. This will probably need to be done by an adult, especially if you’re working with younger kids.
6 – Attach a straw or popsicle stick to the back of your jellyfish using packing tape or masking tape. You won’t want to use regular scotch tape as it won’t be strong enough to hold.
The stick or straw will need to be long enough to go through the plate and be held in your hand.
7 – Carefully push the stick or straw through the cut in the ocean plate. Then make your jellyfish dance through the ocean.
Per usual, I really love the way my kids turned out more than my own. The large googly eyes and rainbow pattern jellyfish came out super cute.
You can also get extra creative and make your own animal. My 7 year old calls hers a jellycat.
Kids may also enjoy singing a fun song along with their jellyfish. It could even make a cute performance! I’d suggest this cute jellyfish song I found.
Learning Opportunities
Fine Motor Skills
Tying the knots for the tentacles is a great way to work on fine motor skills.
It takes some skill to get the yarn through the hole and then loop it into a knot. The bigger your hole punch, the easier it will be to get the yarn through the hole.
