Make a splash with this paper plate craft! Create a colorful underwater scene with some paint and construction paper, then watch your dolphin leap and dive beneath the waves with just a simple turn of the plate.
Time: 30-45 minutes
Difficulty Level: Medium
Materials
- 2 paper plates
- dolphin pattern template
- 2 shades of blue craft paint
- craft glue or glue stick
- construction paper
- brass paper fastener
- pencil
- black pen or marker
Tools
- scissors
- paintbrush
- newspaper or plastic sheet (to protect your workspace)
Steps
- Paint the ocean and sky. Paint one plate light blue and the other plate a darker shade of blue. Let them dry completely.
- Make the waves. Use a pencil to draw a wavy line across the darker blue plate, as shown. Cut along this line to create the ocean waves.
- Make the dolphin. Download and print the dolphin pattern. Trace it onto gray construction paper, then carefully cut it out. (TIP: If you can’t find gray construction paper, you can paint the dolphin gray.) Glue the dolphin to the light blue plate near the rim, as shown.
- Put the plates together: Stack the cut paper plate on top of the full paper plate and secure them together in the center with a brass paper fastener.
- Create an underwater scene: Cut out small fish, coral, and seagrasses from colorful construction paper. Glue them to the top darker blue plate.
- Add the finishing touches: Add an eye and mouth to the dolphin and eyes to the fish with a black pen or marker.
- Make the dolphin dive: While holding the top plate, spin the bottom plate to make the dolphin appear to dive beneath the waves and jump back into the ocean!
Grownup help needed: Supervise younger children with scissors.
