I Dig Pinterest

Creative "Pin"-spiration

Crafting with Kids: Paper Plate Aquarium

I’m so excited to be continuing my new series today- “Crafting with Kids”!  My kiddos are having so much fun with this, and I hope you’re getting some great ideas for things you can make with your own children, nieces/nephews, grandchildren, preschool group, playgroup, etc.
I pulled up one of my Pinterest boards the other day and asked my daughter what craft she would like to make.  Without hesitating, she chose a pin that came from an Etsy shop for a Paper Plate Aquarium kit.  We bought our own supplies at Hobby Lobby and made an aquarium for much less.  I loved watching Natalie get creative.  She really did most of it by herself, and after finishing, she found a special place for it in her room.  She even named the fish. 🙂
I love that we can have fish now without “having fish”, because we’ve tried that once and it didn’t go so well. The poor thing lasted a day and my daughter took the loss pretty hard.  So we’ll settle for the artificial form, as long as it makes her happy.
**This craft does require adult help for the use of the Exacto knife and hot glue gun, so just keep that in mind, but there’s still lots for the little ones to do!
Isn’t it so stinking cute?  (I’d have to say that my daughter is too).  I love the little bubbles and sea shells.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own.
{SUPPLIES}
 
2 paper plates per aquarium (preferably blue)
Scrap patterned paper
Small sea shells (we got ours at Hobby Lobby)
Imitation bubbles (also from Hobby Lobby) or gemstones that look like bubbles
Elmer’s Glue
Googly eyes
Hot Glue
Scissors
Craft paint (for the outer rim of the plate)
Dirt or sand (we just got some from our back yard)
Green rick rack (optional)
A piece of heavy plastic, for a more sturdy covering (mine’s from Hobby Lobby) or a plastic sheet protector
Exacto knife
I left a few of the supplies out, so see the “Supplies” section above for a comprehensive list.

 

 Trace two ovals for the fish on two different varieties of patterned paper.  Trace and cut two small triangles and two small trapezoids for the fins on each fish.

 

 **You’ll probably want to do this for your child.  Cut out the center of one blue paper plate.  I used an Exacto knife.
 Grab your piece of plastic and cut a circle that’s just larger than the circle in your plate.
Now, let the child paint the outside rim of the plate the color of his/her choice.

 

 Natalie chose blue.  My son decided to do his own craft over there.  🙂
Let the paint dry, then hot glue the plastic piece to the inside of the plate.
This will be the top piece to your aquarium.

Now, using Elmer’s Glue, glue the fish pieces together.  Glue on the googly eyes, and glue the fish to your other blue plate.  This will be the back portion of your aquarium.  Glue on your bubbles (I used Hot Glue).Spread a thin coating of Elmer’s glue on the bottom portion of your plate.  Sprinkle on the dirt or sand to cover the glue, then glue on your seashells.  We found that Hot Glue was needed for this part, but maybe we just weren’t patient enough in allowing the Elmer’s Glue to dry.  🙂

Glue a few pieces of green rick rack on to look like sea weed, if you’d like.  We forgot this part (oops!), but it would have made it even cuter.

Lastly, put a circle of Hot Glue around the edge of the plate that will be the back of the aquarium (the one where the fish are).  Quickly place your other plate (the one with the plastic piece) over the top and make sure they stick together.You’re done!

Now you’ve got an “aquarium” without the work of keeping real fish alive!  I’m a fan.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  9. This is great. I am doing an ocean theme for my little ones preschool this week and this is exactly what I wanted to do. Thanks for sharing! I’d love for you to check out our Pattern Party! Those with free patterns and templates to share are invited to link up! Starts on the 1st of each month.
MENU