Paper Plate Fish Craft

We are getting ready to throw an "Under the Sea" themed 4th birthday party for our "little mermaid," which means Mia and I have been making some sea creature crafts lately. First up is a paper plate fish craft. I got the idea for this when I saw something similar at a library Up North over Christmas.

Paper Plate Fish By Mia (Almost 4!)

Materials:

• 2 paper plates
• 1 googly eye
• scissors
• glue or tape
• markers (or crayons or colored pencils)

Optional Materials:  

• sequins
• beads 
• pom poms, etc.

Directions:

Tip: Use clothespins to hold pieces in place while glue dries.

1. Take one paper plate and make two cuts meeting in a vee for the fish's mouth. Save the wedge-shaped cut-out for the fish's tail.
2. Glue or tape the tail piece to the paper plate opposite the mouth.
3. Fold a second paper plate in half and cut along the fold. Next, take one half of the plate and fold and cut it into two halves. These two pieces will be fins.
4. Glue or tape one fin to the top of the fish and the other to the bottom of the fish. I found that the inside edge of the ridged part was the perfect place to glue the fins to the plate.
5. Decorate your fish using markers, colored pencils, or crayons. (We used washable markers.)
6. Glue on a googly eye.
7. If desired, add texture and visual interest to your fish's design by gluing on sequins, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, beads, pom poms, or anything else you can think of.
8. Make sure glue is dry before displaying your fish.