Shell Creature Craft

Here is another simple craft idea that Mia made at her school's Art Night tonight. She dubbed this little friend a "shell creature." I love the smoochy lips and long eyelashes that she drew. This craft reminded me a bit of when we painted rocks, although there was no paint involved tonight, which made it even simpler and less messy. This is definitely a good craft for kids of almost any age to enjoy.

{Shell Creature by Mia, Age 6}

Materials:

• sea shells
• googly eyes
• glue dots
• craft foam
• permanent markers
• scissors (optional)

Directions: 

1. Use glue dots to adhere googly eyes to a clean, dry shell. I think a smoother surface would work better, but we didn't test this on a bumpy shell, so I don't know for sure. Tip: Instead of trying to peel off the glue dot with your fingers, place the back of the googly eye directly onto the glue dot and then peel it off and place it on top of the shell.
2. Draw the creature's face. Permanent markers work well for drawing noses, mouths, eye lashes, and other features.
3. Add more decorations as desired. Mia included some craft foam hearts, which were also attached with glue dots. You could add many other items such as other possible materials: beads, buttons, sequins, yarn, ribbon, small pebbles, and construction paper, for example. Use scissors to cut shapes from paper or foam, or trim lengths of yarn for hair. 
4. Make several shell creatures and find a fun way to display your new friends.

Rock On, Kids!

I know this isn't the most original of project ideas, but we painted rocks recently. Actually, it was Mia's idea. We started the looooong process of clearing out our rock bed in the front of the house, and she commandeered some of the rocks for painting. Since I know I good (simple) idea when I hear one, that's just what we did. This project can be as simple as you want (paint all rocks a single color each, and display on a shelf or in a jar) or more complex such as painting designs or even creating dimensional faces with yarn, puffy paint, googly eyes, or other materials that you have available.  If the weather is nice, you could even do this outside to save yourself some cleaning up. Don't have rocks? Take a nature walk; then you have a two-for-one activity. Or try smooth pieces of wood or all those sea shells you have sitting around.

{Even little ones can do this.}

Materials:

• rocks (any shape/size available)
• paint (We used acrylics; tempera would also work.)
• paintbrushes
• smocks or old clothing
• newspaper (to cover work surface)
• paint tray (We use old Styrofoam meat packages -- Wash well before using.)

{Mia's Rocks}

Optional Materials:

• puffy paint
• googly eyes
• feathers
• pom poms
• sequins
• beads
• yarn
• buttons
• acrylic gems
• stickers or rub-ons
• tacky glue (unless you used self-adhesive items)