My boys have always loved crafting things that move or that they can play with after. This Rocking Paper Plate Crab Craft ticks all the boxes!
These adorable homemade crabs can be gently rocked backwards and forwards and they also have pincers that actually open and close too. Hours of fun nip, nip, nipping the whole household LOL!
Paper plates make a great base for this easy crab craft. Why not check out some of our other fave paper plate crafts too?
Readers love our Handprint and Paper Plate Lion Mask – super fun for the dress up box, Jingly Paper Plate Tambourines – great for music time and our Bat Mobile which is a fun decoration for any bedroom.
We’ve made this rocking paper plate crab craft as part of the #CollectiveNouns series organised by my friend Anthea at Blue Bear Wood. New collective noun animal crafts will be posted by bloggers throughout May. Check out the most adorable Pounce of Pouncing Cats was posted by Left Brain Craft Brain – such a fun kitty engineering project and a Streak Of Tiger Finger Puppets by Moms and Crafters.
I have to admit that I didn’t actually know what you called a group of crabs and had to look it up. It seems that a collection of live crabs is referred to as a cast. We couldn’t find any information about where or why that particular collective noun came into use. We came up with the idea that it was from crabs “casting” off their hard exoskeleton shells when they grow. Do let us know if you have any other ideas!
Rocking Paper Plate Crab Craft Tutorial
We hope you have fun with this paper plate crab craft. They are lots of fun to play with and so easy to make you could craft your own cast of crabs in no time!
Crab Craft Supplies
- x2 Paper Plates (per crab) US / UK
- Orange Paint US / UK
- Split Pins US / UK
- Hole Puncher US / UK
- Large Googly Eyes US
- Glue
- Scissors
- Sticky Tape
- Marker Pen
How To Make Rocking Paper Plate Crabs
1 – Paint two paper plates orange.
2 – Cut the rim off one painted paper plate.
3 – To make 8 crab legs cut the rim into quarters, then cut each quarter lengthways. If you want to you can fold your crab’s legs concertina style too.
4 – Cut the paper plate middle in half and then cut a half inch strip of each half.
5 – Cut the two remaining semi circles in half.
6 – To make your crabs eyes cut one of your long strips in half and glue on some big googly eyes.
7 – Cut your quarter circles into 4 crab claw shapes.
8 – To make your crab’s pincers cut your second long strip in half and glue a single claw on to the end of each one.
9 – Position the second claw piece over the first and use the hole puncher to make a small hole. Secure the two crab claw parts together with a split pin. Repeat for both pincers.
10 – To make the crab’s body take your second paper plate and fold it in half. Cut 4 small slits across the fold.
11 – Insert your crab’s eyes and pincers into the holes and tape the into place on the inside of the paper plate.
12 – Open your crab and tape its legs along each side of its body.
13 – Use your marker pen to draw on a cheeky crab smile!
We think this crab craft is super fun and hope you do too.
More Fun Summer Crafts For Kids:
