Crafts: Create a Shark Filled Ocean

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When you hear the word, "Shark," what do you imagine? Are you seeing a terrifying creature jumping out of the ocean to attack any animal in sight? Or are you fondly remembering a fun trip to a touch tank at your local aquarium? 

Sharks are often considered one of the most fearsome animals in the world. Yet not all sharks rank among the top scary ones. After all, there are over 400 different species of sharks in the ocean. They can't all be scary.

Even though there are 50 species of sharks that are considered potentially dangerous to humans, they don't regularly go around attacking humans. There are some easy tips you can apply to stay safe when swimming in waters frequented by sharks who may pose a threat. You can read ten tips at National Geographic or eight safety tips at Australian Geographic. 

For your craft, you can decide upon a variety of sharks. For example, you could draw and cut out one of the following types: 

• Basking Shark
• Bull Shark 
• Great White Shark
• Hammerhead Shark
• Mako Shark 
• Nurse Shark
• Whale Shark
• Thresher Shark 

Materials

• Two paper plates 
• One paper fastener 
• Blue paint and/or markers 
• Paintbrushes 
• Scissors 
• Shark cut-out (you can draw this or download clipart to print out) 
• Glue stick  

Steps 

Gather all your materials for your shark craft. 

Cut a quarter of one paper plate. 

Paint both paper plates with various shades of blue. 

Allow your plates to dry. While they are drying, draw and cut out your shark.

After your paper plates are dry, glue your shark onto the paper plate that is NOT cut. Position the shark so that part of it will be seen through the slice of the cut paper plate. You can add more than one shark if you wish. 

Attach the cut paper plate to the top of the whole one with the paper fastener. 

Now turn your top paper plate so that the shark disappears behind the waves. 

 

Want to learn more about sharks? 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has several courses that your elementary-aged student or high school student can learn about sharks and marine life in general. In All About Animals, our first or second graders will read through a variety of colorful eBooks to learn about different wild animals. In Under the Sea, your child will read about dolphins, whales, rays, crabs, and the shark! Realistic drawings and photographs highlight the different species of sharks and share the different parts of the shark body. 

Dive into a world of educational adventures with our Shark & Sea BOGO Sale! From July 22 to September 6, buy an annual SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership for $269 and get a second year FREE! Did you know that octopuses have three hearts? Just like them, we put our heart into every course we offer. Unlimited access to hundreds of courses for all grade levels.

Don’t miss out! Visit SchoolhouseTeachers.com to learn more!

Create your own shark paper bag puppet! 

Crafts: Wonder Woman Paper Plate Shield

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Since we starting watch the 1960s Batman Television series, our children have really become interested in superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Because of this new found love of superheros our daughter requested a Wonder Woman themed birthday party this year so I started thinking about what crafts our children could create to help decorate the house.

We made these Wonder Woman inspired shields with paper plates, paint, and a some clip art from the Internet. 

Materials

• Paper plates
• Red paint
• Blue paint
• Paintbrushes
• Clip art
• Glue sticks 

Please note this craft will take a while longer due to waiting for the paint to dry in between steps. 

Steps 

1. Gather all your materials.

2. Paint the paper plate red and allow it to dry.

3. Paint a circle of blue on the paper plate. Allow the paint to dry.

4. Print out yellow stars or print out black and white stars and color them in.

5. Print out the Wonder Woman logo and color.

6. Glue on your stars and Wonder Woman logo.

7. Use your shield to defend against evil!

Looking for more crafts?

We made Wonder Woman Paper Bag Puppets and lots of other fun crafts that used paper plates like this one. Be sure to check out our Christmas ornaments, paper plate pigs, and paper plate chicks.

Crafts: St. Patrick's Day's Snakes

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

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One of the traditions surrounding Saint Patrick is that of his banishment of snakes from the island of Ireland during the 5^th century. If you are a myth buster, then you probably already know that no evidence of snakes ever living on Ireland in nature has been found. It is one of the few places in the world where snakes are not a native species.

This presents the perfect opportunity to teach my children the difference between legends and facts (as well as create a cute snake craft). There are still some wonderful stories surrounding Saint Patrick that are true and amazing. He was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland a slave. As he was tending to sheep, he turned to God, instead of the gods of the Druids, and prayed as many as a hundred times for protection. After escaping and returning to England, he studied for the priesthood and was eventually ordained a bishop. He would return to Ireland to preach the Gospel, often using shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish.

Snake Craft

Materials

• Paper plate
• Scissors
• Markers or crayons
• Pencil
• String or yarn (if you choose to hang your completed project)

Steps

1. Gather all your materials.

2. Draw a snake on the paper plate.

3. Decorate the snake.

4. Cut out the snake.

All ready to be cut out!

5. Hang your snake or play with it.

Resources

National Geographic: Did Saint Patrick Really Drive Snakes Out of Ireland? 

Reptile Magazine: Did St. Patrick Really Banish Snakes from Ireland? 

Saint Patrick 

Original Image of Shamrock: © Wertaw | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

Crafts: Christmas Ball Paper Plates

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Materials 

• Paper plates
• Tissue paper
• Glue 
• Construction paper
• Scissors 
• Tape 

Steps 

1. Gather all materials.

2. Either with the help of your children or before gathering everyone for the craft, cut circles out of the tissue paper.


3.  Glue the tissue paper circles onto the paper plates.

4.  Attach the top of the Christmas Ball to the back of the paper plate with glue or tape.

5. Hang in your house. My kids wanted them on the front door.

Resources

Crafty Morning's Paper Plate Christmas Ornament for Kids
Artsy Momma's Simple Tissue Paper Christmas Tree Shaped Ornament Craft 
Arty Crafty Kid's Paper Plate Baubles 

Fall Crafts: Scarecrow

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With the autumn weather, comes pumpkin picking, Halloween projects, and fall crafts. There are so many cute ideas on Pinterest and Facebook, it is sometimes easy to be overwhelmed by all the choices.  This year we made a simple paper plate scarecrow to decorate our front door.

Materials 

• paper plates
• yellow construction paper
• red construction paper
• white construction paper
• black construction paper
• orange construction paper 
• brown construction paper 
• markers or paint and paint brushes
• glue or glue sticks
• tape 
• scrapbook paper 
• scissors 

Steps 

1. Gather materials. (If your children are handy with scissors, have them help out.)

2. Color the paper plate.

3. Glue on the eyes, nose, and mouth.

4. Glue on the hair.

5. Glue on the hat.

6. Glue on the bow-tie.

Both my children enjoyed decorating and creating their own unique scarecrows. If you and your children make any, I would love to see them.  You can share them with me on Instagram or Facebook. Tag my page or use #momquesttoteach on Instagram. 

My son's scarecrow 

Resources 

Crafts for Preschooler's Scarecrow 

Original Scarecrow inspiration 

Crafty Morning's Popsicle Stick Scarecrow

No Time For Flash Card's Scarecrow 

Crafts: Black Cat

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October 27 is National Black Cat Day.  Black cats have gotten a bad wrap over the course of history as bringing bad luck or being familiars of witches but they are really just like any other cat.  

My family has owned several almost totally black cats over the years as well as many other tabby cats.  We never felt the black cats brought any more prosperity or negative luck to our homes as the traditions and myths surrounding them differ from culture to culture. 

Misty with Buffy the Mouse. 

One of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe stories is The Black Cat.  If you get the chance to visit the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia, PA, you can see the basement that might have been the inspiration for the famous tale.

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site Basement 

False chimney place in the basement resembles that in the story The Black Cat.

Since black cats are so often associated with Halloween thanks to numerous movies, books, and television shows, my children created their own black cats to decorate our front door for the holiday. These black cats could be created for any cat lesson and be changed to any color you or your children wish.

Materials 

• Paper plates (2) 
• glue
• tape 
• black construction paper 
• white construction paper 
• pink construction paper 
• crayons, markers or paints and paint brushes 
• googly eyes (optional) 

Steps 

1. Gather all the materials. Depending on the age of your children, you can pre-cut the ears, nose, eyes, tail, whiskers, and feet or they can do that during the actual craft time.

2. Color or paint the two paper plates the color of your cats.

3. Start attaching all the pieces of the paper plates.  

4. Attach the two paper plates together.  Attach the tale, ears, and feet onto the back with tape. 

5. Display completed project. 

Resources 

I heart Crafty things' Paper Plate Cat Craft

Danielle's Place's Cat and Kitten Craft for Kids

Crafts by Amanda's Paper Plate Black Cat 

Not to leave out the other cats that we have owned here are their photographs. Do you have any pet cats? Please share in the comments.  

Mac - brother to Rumple and Skimble

Rumple - brother to Mac and Skimble

Skimble - sister to Mac and Rumple

Clarke