Easy Dolphin Craft Activity (It Dives!)

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This easy dolphin craft activity is so much fun to make and even more fun to play with when your done. The dolphin spins around so that it dives into the surf over and over again. Customize your ocean craft however you like with other creatures in the sea, colors or even more dolphins jumping.

I bet you’ve never heard of craft flashcards…Of course you haven’t…because I totally made it up 🙂 As a pediatric Occupational Therapist, I’ve witnessed kids struggle to complete multi-step activities. So, I came up with this brilliant (if I do say myself) way to break down crafts into bite-sized pieces in the form of flashcards.

These are especially perfect for those kiddos who have limited attention spans.

Crafts are such a great developmental tool for kids (improves motor planning, attention span, executive functioning, fine motor skills, language development and more), and using flashcards makes planning crafts for your kids to enjoy even easier.

Just print out a few of your favorites onto cardstock, cut them into the cards with a hole in the corner and place them on a keyring that you can connect to your craft supply bag (which you can fill using our master list of supplies that we stick to for every single one of the projects in the flashcard collection). It’s so simple.

And the best part is that there’s not a screen in sight. Technology is such a great thing, but it’s also nice to take a break from it once in awhile and let the brain explore in other ways. Click the image to learn more about our collection of 100 Craft Flashcards for Kids.

Fun Facts About Dolphins

Dolphins often stay with their mothers for a long time, even up to 3 to 8 years.
They have 2 stomachs.
Dolphins can dive up to 1000 feet.
They live on average around 17 years and have been known to live up to 50 years.
When eating, they don’t chew their food but swallow it whole.
They are extremely intelligent animals. When comparing the size of their brain to their body, they come in second only to humans.

To learn more interesting facts about dolphins, check out this article from Surfer Today.

Save this craft for later. Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board…

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How to make a Paper Plate Dolphin Craft

Dolphins are some of the most amazing creatures on the planet, so intelligent and beautiful. This craft would be the perfect addition for an ocean unit in the classroom or just for fun to make at home.

SUPPLIES FROM THE BAG

Paper plate (9-inch coated)
Paints
Pompoms
Q-tips
Scissors
Single hole punch
Construction paper
Crayons
Markers
Metal brad
Pencil
Newspaper
Dolphin craft template

You already have everything that you need on hand to make this cute dolphin craft if you’ve used our master list of basic craft supplies to fill your bag. It’s just 27 inexpensive items that fit into one bag, and we’ve made hundreds and hundreds of crafts for you to pick from using those supplies. So simple but so much fun…and almost zero prep for you.

Watch this Dolphin Craft in Action

Instructions:

Step 1: Make Waves

Draw a wave line across the center of your paper plate.
Then cut on the line and place the side with the points of the ocean waves and turn it over so that it is bottom side up.

Step 2: Color It

Place that half plate on a piece of newspaper squeeze out some water colored paints (shades of blue and white)
Paint the plate a light color of blue using a pompom
Then go back and add some lighter and darker water colors by tap painting lightly with smaller pompoms.

*If you want to skip the paint, simply use crayons instead to make the water pattern on your plate.

Step 3: Use the Dolphin Outlines

Download and print the dolphin craft template
Use the template to cut a dolphin out of gray construction paper.

Step 4: Add Some Details to the Paper Dolphin

Take the cut out dolphine and add some details using your crayons and markers.

Paper Dolphin Craft step 4 Dolphin craft template

Step 5: Put Your Dolphin Craft Together

Use the hole punch to punch a hole in the tail of the dolphin.
Once the paint has dried, punch another hole in th center of the waves of your paper plate, right at the top.
Line up the two holes and place a brad through the hole. Separate the brad in the back, leaving a bit of slack but not too loose so that the dolphin can dive.

How to Turn This Into a Preschool Craft

The elements of this craft require cutting that is beyond the skills of a preschooler. Precut the ocean waves and the dolphin. If you’re working with a class of preschoolers, layer several pieces of paper together, staple them and cut a bunch of dolphins out at once using the free template. YOu can choose to use paint or crayons to decorate the water.

A Couple of Painting Tips

Use a large pompom to paint on a base coat of light blue. Before it dries, use a smaller pompom to go back and top on some small waves here and there. Don’t use much paint on the pompom and tap it until almost dry before painting on the extra saves. Keep tapping until the paints blend together. Repeat this process with some white paint for the peaks of the waves.