Easy To Make Crab Craft For Kids With Free Template

Are you looking for some fun crab crafts? Then you are in the right place! Learn how to create this easy crab craft for kids in just 30 minutes, using simple supplies from the Dollar Store and our FREE crab template!

CRAB CRAFT FOR KIDS

If you follow me on social media, you know we are Marylanders through and through! We are lucky enough to live on the water and love all the food that showcases Maryland, like Old Bay, oysters, and of course, crabs!!

Crabs are not only delicious to eat, but they are the perfect subject matter for some summer-themed crafts! For example, when doing research for this post, I saw a paper plate crab craft, a handprint crab craft, and even a cupcake liner crab craft. Now, don’t get me wrong, all these projects sounded like fun ideas, but sometimes you just want a fun craft that is easy to make, involves simple supplies, and doesn’t cause a huge mess.

So, today, we are skipping the construction paper, cupcake liners, and black beads for something less messy and more fun. That, my friend, is popsicle sticks (aka craft sticks)!

Popsicle sticks are one of my favorite supplies for kids’ crafts because they are so much fun to work with, are great for creating simple crafts, and can be turned into almost anything! Plus, they can easily be found at your local Dollar Store at a great price, which is always nice for your crafty wallet.

Personally, I have a huge supply of popsicle sticks because of 1) all the reasons I mentioned above, and 2) I used them to create my Valentine String Art for Kids and Halloween Craft Sticks projects. Due to all of that, I thought it would be a great idea to turn the leftover sticks into an ADORABLE crab!!

{FTC disclosure: this blog post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission on sales at no additional cost to you.}

SUPPLIES NEEDED

NOTE: For this project, I chose to make a traditional red crab. However, you can choose another color based on the supplies you have on hand or on what your child chooses. This is because crabs come in different colors (who knew!)! For instance, besides red crabs, you can find green, yellow, brown, purple, and even blue crabs in the wild!

HOW TO MAKE CRAB CRAFT FOR KIDS

1. To create the crab shape body, line up five jumbo craft sticks on your work surface. Using scissors, trim additional jumbo craft sticks to the width of the crab and attach with a glue gun and glue sticks. Cut a regular craft stick in half with scissors and glue it to the top of the crab.

TIP: You could also use school glue or craft glue instead of hot glue. The only thing to keep in mind is that the drying time with school glue will be much longer.

2. Basecoat the crab with red acrylic craft paint. I chose not to paint the back of the crab, but you can paint both sides if you like.

Then, paint two regular craft sticks with red acrylic craft paint. Let everything dry, and apply a second coat, if necessary.

TIP: You can use acrylic paint markers, washable markers, crayons, or even colored pencils to color the jumbo craft sticks if you don’t want to use regular paint.

3. Download, print, and cut out the crab patterns. Then trace the crab claws twice onto red craft felt.

4. Cut out the claw patterns with scissors. Make sure to cut inside the traced lines so you end up with a clean finished project.

5. Attach the red craft sticks to the back of the claws with a glue gun and glue sticks. Glue the claws onto the right and left sides of the crab’s body.

6. Cut two red pipe cleaners in half with scissors. Cut those halves in half again, so there are eight small pieces of pipe cleaners in total. These pipe cleaners will be our crab’s legs.

7. Attach four pipe cleaner legs to the right and left sides of the crab’s body with a glue gun and glue sticks. Bend the top two crab legs up and bend the bottom two crab legs down.

8. Attach two googly eyes with a glue gun and glue sticks. Then, cut out two circles from pink craft felt and glue them to either side of the crab’s eyes for the cheeks.

hot gluing googly eye and cheeks to crab

9. Draw a smile from cheek to cheek with a black marker.

Once you have drawn on the smile, your little crab is complete!

crab craft for kids made from craft sticks

How easy was this cute crab craft?!

I absolutely loved how this project turned out and think it would be a great craft to make with a group of kids! I mean, imagine each child designing their own little crabs and then having a rainbow of them when everything is finished (since we now know that crabs come in different colors)! Talk about cuteness overload!!

Also, this project not only checks off all the boxes (easy to make, simple supplies, etc.), but it can help promote learning skills and spark some conversations about ocean animals. Plus, it’s a great option if you are looking for a fun activity to do on a summer day or a rainy day!

Happy Crafting!