If your child is interested in whales, they are far from alone ““ whales are amazing creatures that can be both cute and majestic, and they inspire all sorts of fun art projects. Whale crafts can be complicated or simple, and you and your child can have a lot of fun making these amazing creatures.So, let’s explore some top whale craft ideas!
Man In A Whale
Source: https://stjameswoodley.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JONAH-and-the-GREAT-FISH-Craft.pdfThis is a super simple craft that your child can have endless fun with even once it’s finished ““ a man in a whale!
Materials
To make a whale peg, you’re going to need:
- 1 wooden peg
- White card
- Black pen
- Blue pencil crayon
- Scissors
- Glue
Step 1: Draw Your Whale
Help your child to draw a small whale onto the white card. It can be a little bigger than the peg, but shouldn’t be enormous or it will get knocked off and bent too easily. Keep the shapes simple, and then get your child to color them. Don’t forget the dorsal fin!You can also use a blue card so your child doesn’t need to color if you prefer.
Step 2: Glue The Whale To The Peg
Cut the whale in half down the length of the body. Curve the lower half of the mouth so that it is wider than the upper half.Glue one half to the upper part of the peg, and one half to the lower part. You want to make the whale stick out at the opening end so it extends beyond the peg. When the peg is shut, the whale should be complete, and when it opens, the whale’s body should open up with it.Leave it to dry.
Step 3: Draw A Man
Get your child to draw a little stick person to go inside the whale’s mouth. This doesn’t need much detail; it will have to be quite small.Once the stick man is complete, cut it out.
Step 4: Add The Man
Glue the man to the back of the whale’s lower jaw, so that when you squeeze the peg open, the man is revealed by the movement of the upper jaw.You could also choose to glue other things in there, like a fish or a button to represent a pearl. Add any further details, such as some thin strips of curled paper at the blowhole, and the whale is complete!
Moving Whale Seascape
Note: I believe I invented the Moving Whale Seascape and I haven’t found anything similar to it online.If your child really enjoys crafts that move, they might also like the moving whale seascape. You can make one of these pretty quickly and easily.
Materials
To make a moving whale seascape, you will need:
- 1 piece of stiff cardboard
- 1 popsicle stick
- Blue card
- Pale blue paper
- Blue paint
- White paint
- Green paint
- White paper
- Paintbrush
- Glue
- Pencil
- Scissors
- 1 craft knife
Step 1: Cut Out Your Whale
Help your child to draw and cut out a whale from the blue card. Cut a mouth from a scrap of white paper, and add the whale’s eye and any other details they feel like including. Your whale can be detailed or plain, depending on how much time you want to spend on the craft.Cut some strips of blue paper and use the scissors to curl them, and then stick these to the whale’s blowhole.
Step 2: Paint Your Cardboard
Draw a wavy line on the cardboard to represent the surface of the sea, and then get your child to paint a seascape using the paints. They can do a pale blue sky or a sunset above (you will need red and yellow paints if they choose a sunset), and represent the waves with froths of white or little green-blue patches.Leave this to dry, and then add some definition for the waves using a pencil or pen.
Step 3: Cut A Slot
A little below the level of the sea’s surface cut a slot in the cardboard. You want to keep this thin, but check that your Popsicle stick can slide freely through it. Once you have checked this, get your child to paint the Popsicle stick, and then set it aside to dry.
Step 4: Glue The Whale To The Popsicle Stick
Glue the whale onto the stick, and then slide the stick into the slot you have just cut. Get your child to experiment with the movement and check that your little whale moves freely and can rise up and down through the waters.
Step 5: Add Details
Cut some puffy clouds out of scrap paper and glue these on, and consider adding some “m” birds using a black marker.If your child really enjoys this craft, consider making a whole pod of whales rising to the surface by cutting some more slots and adding bigger and smaller whales. You can do this craft with dolphins as well.
Egg Carton Orca
Source: https://iheartcraftythings.com/egg-carton-whale-kids-craft.htmlOrcas are much-maligned, but also very loved and extraordinarily intelligent creatures ““ and your child may really love their distinctive black and white coloring. Egg carton orcas are easy and fun to create!
Materials
You’re going to need:
- 1 egg carton
- Black paint
- White paint
- Black card
- White card
- Tiny googly eyes
- Glue
- Glue gun
- 1 blue pipe cleaner
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Black marker
- Clear fishing wire
Step 1: Cut Out The Egg Carton
Cut around one section of the egg carton and smooth off the edges so you have a nice finish. Draw a line just under the halfway point, and get your child to paint the bottom half white. When the paint has dried, they can paint the top half black.
Step 2: Cut Out The Fins
While waiting for the paint to dry, cut two side flippers out of the white card, and a dorsal fin out of the black card. Next, cut a powerful tail out of the black card. You can get your child to draw the shapes and then cut them out for them.Glue the side flippers to the sides of the egg carton, the tail to the back (you may find going beneath the egg carton is the easiest way to get a good join), and the dorsal fin to the top.
Step 3: Add The Face
Get your child to paint two small white ovals on the black part of the whale’s face; these are the eye markings.While you wait for the paint to dry, draw a smile beneath these using the black marker on the white half of the face.When the white glue has dried, glue the googly eyes to it.
Step 4: Add Water
Cut your pipe cleaner into small pieces and get your child to curl the ends around. Use the glue gun to stick this “water” to the whale’s head for the blowhole. Finally, use the glue gun to add a dot of glue behind the blowhole and stick the fishing wire to the whale’s head.You can now hang the orca up to hunt through the currents of the air, and perhaps create a small school of dangling fish for it to hunt!
Conclusion
Whales of all types make for great crafting opportunities, and also learning opportunities. They are fascinating creatures, and both you and your child can learn about them as you make them, and be amazed by their intelligence, social life, and beauty.
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