Paper Plate Fish

This summer, you’re probably busy visiting the aquarium and heading to the beach. But what do you do on those rainy days where everyone has cabin fever and is stuck inside? Make paper plate fish, of course! This is a great way to repurpose those leftover plates from your last summer barbecue and use up all those little things in your junk drawer. Break out the bottle caps, paper clips, and fabric scraps. This project can go a long way (i.e., keep your kiddo occupied for a long time) if you break out one material at a time. A school of fish swimming down your hallway (or on your front door) would be a wonderful way to decorate for the summer.

What You Need:

  • Paper Plates
  • Scissors
  • White glue
  • Collage materials (bits of paper or fabric, buttons, shells, jewels, beads, etc)
  • Markers or crayons
  • Glitter

What to do:

  1. Cut out a triangle for the fish’s mouth. The triangular piece of paper plate will become the fish tail.
  2. Flip the triangle over and glue the narrow end to the back of the paper plate on the opposite side of where you cut it. Secure it with white glue or a glue gun.
  3. Give your child the paper plate fish and some markers/crayons/coloring materials. Encourage your child to decorate the fish with whatever colors he or she wishes. Take some time with this step.
  4. Once your child appears to be losing interest, bring out one or two collage materials. Show your child how to squeeze some glue onto the fish and stick the material on.
  5. Add some glitter to make the fish especially festive.

Tips for parents:

  • Let your child practice using scissors. 18 months is a great age to introduce them to blunt-tipped toddler scissors (with parental supervision).
  • If your kids want to squeeze all of the glue out at once, don’t stop them. Being able to control the materials themselves will help them learn the appropriate quantities to use. The paper plates will hold lots and lots of glue!
  • If your kiddos are more interested in playing with the collage materials, let them. The different sizes, shapes, and textures provide wonderful toddler exploration.
  • If you have a glitter shaker, tape all but one hole from the inside. That way, your kids can shake, shake, shake to their hearts content.