Sea Urchin Craft

"UNDER THE SEA"

This month we are learning all about the ocean and creatures that live within it. We are going to punctuate the unit by taking the childcare out of Longmont, and on a field trip to the Denver Aquarium. Each day, we learn about a new animal and then we make a craft version of the animal. I was very excited to try this sea urchin recreation.

For this sea urchin craft, you will need:

Styrofoam balls

Black tempura non-toxic paint

Toothpicks

Plastic Baggies

Paper Plates

I started by having the kids paint the Styrofoam balls, which I had cut in half. We then dumped the toothpicks into a plastic bag and filled it with the paint. We squished the paint around the toothpicks and then we spread them out on paper plates to dry. I liked the abstract art look of the drying toothpicks.

Once the balls and the toothpicks were dry, we went to work inserting the toothpicks into the styrofoam balls. I was a little nervous about using something a sharp material because my youngest kid isn't quite two years old, but even he was able to push the toothpicks into the foam and he was very focused while he did it!

The kids had a blast with each phase of the craft, and were pumped to show them to their parents at pick up.