There’s nothing like a fun beach craft! If you visited the beach but didn’t happen to grab any souvenirs, and you want to recreate that memory with your kids, these Paper Plate Sand Dollars are the perfect way to do so.

A visit to the beach often ends in collecting seashells with which you can make these adorable seashell fish. Or maybe you came home with a bag of smooth sea glass, in that case, this sea glass macrame necklace is the perfect project!

But maybe you didn’t bring any of those things home this time. In that case, let’s make these cute paper plate sand dollars instead!

Paper Plate Sand Dollars

Beach crafts are one of my favorite things to do. While I do live in a lake town, I’m smack dab in the middle of the Midwest. Nowhere remotely close to the ocean.

Oh, but I’ve been there, and it’s amazing. I love the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the beach, that constant breeze that comes off the water, and the almost silent chatter of the seagulls. Yes, I love the beach

So making crafts that are reminiscent of the ocean or the beach are fun for me. It brings me back to the days of sitting in a beach chair under an umbrella watching my kids build sand castles and ride boogie boards. If only we lived closer!

By using paper plates in this project, little ones can also get in on the action and get instant gratification, something the attention span of a preschooler needs!

What You’ll Need To Make Paper Plate Sand Dollars

• Miniature paper plates
• White craft glue
• Dried white beans
• Sand

I used miniature paper plates, but if you want to, you can certainly use regular sized plates. No hard rules here. I used dried white beans, but you could use barley did, or if you want yours to have a little color, yellow split peas would work great.

1. Put a dot of white craft glue in the center of the plate, then place dots where you want the tips of each star arm to go.

2. Draw your star with white glue.

3. Place dried beans along the glue lines.

4. Use your finger or a paintbrush to smear the glue around the edge of the plate and dip it in the sand. Let the sand dollars dry completely. Full printable instructions are below!

More Beach Crafts for Kids

There are SO many different beach themed craft ideas out there. Lots and lots of cute crafts, I couldn’t imagine containing them all. I’ve listed some of my favorite beach crafts for kids from my site below!

Check out all of my paper plate crafts!

Print Project

5 from 1 vote

Paper Plate Sand Dollars

Make these fun, easy paper plate sand dollars this summer! A fun project, even if you didn't get to visit the beach.

Prep Time5 mins

Crafting Time10 mins

Drying time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Author: Amanda Formaro

Supplies

• 1 Miniature paper plate
• 50-60 Dried white beans
• 1 tablespoon Sand

Craft tools

• White craft glue or school glue

Instructions

• Put a dot of white craft glue in the center of the plate, then place dots where you want the tips of each star arm to go. Draw your star with white glue.
• Place dried beans along the glue lines.
• Use your finger or a paintbrush to smear glue around the edge of the plate and dip it in sand. Let the sand dollars dry completely.

This post was originally published on this blog on July 7, 2013.