It’s summertime and that means our minds are on the beach. Kids love making beach themed crafts, so this is the perfect craft for a hot, hot summer day! Here in Wisconsin, unless you have a pool or a beach close by, the best way to stay cool when it’s in the 90’s is to stay inside in the air conditioning. While your kids are waiting for the summer sun to dip down a bit and offer some relief, sit them down to make these cute foam cup crabs.

You will need some craft paint, I used Americana and chose some beachy colors. The ones I used were Bahama Blue, Green Tea, Tuscan Red, Desert Sand and Coral Blush. You will also need some pipe cleaners to match your paints, and some googly eyes.

First you’ll want to cut the cups down a bit, take off about an inch and a half. Paint the outside of each cup, add a second coat if you need it. For the crabs’ eyes, cut a beige colored pipe cleaner into 5 equal pieces. Repeat for another pipe cleaner giving you a total of 10 pieces. That’s enough for 5 crabs. Add a dab of white craft glue to the tip of each one and attach it to a googly eye and set them aside to dry.

For the crabs forearm claws, cut a pipe cleaner in half. Take one piece and bend it in half. Starting at the bend, twist the pipe cleaner together, leaving the last 3/4-inch open. Bend those two open pieces into a curve to create the claw. Repeat with the other pipe cleaner half. You will get two forearm claws from a single pipe cleaner.

For the legs, cut two more pipe cleaners into six equal pieces, you will get three pieces from each pipe cleaner. Bend the pieces in three places as pictures, kind of like an S shape. Use a toothpick to poke two holes in the front of the cup and insert the forearm claws. Secure with white glue. Use the toothpick to make three holes on each side of the cup and insert the legs, one pointing forward, the other two pointing back. Secure with white glue.

At the top of the cup, directly above the front claw arms, poke two holes for the eyes. Add a dab of glue and insert the eyes you made earlier. Let everything dry before displaying.

If you would like to find more crafts like this, you can visit my other website, Fun Family Crafts. There’s a great section on all sorts of kid friendly beach crafts there!