Art Project. Sea Picture with Crabs.

🎂 5 + years ⏱️ 45 min 📍 Anywhere ⭐ medium

Imagine you're standing on the beach. The water is rushing, small waves are lapping at the sand, and suddenly a little red crab scuttles past you. That's the picture you're going to paint today. You'll learn how to create the beach and the sea using watercolors. You'll practice how to invent an animal from simple shapes: circles, semicircles, and lines. This is more than just painting: you're training your observation skills, planning, and perseverance. And you'll realize something: crabs are not just animals; they are important for the sea. They clean the bottom, eat leftovers, and help keep the sea clean. Perhaps while crafting, you'll think about how the sea needs to be protected.

What you'll need

A3 paper
Watercolors and paintbrush
A pair of scissors
A glue stick
Red construction paper
Googly eyes or eye stickers
A cup of water

How it works

Visualize your picture: the beach at the bottom, the blue water above. Dip the brush in the water, then in the paint. First, paint the lower part yellow or light brown. That's your sand. Then paint the sea above it. Different shades of blue will make it lively.
Let the picture dry well before continuing. Cut out the crab's body. Take your red paper. Draw a large circle (you can use a glass). Cut it out. Fold the circle in half. This creates a semicircle, giving the crab a bit of a 3D effect.
Glue it with a folded side into the sand area of your picture. Paint four smaller circles on red paper. Cut them out and fold them in half as well. Glue two on the left and two on the right over the large semicircle so they look like claws.
Cut out two small white circles (or use ready-made googly eyes or eye stickers if you have them). Glue them above the large semicircle, a bit apart.
Take the black felt tip pen. Draw two short lines from the body to the eyes and to the claws. You can also draw legs for the crab, three small lines on each side.
Look closely at your picture. Is anything missing? Maybe more crabs scuttling next to the big one. Or footprints in the sand. Perhaps shells or a bit of seaweed. Everything you paint or glue adds life to your story.
Imagine how they scuttle sideways across the beach, digging in the sand with their claws. Maybe they have seaweed or shells on their shell to camouflage themselves. So your picture shows not just an animal, but tells a piece of this exciting life underwater.