Paper Plate Aquariums - Easy Craft Project

This is a simple enough craft, but may take a little patience when cutting out the parts or fitting the plastic cover over. It is good for all ages and is useful in group activities in a community center, library or school.

You can change the scenery to your own variation: space theme, dinosaurs, a family portrait etc. You can have a design in mind to start with - it always helps - or be spontaneous and let your creative neurons flow.

Give yourself 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours for this craft.

15 minutes for setup

60 minutes for activity

10 minutes for clean up

Get your items together and make sure you have a nice clean surface to work on. You may want to setup newspapers on the floor.

For this activity, you will need:

• Two paper plates
• Glue
• Crayons, markers or paint
• Colored paper
• Clear plastic wrap
• Scissors
• Stapler

Optional:

• Pipe cleaners
• Glitter
• Cotton balls
• Stickers
• Colored beads
• Photos
• any other craft objects you may want to include

1. Take one of your paper plates and cut the center out of it. You may want to fold it over and cut it from the side because you ideally want to keep the outer part whole. If you are using foam plates, you may want to make your cut with an exacto knife.

Make sure that children under 12 are supervised with this activity.

2. Color the bottom 1/3 of the paper plate like sand or the ocean's surface. I would recommend brown or grey. In the photo, I used orange because I did not have a darker color available.

Color the upper part of the plate blue like water - or the color you choose.

3. Add some scenery like flowers or rocks. If you are doing an aquarium scene you may want to put a clam or crab on there. If you are using smaller plates like i am, you might not have room.

For my "plants" I used pipe cleaners. You can also cut them in colored paper or draw them in yourself. Or you can use some other object that resembles a plant in color and texture.

4. Now you have to add some fish. At first I was going to try an origami fish. They are fun to make and are a lot nicer looking. In the aquarium they can have a three dimensional appearance.. I just cut mine out using the origami paper, and added some fins.

The origami fish would work better with a larger surface - you would need a much bigger plate. . You can add scales to yours or put in bubbles too for effect.

5. Add more fish to your tank. You may want to put in a sea horse, diver or a sunken ship The options are up to you.

I used marker on these because they are not as messy as paint. Crayon will work too, but might be too dark. It's really up to you. I kind of slapped this together for illustrative purposes. This is your art - you be the artist.

6. Slip a piece of the saran wrap over your "tank". Make sure it is big enough to wrap around the back. You want to leave it a little loose so it gives the appearance of glass.

7. Now you are ready to cover your aquarium. Take the outer part of the paper plate you cut out and set it over the top face down. Most paper plates are convex (maybe concave, I get those two confused) - meaning they are bent slightly inward - you want the "bottom" of the plate to face you.

You may want to color it to give it distinction.

Staple, glue or tape it to the other plate after lining them up. Stapling works best.

You have now completed your project. Feel free to display it on a wall or with other artwork.