Here’s a cute little crab papercraft for kids to try when they need something to stay busy! All you need is colored craft paper and basic supplies!

You know those people who would much rather stay in the background and do their work quietly? They’re content doing their thing without any noise or flashiness. But what happens when a person like that suddenly gets thrust into the limelight?

Well, that’s the story of Carter Goodrich’s The Hermit Crab, and if you want to know what happens, you’ll have to read the book! With International Crab Day being observed on April 26th, we think it’s a great time to get some crabby books for kids!

Contents show

Fun Books about Crabs for Kids

A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
Don’t Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton
Clem and Crab by Fiona Lumbers
The Hermit Crab by Carter Goodrich
Get Well, Crabby! by Jonathan Fenske

These books are great for little kids and if you’d like them to hold on to that interest in crabs a little longer, a craft should help. And we’ve got just the thing for you today – a cute crab papercraft for kids!

Super Cute Crab Papercraft for Kids

Supplies required:

Colored craft papers
Pencil
Scissors
Craft glue
Sharpies

How to Make the Super Cute Crab Papercraft for Kids:

1. Download and print the crab papercraft for kids template. The template includes the crab’s body, claws, eyes and legs.

2. Trace the parts of the crab on craft papers of your choice. You can use red, orange, yellow or any other color you like – it’s fine! Choose thick craft paper so your finished crab is sturdy. For the eyes, go with white paper and use a black Sharpie to draw pupils.

3. Attach the crab’s pupils in the protruding eye cutouts, as shown below.

4. Let’s get to the base of our crab papercraft for kids – the big circle. Fold it in half to get a semicircle. The curved edge of the semicircle will be the bottom of the crab.

5. Attach the eyes to the straight edge of the semicircle, applying glue on the back of the paper.

6. Open up the semicircle so you now have a full circle, split into two halves. Stick the crab claws on either side of the lower half.

7. Fold the circle back to its original position so you’re back with a semicircle – with claws now!

8. Take the feet cutouts and apply a small amount of glue to the straight edges.

9. Take three legs and attach them to the left side of the front flap of the semicircle. Make sure to stick the glued parts on the inside of the flap.

10. Repeat the previous step on the opposite side with the remaining legs. Your crab papercraft for kids now has all its parts!

11. Cut out two small circles from pink craft paper and stick them on either side of the eyes to represent the crab’s cheeks. Take out your black Sharpie and draw a cute little smile for your crab.

12. Now make your crab stand upright so that it rests on its curved edge. Don’t worry, it won’t topple over!

How cute is this little crab papercraft for kids? You can go ahead and try making more crabs with craft paper in red, yellow or even purple! Add some spots to your crab if you like or a few lashes to its eyes. Encourage kids to think out of the box and add their own little twist to this craft!

If you like papercraft and would like to make more, check these out: