Create this handprint crab painting art project for kids! This project is great for kids between the ages of four and eight, and it is perfect for both classroom and home settings. With project kids are encouraged to be creative and have fun!

Finished handprint crab art project for kids. Image of blue paper with crab made from two handprints. - kidsactivities.com — Lets make fun and easy crab art!

Crab art project made with red handprints

This summer-themed crab art project encourages creativity but it is also really fun! You can do so many different things with this art project just by changing the background! You can modify this project for a group project by using a large piece of paper to make a whole group of crabs!

Related: Make a handprint and foot print lobster painting too!

This crab art explores different textures with this creative art project and experiment with shapes to help kids learn spatial awareness as they figure out how to get their crabs to fit in their art. It is a fantastic way to keep kids engaged during the summer break with a fun and memorable art project.

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Supplies you will need for this art project

Supplies needed for handprint crabs. Image of white, light blue, dark blue, and tan paper, markers, red paint, and foam brush. - kidsactivities.com — This is all you will need for this crab art project!

How to make Handprint Crab Painting Art

First step: Create a background

First step for handprint crab art. Image of kid drawing a jelly fish on blue paper. - kidsactivities.com — Our crabs will first need a home, lets make a background.

Using markers or crayons draw a background for your crab. There are so many different things you can do with the background for this art project! You can change the story of the crab entirely just by the background. Does the crab live in a cave? Is it on a pirate ship or friends with a mermaid? Kids have even made this project silly, one kid made the crusty crab restaurant from Sponge Bob, and another kid a dinner plate!

Second Step: Paint their hands!

Second step for crab art with handprints. Image of kids hand being painted with red paint. - kidsactivities.com — Then, lets get our hands messy with some paint!

Now, paint both of the kids hands with red paint! If you don’t have red paint you can also use brown or blue for different color crabs. This has been the kids favorite part of the project!

Third Step: The first half of the crab

Third step for handprint crabs. Image of kids hand placed on their background. - kidactivities.com — Now create the first half of your crab.

With one hand, place the kids hand down with their thumb facing up and their fingers outwards and spread apart. While you could do both hands at the same time, it does turn out a little better if you do one at a time so you can get the palm of the handprints to overlap so its easier to tell that its a crab.

Fourth Step: Finishing the crab

Last step for crab handprints. Image of kids other hand being placed down on other side of crab. - kidsactivities.com — Once you have the second half of the crab, add some googly eyes to complete it!

The last part to making this crab art project is placing down the other hand slightly overlapping the first handprint so the body of the crab is together. Like before make sure the thumb is pointing up and the fingers outwards. While the kids wash their hands, add some googly eyes to the tops of the thumbs of each handprint to finish the crab!

Our Handprint Crab Painting Art Projects:

This crab is having a fun underwater party!

Kids art of crusty crab handprint art. Image of crusty crab restaurant from Sponge Bob with sign "Crab Crusty" and crab made from red paint handprints. - kidsactivities.com — This silly art project made us all laugh, we loved it!

This is how our handprint crabs came out! I love how silly they all are and the kids were all so creative with their backgrounds. Making this art project was super fun and we all had a good laugh about how silly some of them were!

Yield: 1-100 crab art projects

Handprint Crab Art

Create these silly handprint crabs with a few simple materials. This easy art project encourages kids to be really creative and they have so much fun making them!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Difficulty easy

Estimated Cost $1

Materials

- Paper
- Red paint

Tools

- Paint brush
- Markers

Instructions

Create a background for your crab.
Paint both hands with red, blue, or brown paint.
Place one hand down on the paper with the thumb pointed up, and the fingers spread out.
Place the other hand down on the paper with the thumb pointed up and fingers spread on out on the other side.
Add googly eyes to the top of the thumbs on the handprint.