Today I’m sharing a jellyfish craft that is super fun for kids to make.
The process requires some patience as there is drying time involved, but the end result was pretty cool and my kids really enjoyed playing with their jellyfish.
Don’t the ribbons on these jellyfish look just like tentacles swaying in the water?!?
Note: For more ocean-related resources, please see my ocean unit study page.
To make these jellyfish, you will need the following materials:
- Balloon
- Marker
- Paint brush
- Tissue paper (we used tissue paper squares, but any kind will do)
- Glue
- Water
- Large cup or bowl to hold balloon
- Small cup or bowl to mix glue solution
- Ribbon (we used curling ribbon)
- Tape
- String
- Bead
To start, we blew up and tied our balloons at the size we wanted to make our jellyfish.
While kids often think bigger is better, keep in mind that bigger balloons require more work to turn them into jellyfish. You don’t want your child to get too tired or overwhelmed that they can’t finish.
After blowing up our balloons, we placed them into a cup to keep them level.
I drew a line around the bottom 1/3 of the balloon to show my kids what part of the balloon they needed to cover (above the line) and what part they did not need to cover (below the line).
I created a water and glue mixture by mixing equal parts water with equal parts glue. My kids used large paint brushes to apply the mixture to the top part of their balloons above the line.
With the balloon covered in glue, my kids started covering the top part of the balloon with tissue paper.
Ultimately we added about three layers of tissue paper, using more of the glue mixture as needed to ensure all the tissue paper was coated with glue.
We allowed our balloons to dry for 48 hours. Once they were dry, we used a pin to pop the ballon and remove it from the tissue paper shell that was left behind. This part represented the head/body of the jellyfish.
At this point, we cut strips of ribbon about equal to one arm’s length to represent the tentacles of the jellyfish.
We used tape to attach the ribbon to the inside of the jellyfish head.
We made a small hole in the top of the jellyfish head.
Then we tied a bead to a string. We threaded the non-beaded end through the bottom of the jellyfish head and out the top. The bead kept the string securely attached to the jellyfish.
Then our jellyfish were done and we got to play with them!
I just adore the way the ribbons have a bit of wave to them, making them look so much like jellyfish tentacles!
More Ocean Learning Resources
More ocean posts from Gift of Curiosity:
- Ocean Printables Bundle
- Learning about ocean animals
- Ocean sensory play ideas
- Ocean Printables Bundle
- Ocean Montessori activities
- Salt water and waves science
- Shell activities
- Blubber experiment
- Ocean animals book & 3-part cards
For more resources, printables and activities related to the ocean, please see my Ocean Unit Study page and my Oceans Pinterest board.
Leave a Reply