I came up with this unlikely sounding craft just before my daughter's seventh birthday. The Nemo movie had just come out, and she informed me that, for her party, she wanted all the partygoers to make clownfish and sea anemones. I told her this was too difficult, but after some pleading, tears, brainstorming, and a last minute run to the craft store, we managed to come up with a reasonable clownfish/sea anemone craft.
You will need:
2-3” Styrofoam ball
Pink spray paint (florist’s paint works well)
~ 10 Strands of pink chenille per anemone
Oven bake clay
Florist’s or similar wire
Sharp knife
Wire cutters or scissors
Adult Preparation: Use a sharp knife to cut the Stryrofoam ball in half. Spray paint the round surface pink; allow to dry. Cut the chenille in half.
Kid Construction: To make the anemone, fold the chenille and insert both ends into the round surface of the Styrofoam. Make clown fish out of oven bake clay. Insert wire into the bottom of the fish. Ask an adult to bake the clay as directed. Insert clownfish into their anemone home.
Did you know?
• Stinging anemones produce a toxin that paralyzes fish so they can eat them. Clownfish are not affected by the toxin, and stay close to the anemone’s tentacles to avoid predators.
• You might not think that an anemone would like having clownfish around, but the clownfish actually helps the anemone by eating debris and parasites.
• All clownfish start out male, but turn into females as they mature. Male clownfish care for the eggs.
bother, closed the site before the captcha popped up, and only realized it after I closed it.
ReplyDeleteTry 2: I'm thinking if you want to let the kids paint than you could do it in multiple steps. Paint, come back the next day to do the pipe cleaner step.
I like clownfish and anemones, they're so pretty.