Kid’s Crafts: Seashell People Stick Puppets

We love visiting the beach and always come home with a bag full of seashells to use in our crafting projects. Just like me, my two grandchildren love working on various arts and craft projects. Just last week my granddaughter made these two adorable Seashell People Stick Puppets. She completed them over the course of two days.

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Working with paints can be messy. I recommend covering the work surface with an old plastic table cloth or drop cloth. Make sure the kids wear an old t-shirt or their craft aprons when working on this project. You’ll want to select small and clean seashells. The shape of the shell will give your stick people a totally different look as you can see in our photo. She used small clam shells and the dress on the one gal was made using an oyster shell. An adult needs to do all of the gluing with a hot glue gun or use general all-purpose craft glue and let them dry overnight.

Kid’s Crafts: Seashell People Stick Puppets

Clean Seashells
Acrylic Craft Paint
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Acrylic Paint Pens, Fine Tip
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer, Glossy Finish
Wooden Craft Sticks
Hot Glue Gun with Glue

The Princess base coated the shells that she was using for the heads with a flesh-tone acrylic craft paint. She did two coats, allowing 30 minutes of drying time between coats. She used acrylic paint pens to add the hair and facial features. Let them sit for 2 hours to dry or until the paint is no longer tacky.

For the dresses she used one clam shell and one oyster shell. She base coated each one with 2 coats of acrylic craft paint, allowing 30 minutes of drying time between coats. She used acrylic paint pens to add the polka dots to each dress (shell). Let dry for 2 hours or until paint is no longer tacky.

I used my hot glue gun to adhere the seashells to the wooden craft stick. I was generous with the amount of hot glue that I used. I left them dry for 30 minutes until the glue was solid and we had a strong bond.

Take them outside and spray them with 1-2 light coats of clear acrylic spray sealer. I used a sealer in a glossy finish, but you could certainly use a matte finish if that’s what you prefer. Let dry for 1-2 hours.  That’s it…done! Cute Seashell People Stick Puppets that the kids can play with. A great way to incorporate some arts and crafts into your home schooling program. Plus, this project doesn’t cost a lot to make!

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