Snails are interesting creatures — they can live in freshwater, seawater, and on land, and their shell grows with them. Snails can have over 20,000 teeth and come in over 40,000 species!
Preschoolers will surely love learning more about snails when you use the activities listed below. These are easy to do, fun, and ideal for children’s young minds!
Great Snail Crafts for Preschoolers
This activity should be part of your lesson plan because it requires few craft supplies. It also reinforces children’s abilities to practice patterns, colors, and cutting skills.
Let the children cut the paper plate from the outside in a continuous circle until you reach the middle. Trim the edge to form the snail’s head.
Glue some googly eyes on the head and glue a fuzzy stick to create the snail’s antenna.
Instruct the children to use the clothespin to pick cotton balls and dip them into different paint colors. Let the children dab the cotton balls all over the snail’s body.
Have the children draw a smile on the snail’s head, let everything dry for a couple of hours, and voila — every child now has their own snail!
Supplies:
- Clothespin
- Cotton balls
- Craft paints
- Fuzzy stick
- Glue
- Googly eye
- Paper plate
- Scissors
Learn more about this project by heading to kidsactivitiesblog.com.
Keep your preschoolers busy with this clay snail craft. You can extend the learning by instructing them to play outside with their snails.
Get the children to make a long sausage from the clay and have them smooth over the ends. Bend one side up, stick the shell on the back, and add little stick antennas. Let children make several clay snails, each having different sizes and colors.
Supplies:
- Air-drying clay
- Empty snail shells
- Little sticks
- PVA glue (to secure the shells to the clay)
Check out redtedart.com to learn how children can enjoy their clay snails more.
This activity gives children the opportunity to learn about sorting sizes, colors, and heights. Children can play with their snails in any way they want, which helps spark their imagination.
Download and print the snail craft template, trace the pattern onto colored cardstock, and then cut. Encourage the children to use different colors for the snail’s body parts. Fold along the dotted line of the first shell piece and cut short lines towards the fold to make little tabs. Roll the first shell piece to make a cylinder and glue it to the snail’s body.
Repeat the process of making two more shells, each smaller than the previous one, and glue them inside the first shell. Let children add features to the snail’s face, like pupils, eyes, and a happy smile. Fold the snail’s head upwards, and it’s now ready to be played with!
Supplies:
- Colored card or thick paper
- Free printable snail craft template
- Glue
- Marker Pens
- Pencil
- Scissors
To download the snail craft template, visit kidscraftroom.com.
Looking for a more interactive snail-themed activity? This is perfect for your class. This activity lets children play peek-a-boo and move the snail as if it’s slithering in and out of its shell.
Download and print the snail template and have children color the parts using paints, pencils, or crayons. Cut the parts, turn the snail over, and stick the eyes on top of the head. Glue the popsicle stick on the middle of the body, as this is what the kids will use to move the snail.
To create a bobble for the shell, cut two even strips of colored paper, position them at a 90° angle, and glue the connecting papers together. Fold the bottom strip over the top and crease the fold along the edge. Continue the process until the entire strip has been folded up.
Supplies:
- Glue stick
- Green paper (2 Shades)
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Watercolor paint or crayons/pencils
- White and blue cardstock
- Wooden stick (popsicle stick)
To learn more about this activity, visit artycraftykids.com.
This activity will teach children how to make snails that rock — something that will fascinate them as they’re used to seeing snails crawl. This activity takes a couple of minutes and requires very few materials.
Start by folding a sheet of A4 paper in half and cut the corners to form a U shape.
Cut a large circle from the colored paper and have the children draw on the shell. They can use markers or paints to go round and round and create a spiral.
Instruct the children to glue the decorated shells onto the card, off center, and let them add facial features to the snail.
Supplies:
- A4 paper
- Colored papers
- Glue
- Markers and crayons
- Scissors
Get inspired by the crafts presented on learningandexploringthroughplay.com.
Snails are slimy, but this activity will help children see how they can be fun and cute too! This is a quick activity that’s sure to keep children engaged in learning about snails.
Twist long stems of different colored pipe cleaners together and join the ends neatly. Roll the pipe cleaner twister toward the center to form a tight spiral. Let the other end stand apart from the spiral, as this will be the snail’s head.
Create a small V-shape out of the other end to give antennas to the snail’s head.
Stick on googly eyes, and the snail is ready. Have the children glue their snails in a cheerful place, like a piece of paper glued with some grass and a blue sky.
Supplies:
- Glue
- Googly eyes
- Pipe cleaners or chenille stems in different colors
- Popsicle craft stick
- Scissors
Visit artsycraftsymom.com to view crafts perfect for preschoolers.
Besides being a fun craft for children, this activity also teaches them the importance of recycling, as it’ll require them to use buttons, drink carriers, and egg cartons. It’s the perfect activity during summer or spring!
Cut the dividers from an old drink carrier or the egg carton pieces if the kids are using egg cartons. Have the children paint the cut pieces and allow them to dry. Print and cut the snail template onto colored cardstock, and glue the drink carrier or egg carton pieces onto the cardstock. Instruct the children to glue a bright-colored button onto the painted shell, add facial features to the snail using markers, and they’re done!
Supplies:
- Black marker
- Buttons
- Cardboard drink carrier or empty egg carton
- Cardstock
- Free printable snail template
- Googly eyes
- Liquid glue
- Paint
- Scissors
Visit buggyandbuddy.com to get more inspiration for this fun activity.
This easy craft is perfect for daycare, school, or camp. You can also have the children take on this activity between free play, worksheets, math, and reading.
Print the template and invite the children to color the snail’s body using any bright-colored marker. Cut out the shell’s body and shell using scissors. Glue the shell to the snail’s body. Have the children glue two wiggly eyes to the snail’s face and draw a smile.
Instruct the children to press tissue papers around the eraser end of a pencil, put a drop of glue on top of it, and press it to the snail’s shell. Repeat the process until the shell is covered with tissue paper. When making this craft with a group of kids, pour glue onto paper plates so everyone can easily share supplies.
Supplies:
- 1 Pipe cleaner
- Markers
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Snail craft printable
- Tape
- Tissue paper (cut into 1 1/2-inch squares)
- White school glue
- Wiggly eyes
To download the template, check out firefliesandmudpies.com.
The snails the children will make from this craft are different — they have donut shells! Regardless, making them will still guarantee fun among young minds.
Instruct kids to cut a circle out of cardstock or white paper to make silly donut shells. Don’t forget to let them cut an additional hole out of the center (young children may need help with this).
Paint the shell using watercolor with colors and designs chosen by the children. As the shell dries, cut out a snail’s body from the colored paper or cardstock. Glue on a pair of antennas and googly eyes.
Supplies:
- White paper or cardstock
- Googly eyes
- Crayola washable watercolor paints
- Tulip puffy paints
- Black marker
- Glue stick
Capturingparenthood.com gives additional tips about this activity, so make sure to visit their site!
If the class can’t find any snails in their gardens, teach them how to make some on their own! Using a few basic supplies, this activity will teach children a little coiling technique, too.
To make the snail’s head, fold a small piece of the paper strip under it and secure it in place using a stapler, tape, or glue.
Let the children decorate the opposite side of the strip, as this will be the snail’s shell.
After, teach the class how to coil the paper to form a shell by putting a pencil on top of the paper strip and tightly rolling the paper around it.
Curl a pipe cleaner for the snail’s tentacles, and the snails are all set!
Supplies:
- Coloring materials (markers, pastels, crayons, etc.)
- Pencils
- Pipe cleaners, cut into 3″ pieces
- Small hole punch
- Stapler, glue, or tape
- Strips of colored construction paper
Visit makeandtakes.com for other craft ideas perfect for preschoolers.
Conclusion
Incorporate any or all of the activities mentioned here to ensure that children will have fun learning about snails. These activities are easy to make, colorful, and will encourage children to be as creative as possible!
Be sure to visit us again to learn more activities focused on different themes!
