Kid's Craft Project: Hand Painted Seashells for Summer

Every time we travel down to the beach we always come home with a big bag of seashells. My grandchildren love to collect them while we're on vacation and then we use them in various craft projects throughout the year.

This project is a great way to use up some of those clam shells that you collected. All you need is a few bottles of acrylic paint and let the kids come up with their own painted designs. If you plan on displaying them outside you'll need to protect the painted finish with clear acrylic spray sealer. If you're displaying them indoors, you can skip that step.

Kid's Craft Project: Hand Painted Seashells for Summer

Acrylic Craft Paints
Paint Brush and Water Dish
Medium & Large Clam Shells
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer - Glossy Finish
Old Newspaper and Paper Towels

Lay newspaper down onto your work surface. Make sure your clam shells and seashells have been washed and thoroughly dried.

We use old plastic margarine bowls and their lids when painting. Use the bowl as your water dish and the plastic lid as your paint palette. Squirt a few colors of acrylic paint onto the paint palette and let the kids go to town painting their seashells. I feel that it's very important to let them come up with their own creative designs, not that fancy stuff that adults want to do just to have a Pinterest-worthy pin. Nope, let the kids be creative!!!

Once the shells have been painted you'll want to let them dry for 1-2 hours. Take them outside and lay them down onto newspaper and have an adult spray them with 1-2 coats of clear acrylic spray sealer. It comes in a matte, semi-gloss and glossy finish...we prefer the glossy. Let the shells dry for 3-4 hours (until they are no longer tacky). You can now use them to decorate inside your home or outside in your garden & flower beds.