Kid's Crafts: Painted Seashells for Spring and Easter

Looking for a fun craft project to do with the kids? To make these adorable painted seashells you'll need to collect a few large clam shells found lying around on the beach. If you don't have access to seashells, you can try adjusting the designs and using smooth river rocks or another type of found object from nature.

We completed this craft project with a group of kids ages 9 to 12 years of age. I will describe each design briefly, but they're pretty easy to figure out by just viewing the photographs. You can use these designs to inspire your own. Looking for more fun easy-to-make Seashell Craft Projects? You can find over 100+ different projects on our TwoClassyChics blog.

PAINTED EASTER DESIGN SEASHELL

We used purple metallic acrylic craft paint to give the shell 2 base coats of paint. We left it dry for about 40 minutes. Use a white medium-tip paint pen to write the word EASTER. Let dry for 30 minutes. Dip the end of your paint brush into medium pink paint and add your polka dots around the border. Dip the end of your paint brush into teal green paint and add polka dots around the border, between the pink dots. Let dry.

PAINTED SPRING FLOWER DESIGN SEASHELL

Base coat your shell in your desired color. We used 2 coats of lavender colored craft paint. Let dry. We decided to do a free-hand easy floral design by using white craft paint and making 4 tear drop shaped petals. Have the points of each tear drop over-lap in the center to form the flower. Use green acrylic craft paint to make the stem and leaves. Dip the end of your paint brush in pink paint to dot on the center of the flower. While that's drying you'll want to add your polka dots around the border of your seashell. Let dry.

PAINTED EASTER BUNNY DESIGN SEASHELL

This design will take longer to make and you'll need 1 large clam shell and 2 smaller slipper shells, along with craft paint and glue to make it. When gluing seashells together we recommend using E6000 Adhesive Glue and recommend that an adult to do that step. The adhesive is powerful, so avoid contact with your skin.

Give all three of your seashells 2 base coats of white paint. Let dry. Use pink paint to make an oval shaped nose. Use a black medium-tip paint pen to draw on the oval shaped eyes, outline the nose, add the whiskers and the mouth. Let dry. Use pink paint to add the color to the bunny's inner ears on the slipper shells. Set aside to dry. Dip the end of your paint brush into white paint and dot on the inner eyes. Let thoroughly dry. Once everything is dry you'll use the E6000 Adhesive Glue to attach the slipper shell ears to the top of the head. Glue them on the back side of the large clam shell and be generous with the amount of glue that you use. Let dry for 4-6 hours.

To Finish: Take all of your finished designs outside and lay them down onto an old plastic table cloth or placemat. Give each one a light coat of clear acrylic spray sealer. Wait 20 minutes and spray them with a second coat. You'll want to do this on both sides! Let thoroughly dry. You can now display them inside or outside your home. It's important to spray them which will help to protect the painted finish from chipping, cracking or crazing...and will prevent the colors from fading over time.