This easy snail craft for kids uses a fun cotton ball painting technique that makes this snail art! Kids of all ages, especially preschool & Kindergarten, will enjoy this simple snail craft that combines fine motor skills of cutting and cotton ball stamp painting. This snail craft is great for home or the classroom or at home because you only need a few craft supplies.

Easy Snail Craft for Kids

Making a snail is a fairly easy craft and early elementary kids can make it themselves and kindergarteners and preschooler should only need minimal help. This paper plate craft is great to reinforce practicing colors, patterns and cutting skills.

Related: Our favorite paper plate crafts

How to Make a Snail from a Paper Plate

Our kids loved painting with cotton balls. Using cotton balls like a stamp is a great way to keep your child busy. This is one of our favorite paper plate crafts for kids.

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Supplies Needed For This Snail Craft

• Paper plate
• Craft paints
• Cotton balls
• Clothespin
• Googly eye
• Fuzzy stick
• Glue
• Scissors

Instructions for Snail Craft

Step 1

To make the snail, start cutting the paper plate from the outside, in a continuous circle until you reach the middle. This will create a spiral shape.

Step 2

Trim the edge and  round the snail “head”.

Step 3

Glue a googly eye into place, twist the fuzzy stick into a snail antenna shape and glue to the back of the paper plate.

Step 4

Use the clothespin to pick up the cotton balls, dip them into various paint colors and dab all over the snail body.

Step 5

Draw a smile, let dry and you have a cute snail!  Just be sure to keep him out of the garden!

Finished Snail Craft for Kids

Isn’t this snail paper plate craft adorable?!

What a great activity for any snail or spring theme or lesson plan.

Our Experience With This Snail Craft

We had so much fun! The snail’s shell was fun to cut and paint different colors. I loved that the snail shell was great fine motor skills for my little one. Plus, it was easy, the snail’s head and snail’s body is all part of the snail template. And the snail’s face was super easy to make with googly eyes and markers. So young children can make these fun snail crafts, which is great, because they’re so much fun.

Don’t have paper plates? You could probably make this with construction paper too, but it’s not gonna have the same texture. So use what you have! And you don’t have to use a black marker, use any color you want.

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How did your snail craft turn out? What colors did you cotton ball paint your paper plate snail?