A House for Hermit Crab Activities

• Water Color
• Paint Brush
• Printables Puppets & Movement Game 
• Popsicle Sticks
• Tape or glue
• Book: A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle

Print out The Ocean Creatures from 3 Dinsosaurs.   {You’ll find it under Crab Coloring}

Print the Movement Card Game from The Educators’ Spin On It before we begin!

Let’s start with our water colors.  If your child has never painted with water colors before allow them to experiment a little bit before you use the printables.  One suggestion is to encourage them to create the ocean for all of the ocean animals to swim in.  Discuss the water colors and also the types of things that would be at the bottom of the ocean.  This story has some great illustration to look at for inspiration.

Have your camper paint each of the images on the page as creatively as they want to.  For bigger kids you can print out separate pages for each.  For  younger children you can just made them all on one page to keep their attention.  I love this activity because it works for so many ages!

Then once they are dry you can cut out the images.  If you want to attach them to popsicle sticks to create puppets to retell the story.

Directions for A House for Hermit Crab Movement Game 

Let’s get moving!  Using inspiration from our little sea creatures let’s retell the story on a big scale level with our bodies.  Have your child act out the animals as they are drawn form the pile.

Print your own Movement Cards  

Print Your Own Beach Inspired Kids Yoga Poses from Kids Yoga Stories Too!

Build Literacy into this Activity

Have your child match the cards to the puppets!  You could also introduce beginning letter sounds or word cards too.  3 Dinosaurs has some great printables to go with this idea!

Make it a Science Lesson

Here’s a quick video of a hermit crab changing shells! Take a visit to your local pet shop for a up closer tour too!  Or better yet be on the look out on your beach trip this summer!