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DIY Sea Stars

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July 20, 2013 by Katie T. Christiansen 5 Comments

      DIY Sea Stars by Preschool Inspirations

I love how beautiful and unique sea stars are! However, there are none close to me (besides the ones I brought back from beaches). I decided to do an experiment with my preschool class to see if we could make our own sea stars. My main goals for this was to create a realistic structure that can withhold the abuse of preschoolers. I am thrilled to share that they fit the build! These have been dropped several times on the floor and still survived.

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Here’s what you’ll need to make your own sea stars:

Sea star ice cube tray  from IKEA

Pastina pasta (they are tiny stars)

Plaster of Paris

Optional items — colored sand, tempera paint, glitter

Instructions:

First, we decorated the inside of the sea star tray. I let the class decide between colored sand, pastina, or both. I bet glitter would look awesome too!

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Once the decorations were pressed into the bottom of the sea star mold, we were ready to make our plaster. We mixed the Plaster of Paris (2 parts powder to 1 part water). If you would like your sea stars to be colored, I recommend adding tempera paint to the Plaster of Paris. We added liquid watercolor to some, but it took quite a large amount and discolored over time.

We quickly poured it into our mold and waited about an hour. Lastly, we popped them out and voila!

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I am so thrilled with how well these turned out and how unique each one is. The pastina fell out of one, but I think it only made it look even more realistic. If IKEA was not an hour away, I would probably be stalking their ice cube tray selection to make more!

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Katie T. Christiansen
Creator at Preschool Inspirations
Katie has spent 17 combined years in the Early Childhood field as a teacher, preschool owner, and educational writer. She has worked in profit and non-profit programs, high-risk schools, and started an in-home preschool and outdoor collaborative preschool program. She adores being a mom to three children, and her youngest is currently in preschool.
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Filed Under: Art, Crafts, Nature, Science Tagged With: ocean theme, sea life, Starfish

Comments

  1. Shaunna (@Shaunna_FFL) says

    July 30, 2013 at 11:25 am

    What a neat idea! I love the addition of the pasta for texture. Thanks for sharing in the Discover & Explore linky. I’m featuring this post today.

    Reply
    • Mrs. Katie says

      July 30, 2013 at 12:34 pm

      Thanks so much Shaunna! It was one of my most favorite projects, and all of the kiddos wanted to carry them with them all day. I am a huge fan of your website. It’s such an incredible resource!

      Reply

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  1. Ocean Crafts | Fantastic Fun & Learning says:
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  2. Chunk | Artist Mickie Lynn says:
    September 7, 2013 at 7:41 pm

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  3. Ocean Themed Crafts for Kids | A Night Owl Blog says:
    June 22, 2014 at 7:58 pm

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I'm Katie, and I'm a veteran preschool teacher, child development research junkie, and mom of three who lives on little sleep and turns my kitchen into an art and science laboratory.

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