Free Snail spin art craft

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Have you ever studied a beautiful spiral found on a snail shell? A spiral is a curve that starts at a point, and then goes around the point, but gets farther and farther away from it. Did you know spirals occur in nature all of the time? You can find them in shells, flowers, and more things like these.

For this craft, we are going to create our own spin art using a Lazy Susan (if you don't have one you can manually create them, or attach your shell to a paper plate to spin). You can find the free craft template below!

Before you begin

You may want to explore spirals by:

• Reading the Book Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman
• Study snail shells and view photos of other spirals
  

Materials

• Click here to download the Snail Craft Template from Pre-K Printable Fun
  
• Lazy Susan  *optional
• Paint, or Markers of your choice
• Scissors
• Glue Stick
• Tape

Directions

1. After printing your template, cut out the snail, and snail shell.

2. Secure the snail shell to the Lazy Susan using tape. Using a Lazy Susan is optional (but fun!). You could also attach it to a paper plate to spin, or just manually create the swirls on your snail.

3. Using a paintbrush dipped in paint (or using a marker) gently apply pressure to the shell, and turn the lazy susan to produce a "swirl".

Tips on making swirls: Start by gently touching your paint brush or marker to the paper.  Guide your marker from the outside edge, in a straight line to the center of the circle.

You can also demonstrate how you can make circles by leaving your paint brush on the same spot on the paper, while as you spin the shell.

Once you have have mastered a single color you can introduce additional colors into your design.

4. Remove the shell from the Lazy Susan and allow it to dry completely. Once dry, glue the snail to the shell using a glue stick/glue.

Extend the learning

• Make play dough snails by creating a coil/swirl
  
• Go on a swirl hunt around your home/classroom
• Look at your fingerprints using a magnifying glass or by making fingerprints

Did you make this?

We'd love to see a photo of your craft inside our FB Group!

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