Finding Dory Crafts for a Birthday Party

Crafts are always a big hit at children’s birthday parties, so we decided to do three Finding Dory crafts for Adeline’s Finding Dory party.

While I shared briefly about the Finding Dory crafts on the party post, today I wanted to go more in-depth. These crafts could totally be used for an under the sea party or Little Mermaid party.

For the Finding Dory party, I called the craft area “Hank’s Handiwork” and made a little sign to hang over it. I love making signs for party decorations, as they are a great way to bring the theme together. (I hate that I forgot to glue the apostrophe, but I don’t think the kids noticed – ha!)

I had two long folding tables (I love these adjustable ones – best party investment I ever made. Well worth $30 each) + an additional child’s table for the Finding Dory crafts. The tables were covered in blue tablecloths from The Dollar Store, which made clean up easy.

The kids each picked a station to start at and rotated through all three Finding Dory crafts, which were:

Craft 1: Seashell necklaces

Because seashells play such an important part in Dory finding her way home and to her parents, the girls made seashell beaded necklaces.

To keep things simple and reduce mess, we had the beads pre-counted and in individual ziplocks. (This was something I had Elias and Adeline do to help with the party. They loved being a part of the prep.) If I had more time, I would have cut the necklace string too!

Supplies:
Seashells (be sure that they have holes in them)
String
Pony beads

I ordered purple shells from Etsy because purple shells were Dory’s mom’s favorite and bought pony beads and string at a local store.

Craft #2: Open Ocean Exhibits: Mini Aquariums:

The children each made mini aquariums, like the open ocean exhibit that Dory’s family lived in. Of the three crafts, these were by far the favorites.

Supplies

This craft requires quite a few supplies, so shop around or use craft store coupons to get the best deals. I don’t think you can find the sea creatures or plant life cheaper than Amazon though!

• 8 oz. mason jars
• Distilled water
• Aquarium gravel (after the party I found that The Dollar Store carries this, though not in the pretty blue color),
• Ocean creatures
• Fake plant life

For the assembly of these mini aquariums, have the children put the plants in first, then add the gravel.

Then add the creatures (we did two per jar) and finally the distilled water.

We bought a jug of water with a built in dispenser that made filling them a snap.

Also, everyone’s aquariums will look the same, so have a sharpie on hand to write the child’s name on the top.

Craft 3: Hank the septopus

Supplies

• small terra cotta pots (I found these in three packs at The Dollar Store, but that’s because it was summer time! Some craft stores carry them year round, or you can buy them online.)
• Red paint (I sprayed all the pots with red spray paint prior to the party)
• googly eyes
• big fuzzy pipe cleaners (bought at Michaels)
• Glue for the eyes (I like Aleene’s)
• Glue dots (Be sure to get the thick ones or the pipe cleaners won’t stick)

These little septopuses came together very simply, thanks to few supplies and some preparation before the party. It was important to have all the “tentacles” cut in advance of the party.

The thick glue dots were hard for some of the children to adhere to the pots, so grown-ups might need to help. But in the end, everyone left with a cute septopus of their own!

All the Finding Dory crafts were a huge hit! I hope this is helpful if you are planning a Finding Dory party.

For more Finding Dory inspiration check out my Finding Dory party post.