I first discovered the HammerHead shark as an early years teacher. Before teaching pre-K I didn't really know much about Sharks, let alone the HammerHead. However, with the keen interest young children had for Sharks and the many ocean-themed songs we sung at mat time, I soon learned all about the different types of sharks in the ocean.
Today I am sharing one of my favorite shark craft ideas. It's a Hammer Head Shark craft and activity or CRAFTIVITY. This preschool shark craft can be really fun for kids. There are opportunities to cut, draw, color, and paint and I know the kids will have fun creating these fantastic and fun Hammer Head Sharks.
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💖 Why You'll Love This Craft
- Super Cool Shape: The hammerhead shark has such a unique look, making this craft an exciting and educational project for kids.
- Simple Supplies: With basic materials like paper and scissors, you can easily put this together in no time.
- Great for Learning: It’s a fun way to introduce kids to marine life while keeping the craft hands-on and engaging.
When Does Shark Week Start?
Shark week 2019 begins on the July the 28th and ends on August 4th 2019. Shark week is a fun week where we can celebrate and learn about Sharks with the little ones.
Shark week originally began in 1988. The Discovery channel decided to devote one week each year to featuring content which helps correct misconceptions about sharks along with helping with conservation efforts.
Shark week is now hugely popular every year and is a great time to teach young kids all about Sharks.
Today I am sharing this fantastic Hammer Head Shark Craft which is perfect for shark week.
🎨 Supplies Needed
RELATED POST: HAMA BEAD PATTERNS: DIY SHARK KEYCHAIN
🖌️ How To Make This Hammer Head Shark Craft
- Step 1: Download and print out the hammerhead shark template. Cut out the different pieces and set aside.
- Step 2: Now it's time to glue the pieces of your Hammer Head shark together. Use your glue stick or white school glue.
- Step 3: Cut out small pieced of white paper and add to the edges of your paper shark to create “shine” and give it more life.
- Step 4: Outline your shark craft using your black sharpie pen! You can make more than one shark and choose whatever colors you prefer.
These are so super cute! You could use these for a Ocean unit study or put them on a ocean display board in the classroom! Now your hammerhead shark is complete, you can use your paper shark to create a fantastic and easy watercolor painting. All you need to do is create a fun watercolor background. Alternatively you could glue your shark craft to construction paper.
Easy Watercolor Painting for Kids
To create a watercolor background prepare a surface with newspaper or a wipeable oil tablecloth for easy cleanup. We got our oil cloth from Messy Me, it's fantastic and works like magic!
Set up your watercolor paints using different shades of blue. Mix in some green and yellow for even more color.
Coat your paper in water until it’s damp but not soaked. Use a paintbrush for this step. Add your watercolor paints and cover the paper.
Mix in some various shades of blue until you’re happy with how your watercolor artwork looks.
Sprinkle a few pinches of salt across the wet paint. It’s important that you do this while the paint is wet, otherwise, it will not work.
The salt will cause the paint to separate and create an explosive-looking effect.
Allow the paper to dry completely. This will take a while since it was so wet.
Once dry, glue the hammerhead shark onto your watercolor background. You can also download our starfish printables and add these to the picture.
These would make wonderful bulletin board crafts. Print the hammerhead shark out in various colors for a really fun look! Enjoy!
💡 Pro Tip: Let kids animate their finished shark by gliding it across the table or making it "swim" through a paper ocean—this builds project connection through motion play.
🧑🎨 Expert Tips
- Slide Assembly: Let kids slide fin or tail pieces into place rather than dropping them directly—this builds directional control through active placement.
- Rolling Movement: Have children roll glue sticks across longer shapes instead of dabbing, encouraging smoother wrist motion and rhythm awareness.
- Push-Pull Actions: Use push-down motions for gluing and light pulling actions to stretch out shapes like seaweed or waves, helping kids understand motion-based effort.
- Line-Following: Introduce simple motion cues by having kids trace or press along lines with fingers before placing each shark feature to prepare their motor sequence.
- Reach Shifting: Set materials at different distances so children have to move back and forth while crafting, promoting dynamic body engagement throughout.
- Pacing with Movement: Add a walking or stretch break between major steps to refresh energy and sustain attention during longer crafting sessions.
💭 FAQs
Children explore what makes hammerhead sharks unique. It helps them recognize visual and biological differences among sea species.
Exploring the hammerhead's distinctive head shape can lead to discussions about how animals adapt physically to their environments for survival.
Yes, discussing the hammerhead shark's role in the ocean ecosystem helps children grasp the importance of each species in maintaining environmental balance.
Creating a representation of a real marine animal can spark conversations about ocean conservation and the importance of protecting marine habitats.
🖌️ Related Crafts
Download Template
Get your free Printable Hammerhead Shark Template here!
Hammer Head Shark Craft For Kids
Equipment
- Scissors
Materials
- Printer
- Colored Stock Card
- Glue
- Black Marker Pen
- Pencil
- Paintbrush
- Iodised salt
- Watercolor Pai
Instructions
- Download and print out the hammerhead shark template. Cut out the different pieces and set aside.
- Now it’s time to glue the pieces of your Hammer Head shark together. Use your glue stick or white school glue.
- Cut out small pieces of white paper and add to the edges of your paper shark to create “shine” and give it more life.
- Outline your shark craft using your black sharpie pen! You can make more than one shark and choose whatever colors you prefer.
- These are so super cute! You could use these for an Ocean unit study or put them on an ocean display board in the classroom!
- Now your hammerhead shark is complete, you can use your paper shark to create a fantastic and easy watercolor painting.
- All you need to do is create a fun watercolor background. Alternatively you could glue your shark craft to construction paper.
- EASY WATERCOLOR PAINTING FOR KIDSTo create a watercolor background prepare a surface with a newspaper or a wipeable oil tablecloth for easy cleanup.
- Set up your watercolor paints using different shades of blue. Mix in some green and yellow for even more color.
- Coat your paper in water until it’s damp but not soaked. Use a paintbrush for this step. Add your watercolor paints and cover the paper.
- Mix in some various shades of blue until you’re happy with how your watercolor artwork looks.
- Sprinkle a few pinches of salt across the wet paint. It’s important that you do this while the paint is wet, otherwise, it will not work.
- The salt will create the paint to separate and cause an explosive looking effect.
- Allow the paper to dry completely. This will take awhile since it was so wet.
- Once dry, glue the hammerhead shark onto your watercolor background. You can also download our starfish printables and add these to the picture.
- These would make wonderful bulletin board crafts. Print the hammerhead shark out in various colors for a really fun look! Enjoy!
For More Fantastic Shark Week Ideas, why not check out the following:
Did you make this craft? Leave a review and comment below! Alternatively, bookmark it in your browser or save to Pinterest.
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