The Snail and the Whale Kids Activity

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Today I am sharing a book which I really love created by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. This children's story is called the Snail and the Whale and I have a fun and fantastic activity to share which can help bring the story alive and extend your child's interest in reading further to promote language development and art skills. Enjoy this snail painted rock.

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💖 Why You'll Love This Craft
🎨 Supplies Needed
🖌️ How To Make A Snail on a Rock
🧑‍🎨 Expert Tips
💭 FAQs
The Snail And The Whale Kids Activity
🖌️ Related Crafts

💖 Why You'll Love This Craft

Whimsical Adventure: Kids will love bringing the story of the snail and the whale to life with fun, interactive activities that spark imagination.
Educational and Fun: It's a perfect blend of education and fun, helping children learn about friendship, courage, and the beauty of nature through playful learning.
Creative Crafts: From creating snail and whale crafts to designing ocean scenes, this activity offers a variety of creative options to keep kids engaged and entertained!

🎨 Supplies Needed

Children's book The Snail and the Whale
Rock stone or pebble
Pencil
Chalkola pens
Posca paint pens.

🖌️ How To Make A Snail on a Rock

Step 1: Begin by drawing a snail onto the rock stone with the pencil. This is a fun arts and crafts part of the activity.

Step 2: Then you can use posca paint pens or chalk pens to paint the snail. I used both for this task. I painted the snail beige and brown and mixed the colours so the shell would stand out.

Step 3: Next I used metalic posca paint to add shadow and lines to the snail and his shells.

Step 4: I then used gold paint to create the shell dot effect on the snail.

Step 5: Once the gold dots were added, I outlined the snail using a black posca paint pen.

Step 6: Once the snail rock stone was completed I was ready to use the stone as an educational activity to help extend a child's interest in the story The Snail and the Whale.

The story is super fun and about the adventures of a snail who travels with a whale. As you read the story with your child, the snail rock stone can travel along the page making the story more interactive and fun.

I hope you like the idea! Enjoy.

💡 Pro Tip: After assembling both figures, let kids gently “drive” the snail along a drawn spiral track or “swim” the whale across wavy lines, reinforcing control and fluid motion awareness.

🧑‍🎨 Expert Tips

Curve Tracing: Encourage children to trace the snail’s spiral and the whale’s curved body with their finger before cutting, reinforcing smooth hand movements and shape memory.
Spiral Guidance: Provide a light pencil spiral guide on the snail template so kids can practice following continuous curves without lifting their tool prematurely.
Flow Practice: Teach children to move cutting scissors in one fluid motion along curved lines, helping them maintain consistent speed and avoid jagged edges.
Contour Alignment: Have kids align the whale’s tail and fin curves against a printed outline underneath to ensure each piece matches the intended shape precisely.
Shape Overlap: Demonstrate how to overlap snail shell sections or whale body parts slightly during assembly, improving visual continuity and preventing awkward gaps.
Movement Sequencing: Guide children through a step-by-step order—snail shell first, then body; whale body then fins—to build confidence in following progressive tasks.

💭 FAQs

How does size contrast teach scale?

Placing a tiny snail next to a large whale lets children see real differences in size. It helps them grasp relative scale intuitively through comparison.

What’s learned by contrasting proportions?

Drawing vastly different body lengths reinforces how proportions shift meaning. Kids notice that bigger shapes dominate while smaller ones add detail and interest.

How do kids adjust for tiny vs. huge?

They practice shrinking or enlarging templates to maintain recognizable forms. This teaches them to eyeball scale changes while retaining each creature’s key features.

Can this build visual perspective sense?

Yes—seeing both characters side by side trains them to judge distance and size relationships. It lays groundwork for understanding foreground and background in art.