10 must try jellyfish art projects for kids!
Marbled Jellyfish project from Fantastic Voyage Camp. Find the video class and complete project plan inside of ART CAMP Pro
when you move like a jellyfish, rhythm is nothing. You don’t stop.
-Jack Johnson
If you have ever had the opportunity to see a jellyfish in real life, you know first-hand that they look like works of art! It’s no surprise that jellyfish art projects are a popular theme in art rooms around the globe and a big hit with young artists. We have featured more than a few jellyfish art projects in our art classes, camps, and workshops over the years. Here is a collection of our very favorite jellyfish art and craft projects. Fair warning: you are probably going to want to make them ALL!
Up-Cycled Jellyfish
Have you ever looked at a frozen yogurt or frappucino lid and thought: that looks like a jellyfish? Well, that’s exactly where we got the inspiration to create this up-cycled jellyfish project. These 3-D jellies are super fun to make and they incorporate simple supplies you probably already have in your arts and craft stash. This jelly project makes a great under-the-sea party craft + doubles as decor.. they look great hung as a group!
3-D Jellyfish project- ART CAMP Studio
2. Spray Art Jellyfish
When my wonderful art teacher friend Lauralee (also known as @2artchambers over on Instagram) shared these beautiful watercolor spray print jellies over on her Instagram feed I was in love. This is such a great example of a simple process yielding incredible results! I am sure this one will be a hit with your little artists! You can find more details here.
Spray Art Jellyfish from Lauralee Chamber’s art students - image: @2artchambers on instagram
3. Clay Jellyfish
I love projects that combine an unexpected mix of art materials. When I saw these little jellyfish made from clay and fabric remnants by Journey into Creativity, it made me want to run into the studio and create 100 of them. This is a jellyfish project that makes a beautiful handmade gift! I can imagine adding little bells to some of the tentacles and hanging them like wind chimes on the front porch. So simple..so beautiful!
Clay Jellyfish project- Journey into Creativity
4. Marbled Jellyfish
This jellyfish art project is one of our absolute favorites! If you’ve never made a marble print, you are definitely in for a treat! Find the Marbled Jellyfish lesson plan HERE.
Marbled Jellyfish project from Fantastic Voyage Camp
5. Mixed-Media Jellyfish!
Did you say: Jellyfish for 150?? Uhhh.. no problem! This mixed-media jellyfish station was a hit in the VIP section of an outdoor summer festival. You can find this art station blueprint and many more inside of our program for art teaching professionals and creative small business owners - ART CAMP Pro.
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Mixed Media Jellyfish party blueprint available in ART CAMP Pro
6. Coffee Filter Jellyfish
We are massive fans of the big, bucket-style, coffee filters because there is just so much you can do with them! This process is simple and straightforward:
Grab 3-4 bucket style coffee filters. Keep them stacked in layers.
Using a damp (not soaking wet) brush, paint the top coffee filter with watercolor or tempera cakes. We dabbed our colors on because we wanted to keep that structure of the coffee filter intact. There is no wrong way to paint your jellyfish, we just liked the idea of keeping the ruffles and shape of the bucket style filters so we used less water and more paint.
Set the painted filters to the side to dry.
When your coffee filters are dry, pierce a hole in the top of each filter and then stack them.
Gather a gorgeous array of ribbon and yarn for tentacles. We cut 7 long strands of multicolored yarn and bundled them together with a long strip of shiny ribbon. We also tied in a hanging loop using the same ribbon and pushed it up through the holes in our coffee filters.
How gorgeous would these look hung as a group at your next school art show?! This jellyfish project is a great one to do in the classroom because the materials are budget friendly and easy to source.
*If you’d like to see more of what we do with coffee filters, check out this Georgia O’Keefe inspired class and lesson plan.
Coffee Filter Jellyfish- ART CAMP Studio
7. Glow-in-the-Dark Jellyfish
We will take any and all excuses to pull-out the glow in the dark paint- please and thank you! I love that the supply list for this Craftiments jellyfish project is super accessible and the wow factor is BIG. If you want to take the glow-in-the-dark paint to the next level, swap out your regular lightbulb for a blacklight bulb and have some over-the-top glow-in-the-dark fun!
Glow-in-the-dark-jellyfish- Craftiments
8. Egg Carton Jellyfish
It’s no secret how much we love all of the 3-D art possibilities that the humble egg carton provides. We are pretty certain that these egg carton jellyfish featured on Fresh Ideen would be the new BFF of our egg carton mermaid dolls. You can find lots of different versions of this craft online, but we are smitten with this delightful (non-googly-eyed) stacked version. Simple and oh so sweet! This project would make a great summer craft.
sweet little egg carton jellies from freshideen.com
*If you’d like to see more of what we do with egg cartons, check out our Egg Carton Mermaid Dolls Project plan.
9. Watercolor resist jellyfish
Watercolor resist projects are SO FUN and these resist jellies are from Elementary Art Fun are SO stunning! Find the full how-to and the secret ingredient here.
beautiful watercolor resist jellyfish from elementary art fun
10. Tissue Paper Jellyfish
I love these colorful jellyfish from drip, splatter, splash so much. Three cheers for process art X tissue paper art! You can find the full post for this super fun project here.
tissue paper jellyfish from drip, splatter, splash blog
If you love tissue paper art projects as much as we do, be sure to check out our stained glass angels.