This imaginative craft will help you transform your toddler’s bedroom into the captain’s quarters by creating a “porthole” with a view of the ocean from below-decks.
Supplies:

1.    Paper plates (2)

2.    Blue cellophane (enough to cover a paper plate)

3.    Newspaper or other disposable material to cover work area

4.    Round cereal pieces (8-10)

5.    Glue and scissors

6.    Silver paint and paint brush

7.    Undersea decorations (sand, seashells, fish crackers, bubbles, seaweed, shipwreck, etc. – can be from craft store or made from construction paper)

8.    Poster tape or wall stick square

Steps:

1.    Arrange one paper plate face-up on the newspaper and cover the bottom third with glue.

2.    Pour sand over the glue and let dry.

3.    Arrange the other paper plate face-down and draw a circle for the window of the porthole. This circle will later be cut out.

4.    Glue 8-10 pieces of round cereal, consistently spaced, around the outside of the circle you just drew. Let dry. These will form the bolt heads around the porthole.

5.    Paint the face-down paper plate silver, leaving the circle in the middle unpainted. Let dry.

6.    Cut out the circle in the middle of the plate. Set the silver plate aside.

7.    Shake any excess sand off of the first plate.

8.    Arrange and glue on undersea decorations to create the ocean view from the porthole. Let dry.

9.    Cut out a circle of blue cellophane slightly larger than the hole in your silver plate. Flip the plate over so that the silver side is facing down, cover the rim of the hole with glue, and place the piece of cellophane onto the plate so that its edges are glued down. Let dry. You should now have a blue “windowpane” in your porthole.

10.    Cover the outer edge of the ocean view paper plate with glue. Place the silver porthole plate over the first plate so that the edges meet. Press the edges together so that they seal properly. Let dry.

11.    Use poster tape or a wall stick square to place the finished porthole on your toddler’s wall.

Thank you to Alexis Bonari for this guest post.   Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie.   She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org and performs research surrounding online colleges and education.  In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.