This DIY Baby Shark Toss was for my son’s second birthday party back in April. I had done a similar activity for my daughter when she turned two and it was a huge hit. It is a simple inexpensive way to create a themed activity for little hands.
I wasn’t sure if I would even end up writing a tutorial on this or not as it is mostly a ‘Don’t-do-this-orial.’ Let’s just say this project was way simpler in the brainstorming phase. It was one of those projects that if it could go wrong, it did!! I promise it SHOULD be simple to make if you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Anyhow, I pieced it together in the end, did still have fun with making it between the cursing that is, and the kids really enjoyed it and had fun so we are calling it a success. I am going to share my ‘oops’ moments but mostly tell you a better way to get it done.
The real important part is it was my son’s second birthday and ever since he was itty bitty, “doo, doo, doo” meant he wanted a cartoon so this little shark will always remind me of his sweet little self.
Also, I made a toss for my daughter’s second birthday as well and both of them had a great time using the tops of the socks as arm bands. When he put these on his arm while I was working on this project, I immediately flashed back to my daughter doing the same. ❤
Those memories are forever!!
Ok…..Let’s Create
Supplies Needed to Make DIY Baby Shark Toss
I picked up the following supplies from the Dollar Tree:
- Socks
- Rice
- Foam board
- Crepe paper
Other supplies needed that I had on hand:
- Cardboard
- Glue – Super Glue or E6000
- Tape – Duct or Packaging
- Scissors
- Razer knife
- Pencil
- Paint or Markers
The Rice Bags
Filling the socks turned into a whole activity and there was rice ALL over the house!! The kids had a great time though.
Put the rice in a bowl and fill the socks with rice using a measuring cup.
Fill to your desired size and then tie a knot in the top.
Cut the band off the top rim of the sock and trim them up.
*These little rice bags are also great for warming little hands and toes in the winter. Simply pop in the microwave for a few seconds until they are at your desired temperature.
The Base
Grab your cardboard. I knew all these boxes from Christmas would come in handy someday. I ended up with a very large box that was easy to fold and tape to the desired size. If you don’t get as lucky, don’t stress, you can piece several together.
You are going to form an A shape with them with enough gap so that it will stand up on it’s own as well as have enough room to retrieve the bags when tossed through the hole.
Once you have your box taped in the desired A shape set it aside.
The Shark
First, I googled a picture of Baby Shark and drew it out on the foam board. I am no artist but he was pretty simple to do as he is basically just shapes. Also, it doesn’t need to look great at this point. It took me several lines before I got it where I liked it. I traced a drinking glass for his eyes.
Next take your razer knife or scissors and cut it out as well as his mouth hole.
Adding color is next and the part I most enjoy. This is also where I got into trouble as I used paint on the foam board without peeling the paper off. If you haven’t ever looked closely at foam board it has a layer of paper on top. WELL…..the moisture in the paint peeled that paper right off the foam! My suggestion would be to use marker OR IF YOU INTEND TO USE PAINT PEEL THE PAPER LAYER OFF FIRST!
Back to the Base
Next take your shark cutout and place it on the cardboard to map out where his mouth should be cut out.
He looked so nice before he peeled apart.
Then take the mouth you cut out and trace and cut it out of the box. No need to be exact here as baby shark will cover it.
~ Finally, The Base and Shark become ONE ~
To cover the box I used crepe paper and just wrapped it around and taped it. This part was simple, easy, and looked like water. Then I glued baby shark to the base. Be sure in the areas you glue that you peel up the crepe paper and glue directly to the cardboard. I would suggest a super tough glue such as E6000 which is what I ended up using. Let’s just say I learned as I went with the this project! You can see in this picture he is starting to peel apart on the top.
~ Back to the Shark ~ A Step you Shouldn’t Need
You will be skipping this section as you will have listened to my warning and would have either used marker or would have peeled off the paper layer before painting. However, I thought I would share with you what I ended up doing to salvage this project for the party. Projects don’t always go as planned so improvising is sometimes needed.
This is where baby shark lost a layer. Poor beautiful baby shark peeled off in one thin paper chunk from the foam board. Attempts to glue didn’t work and I didn’t have time to re-do him. I knew it would end up getting destroyed once the kids threw the bags at it so after several other failed attempts to glue or otherwise salvage him I ended up using contact paper to cover the paper layer that peeled off.
*One other little hack, the tops to the Dollar Tree ankle socks double nicely as a hair tie. I found this out as I grabbed one in desperation to get the hair out of my face to attempt to smooth the contact paper (plan 842 in an attempt to salvage this project). Zoom in to see how well that worked.
For pictures I taped the contact paper covered shark to the foam shark.
Since I was pressed for time, I used crayon on the blank white foam shark to make it look like a two year old colored him in underneath. This way when the top layer would fall off you could at least tell what it was for the game. After just a few throws he looked like below anyhow.
Completed DIY BABY SHARK TOSS Festive & Fun
Even with the mishaps and oops, he was cute for pictures and the kids loved him. Especially my big 2 year old which was the whole point of the project!
Hopefully my mishaps and oops moments made you giggle or at least keep you from making the same mistakes!
Your turn to create
I would love to hear if you gain inspiration from this post and make your very own DIY Baby Shark Toss!
