Don't Worry, Little Crab + Paper Crab Puppets and Coloring Page from Mayel Creates!

Don’t Worry Little Crab by Chris Haughton (2020).

The title of this picture book is four words we could all use right now.

Not only is it a masterful story illustrated with striking, vivid art, it’s also an exploration of fear and of what it’s like to take little steps through fear. Little Crab shows us that everyone has the capacity to be stronger and braver than they think they are, to take on new challenges, and to experience gratification and growth around navigating waves and charting new waters.

Little Crab’s story is full of hope, and it could also be a way into talking to kids about fears they may have right now as well as the stuff that’s potentially still there in every moment even as there is so much anxiety and unknown and tragedy—little bits of beauty, the natural world, and their own ability to weather the waves.

When Little Crab and Very Big Crab first set out from their tide pool, headed to the ocean, Little Crab is full of confidence. “I can go anywhere!”

But then the first wave comes. “WHOOSH!” Turns out, the sea is very big, a lot bigger than Very Big Crab. And pretty scary, too. Little Crab doesn’t like it.

But Very Big Crab encourages Little Crab. They hold tight. They stick together. They let the wave whoosh and swoop and hurtle over them. They are okay. Little Crab is okay. But still, Little Crab wants to go home. Wouldn’t you? Especially when each new wave is bigger than the last.

There are more waves. There is more holding tight. There is more whoosh and swoop and hurtling. But Very Big Crab tells Little Crab that they’re together. That it will be OK.

And then, they dive under the very biggest wave. The feeling captured is so familiar to anyone who’s had the good fortune of being at the ocean, of diving into and under a wave, of the anticipation and apprehension of not knowing exactly what will happen next. Of hoping that in being swallowed up, you are still somehow safe.

And then, finally, there is the ocean—the down below sea! Little Crab, it turns out, does love the ocean and all the underwater creatures and a colorful game of hide and seek. Little Crab can go anywhere! In fact, Little Crab doesn’t want to stop adventuring in order to go home. Because there are wonderful things to be found at the end of some of the most challenging journeys. And even along the way.

Unlike Little Crab, we cannot go anywhere right now. Quite the opposite, in fact. We can stay home. Or we can go to an essential job with great care. We can go on a walk. Children, especially, cannot just go anywhere. They are more confined than ever. But all of us can always go places—anywhere, in fact—in our imaginations. In our minds. In our ability to, like Little Crab, have courage on the journey to the unknown.

You can take a further peek into the book as well as the book trailer at Chris Haughton’s website.

I connected with Mayel through Instagram (of course!) and am a big admirer of her creations. Her gift with paper crafting makes her a perfect person to pair with Don’t Worry, Little Crab, and she was kind enough to make something amazing for us that you can share with the kids in your life. Behold, her wonderful Paper Crab Puppets and Coloring Craft to match!

Over to Mayel!

Hello, my name is Mayel. I’m an artist, designer, creator of fun things at mayelcreates.com.
I’m so delighted Danielle asked me to do a craft specifically for Don’t Worry Little Crab; it’s a
simple, colorful way to talk about feelings with our littles and how sometimes things are not as we thought. I hope you’ll enjoy the process of making this craft and have fun with the end
result.

Let’s get started!

What you’ll need:

5 sheets of 8.5 x 11 colored paper in different colors. Suggestions would be fuchsia, violet, purple, yellow and orange.

A black marker

A pair of scissors

2 popsicle sticks

Glue stick

Pencil

White paper to print the background on

This PDF with the ocean background

Let’s start with the Big Crab.

Cut pieces of your colored paper to sizes below. Save the scraps for the Little Crab later; you’ll need the same colored paper.

Step 1. The Big Crab’s body.

Cut the corners of your 3 in. x 4 in. paper diagonally with the top corners being slightly bigger than the bottom like in picture A. The cut doesn’t have to be perfect—imperfections add character!

Step 2. The claws.

Take the 2 in. x 4 in. paper and fold in half horizontally (see picture B). Cut a triangle shape in the middle of the open end, away from the folded side, like in picture C. Cut about to halfway of the paper so the claw will look big enough. Tip: If you feel like the claws are too big for the body, you can shape to your desired size by trimming the sides. Lastly, cut the folded part of the paper to make 2 claws, see picture D. Put the pieces aside.

Step 3. The legs.

Take one of the .75 in. x 4 in. papers and fold each one into a “V” shape (see picture E). Do the same to the other piece. Set aside.

Step 4. Now for the eyes.Take the 2 in. X 2 in. square paper and fold in half. Draw a long upside down “U” shape like in photo F. Keep the paper folded and cut the “U” shape out (see picture G). You should now have 2 pieces of “U” shaped paper.

Step 5. Base of the eyes.

Take the .5 in. X 2 in. paper and lay on top of one of the “U” shape papers. Cut to the size of the bottom of the “U” (see picture H). This will be the base of the eyes. Do the same to the other “U” shape.

Step 6. Put it all together.

Lay all your pieces out and make your composition like picture I. Glue the pieces together to make it look like picture J. Tip: Only put a little bit of glue on the edges of the eyes and legs, then glue them onto the back of the body. For the claws, put glue on the edge away from the triangle then attach onto the front of the body.

Step 7. Dot in the eyes.

Now it’s time to draw in the eyes; see picture J. Think of where you’d like the crab to look—are they looking up or looking down? Place the dots where you’d like the big crab to look.

Step 8. Turn it into a puppet.

Grab the popsicle stick and glue onto the back of your big crab. Viola! You have your own crab puppet.

Step 9. The Little Crab.

Now, let’s do the same steps again to create the smaller crab. All you have to do is cut the leftover colored paper, only smaller sizes this time. You can make the pieces about 1 inch smaller than the big crab or even smaller if you’d like. When you get to Step 7, try drawing the eyes at a different spot than your big crab so they can look at each other or at different places.

Step 10. Let’s color the ocean!

For the final touch, let’s get coloring! Click here or go to https://www.mayelcreates.com/papercrabpuppet to download the drawing of the ocean (see photo L) and color your own background as you wish.

Hope you enjoyed this craft activity. I hope that you and a loved one can do it together and use it to talk about feelings during these unprecedented times. Even though some new things could be scary at first, if you keep giving it a try, you might find new and exciting ways to have an adventure.

Mayel Wei is an all around creative person. Once upon a time, she was an Advertising Art Director and Graphic Designer creating campaigns for Hollywood shows, but traded that glamorous life for a quiet one in the burbs: kids, picket fence and all. She creates whatever comes to mind with her minimalistic style and drawings. See more from Mayel on Instagram: mayelcreates, www.mayelcreates.com and on Minted.com.

Huge thanks to Mayel for creating this vibrant, playful, comforting craft!!