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Make a Seahorse Hobby Horse (With Things You Have At Home)

August 15, 2018 by Rosie 8 Comments

I’m so excited to share with you this seahorse hobby horse craft that we have been working on!

I love crafts that have a purpose – whether it be something to play with, or a gift to give someone. I think projects with a purpose are so much more meaningful, especially for children.

With my love of the sea, I just had to hop onto the seahorse trend! (Apparently seahorses are the new unicorns…)

On trend or not, I just love these magical sea creatures. I used to love looking at the seahorses at the aquarium where I used to work. Did you know there are 40 known species of seahorse? And that seahorses prefer to swim in pairs with their tails linked together?!

I thought a seahorse would make a wonderful theme for some under the sea creative play. So when my son came back from a party the other day with a hobby horse he had made, I just knew I had to have a go at making my own – but with a sea themed twist!

This seahorse hobby horse is really easy to make with things that you likely already have at home. Plus you can reuse cardboard and repurpose items such as buttons to decorate the sea horse, so it’s environmentally friendly too.

Tips for Making Your Seahorse

This tutorial is really just inspiration for you, so feel free to use it as the basis for your own imaginative project with your kids.

You can involve your children in most of this project – the painting and much of the decorating. You can really let them go to town. We used buttons and sticky stars, but you could also use stickers, pens, sequins, paper, ribbon, bottle tops – whatever you have lying about!

You’ll need to help with any gluing required to make the seahorse. Paper items can be stuck on with pva glue, but buttons and bottle tops will need super glue, which must only be applied by an adult.

You might like to ask children to position the buttons where they would like to glue them, then glue the buttons carefully for them. You will also need to glue the cardboard onto the stick for your child, with either super glue, or another strong glue. I used Gorilla Glue Super Glue for this project, which worked really well.

Disclosure: I was provided with samples of Gorilla Glue for the purpose of creating this project. All opinions are my own.

Seahorse Hobby Horse

You will need:

  • Corrugated Card – a large flattened cardboard box is perfect
  • Water based paint
  • Paint brushes and sponges
  • Buttons or Plastic Bottle Tops
  • Stars, stickers or sequins
  • Paint pens
  • Stick of bamboo, or other long, sturdy stick
  • Super Glue
  • Any other decorating materials – ribbon, paper etc

How to make your seahorse:

1. Gather together the materials you will need. It’s a good idea to find a stick first, so you can work out how big the seahorse needs to be. You can also adjust this depending on the size of your child!

2. Draw an outline of a seahorse onto one of the pieces of corrugated card. You can copy mine if you like. Cut out.

3. Use this sea horse as a template to draw around a second sea horse on the other piece of card. Cut that one out too.

4. Place the two seahorses together back to back to make sure they are roughly the same shape – trim off any pieces where necessary.

5. Place the two seahorses facing each other to paint – remember you will need to decorate the sea horses on opposite sides to ensure they match together. You might like to put a mark on the side to be painted, so no one gets muddled up! This is what they will look like when finished:

6. Lay out some newspaper, or a plastic mat on the floor or table. Put out the paints, brushes and sponges. Go ahead and let the kids paint the sea horse pieces. We used blue paint, followed by purple paint sponged over the top. But your seahorse can be any color you like!

7. Allow to dry. It shouldn’t take long, you could go and wash hands and grab a snack while you wait…

8. Lay out the decorating supplies and let kids decorate the seahorse pieces. For anything that needs to be fixed with super glue, like buttons, ask children to place where they would like them to go.

9. Super glue any buttons or other pieces on. Remember to do this for your child, well away from little fingers! I used the Gorilla Glue Super Glue for this, which worked great. Put the seahorses out of reach to dry, which only takes a few minutes.

10. Add any other sticky stars, stickers, or other decorations!

11. Draw an eye on using paint pens, or a paint and brush. Or you could use stickers, or a goggly eye. Allow to dry.

12. Carefully place one of the seahorses onto your stick. Mark with a pencil where you want it to be stuck.

13. Dot super glue onto the stick, then glue the sea horse firmly onto the stick. If you have a hot glue gun, you could use that for this instead, although the super glue actually worked really well. Place something heavy carefully on top of the sea horse for a few minutes whilst it dries.

14. Repeat with the other seahorse on the other side of the stick. Place a box, or heavy book on top. Allow to dry.

Now the seahorse is ready to play!

Have you ever made a hobby horse craft? Will you have a go at making a seahorse, or perhaps another sea creature?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

If you like this craft you might also like my posts on:

How to Make Easy Stencilled Whale Cards

Make a Snail and the Whale Ocean Tray

20+ Amazing Ocean Themed Creative Play Ideas

Remember to pin this post for later, so you can read today and craft another day!

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Filed Under: Crafts and Activities, Creative Play, Ocean Ideas

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Comments

  1. Caroline

    October 8, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    Awww Rosie I love all the great crafts you do. These look super cute and great for kids learning.

    Reply
    • Rosie

      October 9, 2018 at 11:23 pm

      Thanks Caroline! xx

      Reply
  2. Sarah Stockley

    October 13, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    This is super cute and effective. I love the colour and how you’ve decorated it with buttons too.

    Reply
  3. Mudpie Fridays

    October 14, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    This is such a great idea. I love that you don’t need to go out and buy expensive craft materials either. I often find that unless I can do crafts there and then they don’t get done. Had no idea that seahorses were the next big thing. Xx

    Reply
  4. Emma

    October 14, 2018 at 5:09 pm

    Oh what a lovely craft to do with young chiclren. I love the addition of buttons too to make it more tactile. I’m very pleased that seahorses will be the new trend. I’ve had enough of unicorns to last me a lifetime 😉

    Reply
  5. natalie

    October 14, 2018 at 8:01 pm

    I love this, my girls loves crafts but I do always struggle trying to think of things to make. I am definitely going to make these with them x

    Reply
  6. Kelly-Anne

    October 15, 2018 at 7:28 am

    Oh how adorable do these look and they seem to easy to make, I think my daughter would love to make these? It’s amazing how much you have around the home.

    Reply
  7. Becky, Cuddle Fairy

    October 15, 2018 at 8:08 pm

    Aw what a lovely craft! Sea Horses are a real favourite of my daughter too, there is something magical about them. She’d really enjoy doing this craft. We love making things out of cardboard.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Rosie!

Lover of tea on the beach and avid recycler!

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Sweet and simple ideas to inspire kids. 👩‍🎨
Art | Crafts | Nature
Lover of tea on the beach and avid recycler! 🐚🐠🐳 ❤️

Rosie
Do you feel like showering a little love this Febr Do you feel like showering a little love this February? 🥰
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I think we need all the love and good vibes right now and I do love a creative project that doubles as a gift! 💝 
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We loved making these dancing heart stencil cards - simple to make and sweet Valentines for your children to hand out. 😍
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When I get 5 minutes I'll make a blog post 🙄😆but they are easy enough to make:
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-Draw a heart shape on a piece of card and cut out a stencil. 
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-Place stencil on folded white card, sponge red and white paint, let dry.
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-Decorate with a pen and goggly eyes.
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-Spread a little love!
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These would be a cute and easy activity over the half term/winter break. ❄️
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Do your children like to make Valentine cards? 💕
Do you feel like you're balancing all the things r Do you feel like you're balancing all the things right now?
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Life is throwing everything at us at the moment. If you feel like you’re about to topple and fall with the weight of it all, you are not alone. 

Working, parenting, home schooling. Trying to stay calm and look after ourselves as well as our families. Whatever your situation, I know you are juggling a lot.
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Think of a memory that makes you feel calm and happy. Hold on to it until the time you can make it happen again. And in the meantime try to to seize the little moments of every day joy. 
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I think of the beach when I need a pick me up. How about you?
Don’t you just love when a crafty project double Don’t you just love when a crafty project doubles as something useful??
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You can turn this easy Christmas tree stencil idea into simple gift wrap! 
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Get your children printing and decorating Christmas trees on a sheet of parcel paper. You’ll keep them busy and creative, then can wrap gifts for the grandparents or friends in the paper! 
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This year, more than ever, people will really appreciate the small, personal things that you do for them. Things that are made, thought about and given with love. ❤️ Have a think about how you can make someone feel special this year. The simple ideas are always the best!
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Are you planning to add a personal touch to gifts and cards this year? Have you made gift wrap with your children before?
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Joining in with @makemerryandcreate @littlelion_mom @playwithmamma and #makeyourchristmascrafts
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I took a bit of a social media break, as life took over. As it does from time to time. So taking the time to say hello to you all again.👋 

I’m Rosie and I love to share simple ideas to inspire kids to get arty, crafty and creative. 🎨 

I also 💚the outdoors and try to share this love of nature in many of my projects. 🌲 

This is me and my crew, back in October on my 40th birthday! A beautiful beachy day. 🏝 

Since then we’ve bought a house, moved and had one kiddo in isolation for 14 days 🤪- hence the radio silence. 

A break has helped me ditch the overwhelm and simplify my priorities. But now, I’m so ready to start getting creative again and bring on all the festive vibes! 🎄

When life gets overwhelming, don’t be afraid to step back and focus only on the things that are important. Take a breath, get outdoors and then reprioritise, one step at a time. ❤️

How are you doing with lockdowns, winter and festive preparation? What helps you step back and reprioritise?
What is your lasting memory of this past few month What is your lasting memory of this past few months with your kids?

For me it’s been bike rides and making things together. 🖍 ✂️ 
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Funny how our minds gloss over the stresses of home school and lack of ‘me time’ 🤣
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One thing I am doing is starting to sort through the pile of creations 🖼 (and clutter too!) in the house. It’s reminding me of all the lovely things we have done together (even when mum guilt sometimes tells me otherwise) and helping to clear my mind too. ❤️
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Are your children back at school, or are you still in the thick of homeschool? 
Anyone else swamped with projects from this year?! I’d love any ideas on how you like to organise art work!
(Press trip) Do you have a Dino fan in your family (Press trip) Do you have a Dino fan in your family?
We had a roarr-some time at @roarr_dinosauradventure in Norfolk last weekend.
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Is home school still happening in your family?! Af Is home school still happening in your family?! After 12 weeks of lockdown we’ve ditched ‘home school’ for ‘life school.’ So far the kids have made and decorated their own cakes, helped do laundry, vacuum and mop. 🧼 Plus lots of free play, projects and learning about topics they are interested in - mainly dinosaurs! 🦖 🦕 
I feel so much more relaxed for letting go of formal work! (Let’s face it there wasn’t much of it happening anyway...😬) But I was still pressuring myself mentally and it was starting to create power struggles (with my eldest very spirited child!) When you start doing things that you and the children are motivated to do it takes the pressure off everyone. And the miracle is that’s when the real learning happens! 🌟 
My son has even written about his fossil collection - a change from tearing my hair out to get him to write! The kids have played more independently too, as I’ve ‘left them to it’ more. Plus - the house is even starting to look just a little bit cleaner! 🧹

So if home school is just not happening anymore, I’d recommend doing an Elsa and just ‘Let it Goooo’. Swap it for ‘life school’ and I guarantee the kids will be learning equally valuable lessons. 💡Just do what works for your family. ❤️ Are you still home schooling? Do you feel like you’re trying to ‘do it all’? Or have you embraced a more flexible approach?

I’d love to hear any ideas you have that we could try? My kids love dinosaurs and creative things. Plus I’m trying to encourage independent playing and helping in the house, so all ideas welcome! 💡
Sleeping with her babies. 👶🏻👶🏾❤️
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I’ve been listening to black voices over the last few days. Thinking about the BLM movement and ways I can do more. I wasn’t sure whether to share, but I’ve learned it’s better to speak than to say nothing.
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I’ve always thought of myself as someone who embraces diversity. I’ve travelled, met and befriended people of all colours, nationalities and religions. As a teacher I’ve valued each child’s individuality, as well as seeing them all as equals. I try to encourage my children to be kind to all others.
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But I realise this is NOT enough. I need to do more. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last week it’s that - we have to take ACTION against racism. It’s not enough to just ‘not be racist’, we have to be ANTI racist to make a change.
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So what action do I commit to do?
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•Listen - keep listening to black people’s stories and struggles.
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•Educate - myself and my children further. Read books that spark CONVERSATIONS with my children and others. Keep learning and keep trying to do better.
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•Amplify - promote black voices, especially those in the fields of education and children.
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If you’re a mama or a teacher and wondering how you can take ACTION against racism, I’d really recommend taking a look at @readlikearockstar and @apron_education - they have some brilliant resources to share with your kids. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Do you talk about racism with your kids? How are you taking action against racism?
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