Summer brings warm sun, sandy toes, and plenty of time for fun indoor activities. Making “Beachy Wheels: Paper Plate Cars with Surfboards” gives kids a perfect creative outlet.
This simple beach car craft uses basic supplies like large paper plates and bright craft paint. It offers an easy way to bring the beach right to your kitchen table or classroom.
Let’s dive into this colorful surfboard car project that parents, teachers, and young craft enthusiasts will absolutely love.
Craft Supplies:
Gather these simple supplies before you start crafting:
- Large paper plates (the cheap, uncoated white ones work best for holding paint)
- Craft paint in vibrant, summery colors
- Paintbrushes
- Scissors
- Glue stick or double-sided tape
- Construction paper (black or dark grey for wheels, white for windows)
- Our surfboard printable – on box.com password is GLUEDTOMYCRAFTS2026
- Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
Directions:
- Take a large paper plate and cut it straight down the middle. One half will form the main body of your vintage beach cruiser. You can set the other half aside to make a second car later.
- Grab your craft paint and let the kids go wild. Coat the rounded side of the paper plate half in a bright color like hot pink, sunny yellow, or ocean blue. Set the painted plate aside to dry completely.
- While the paint dries, cut two circles from your dark construction paper to make the tires. Next, cut a small square or rectangle from the white paper to act as the car window.
- Print out the surfboard template. Hand over the markers and let the kids decorate their boards. They can draw stripes, polka dots, or bright neon patterns. Once they finish coloring, carefully cut out the surfboard shape.
- Once the paint feels dry to the touch, glue the wheels along the flat bottom edge of the paper plate. Stick the white window near the top curve of the plate. Finally, attach the decorated surfboard to the very top edge of the car so it looks strapped to the roof.
- Add any other embellishments you like and let it dry completely before displaying your paper plate beach cars proudly for all to see!
RELATED —> Paper Plate Surfboard Craft
Once the cheerful paper plate cars are finished, it’s time to show them off. In a classroom, you can pin them to a bulletin board with a background of hand-drawn waves. At home, punch a small hole in the top of each car and string them along a piece of yarn to create a festive summer garland.
You can also simply display them on the refrigerator to celebrate the sunny season. Whatever you choose to do, I hope you have fun recreating it with your little ones! Happy crafting, my friends!
