Looking for ocean themed learning activities, art projects, and crafts for kids? Here’s over 10 of our favorites, including ocean slime, a free beach scavenger hunt printable, and fine motor octopus craft!
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Kids are naturally drawn to learning about the ocean and all the life it contains. (To be honest, even I am amazed at all the interesting sea creatures out there!) We are fortunate enough to live near the beach and by a world-renowned aquarium so we have tons of resources right at our fingertips for exploring the ocean. But, even if you don’t live right near the coast, there’s all kinds of fun ways to build off children’s interest in the sea!
10+ Ocean Activities and Crafts for Kids
1. I love putting together book sets on current topics the kids are showing an interest in. Here’s some great children’s books about sea life. I’ve organized the list by sea animal and included both fiction and nonfiction selections!
2. We added some sensory play into our ocean learning with some ocean slime! The kids loved exploring the ooey gooey texture!
3. We continued our sensory play with our rocky shore small world! The kids used sea creatures and our ocean playdough for all kinds of imaginative play!
4. My three year old has been fascinated with all things octopus so I created this simple fine motor octopus craft for him using a paper plate and pipe cleaners!
5. Here’s an ocean themed art project that’s really hands-on. We used a super fun art technique to make these ocean scenes!
6. The gorgeous summer weather inspired us to take our learning outdoors. Here’s a fun math game for kids using numbered foam fish!
7. This ocean themed art project is perfect for older children. It’s a fun way to explore resist art using india ink and tempera paints!
8. Kids will love creating this tide pool art! After learning about sea life in tide pools, we created our own tide pools using colored pencils and real sand!
9. We made this paper fish craft to decorate for my daughter’s fish themed birthday party, but it’d also be perfect for decorating your home or classroom during an ocean theme! (This craft is aimed towards children in about first grade and up.)
10. Create your own beach at home with our beach themed sensory box! The kids loved searching for sea glass and creating with the sand!
11. If you do happen to make it to the beach, be sure to print out and bring our free beach scavenger hunt!
12. Learn about high tide and low tide with this tide pool science demonstration. It can even be used as a fun sensory box when you are done!
Be sure not to miss these other fun summer activities for kids on Buggy and Buddy:
- Outdoor “Sketching” Scavenger Hunt (Free Printable)
- Fine Motor Sun Craft
- Our Favorite Children’s Books for Summer