Soapy sea foam sensory bin for kids. A fun and easy sensory activity for toddlers and preschoolers to try this summer.
Check out this Ocean Theme Preschool Lesson Plan, Sea Creatures Galore! Download 6 FREE Ocean Theme Worksheets for Preschool!
Kristina, from Toddler Approved, created this fun shark game to go along with an ocean theme they were working on. Her kids are 6, 3, and 1 and she was able to easily modify it to work with all thr…
Easy Ocean Life Sensory Bag for toddlers and preschoolers, Your kids will love Mess-Free ocean themed sensory activities, Fun Hands On Activities for an Ocean Theme and this ocean sensory bag is perfect for Ocean Science Table Ideas and Under the Sea Activities
As part of our Oceans of Summer Fun theme, we made a Handprint Crabs Preschool Craft. They turned out super cute!Before creating handprint crabs we read Clumsy Crab. It’s always a favorite! I found this handprint
When the temperature rises, nothing sounds better than a trip to the beach! To bring the ocean indoors, cool off with this amazing Ocean Process Art activity.
Rescue the Sea Creatures is a fine motor toddler or preschooler activity. Let your little one free whales and starfish using their fingers or scissors!
Looking for ocean themed activities for preschoolers? Look no further, here are 50 activities you and your preschooler will both enjoy!
Explore the ocean with this fun list of ocean crafts for kids. There are ideas for sharks, jellyfish, whales, fish, and more, that kids will love to make.
This week we are hosting Ocean Week! Ocean Week will feature five days of playful learning activities for kids ages 1-6. Each day we will be sharing an ocean themed activity along with a few
Create some fun colorful jellyfish kid crafts for some beach fun. There are lots of different mediums and ways to create some bright ocean fun.
Grab your copy of these Sea Animal Playdough Mats and include them in your list of summer activities for kids. A free printable for kids
Ocean crafts for toddlers are a great way to get your kids interested in the ocean and its creatures. These ocean crafts for toddlers can be made by the little ones as they learn some basic skills while having fun. The best part about these craft ideas is that they are easy to do, and don't require much effort from you.
Check out these Free Preschool Beach Printables and Activities! Build fine motor skills with a fun beach theme!
Get your toddler or preschooler ready to have lots of fun exploring this adorable Ocean Sensory Bin! Ocean activities are great for summer themes and
Put together a simple toddler jellyfish art activity with a few simple materials. A fun addition to the ocean theme!
Laura @inspiremyplay Founder of @inspiremyplay, Early Years teacher for 11 years and mummy to three gorgeous girls. I'm passionate about about the benefits of play in early childhood. This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and go on to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Please read my disclosure policy for more details. Ocean themed activities seem to be a big hit in our house! I realised the other day just how many ocean and beach themed activities I've shared on Instagram over the past 18 months and thought it would be great to collate them all in one place to share with you. Many are sensory play based, with a few STEM activities and art & craft thrown in too. I hope you find some inspiration! Spaghetti Ocean We love a bit of spaghetti play! It's such a fun sensory experience and makes a brilliant ocean/seaweed base to play alongside ocean animals. To make coloured spaghetti cook it according to the packet instructions (or use leftover spaghetti). Add a few drops of food colouring and use tongs to toss the spaghetti in the food colouring. Once it has soaked for a few minutes, remove any excess food colouring by rinsing it under water. To make this ocean I divided the spaghetti into two and coloured one half green and one half blue. Ocean & Beach Clean-up Explore the problem of ocean pollution with kids in a hands-on way! I allowed the girls to have fun playing with a lovely clean beach before I sent them away for a few minutes and added the rubbish. They were shocked and saddened by the mess! It was a really powerful way to highlight the issue. The girls then used their fine motor tools to remove the rubbish and restore the beach. Sticky Fish We love the possibilities of sticky back plastic (otherwise known as contact paper)! For this activity cut out a fish shape from cardboard and add a piece of sticky back plastic to the back so that the sticky side is facing upwards. Draw lines over the fish and provide pom-poms or other craft materials to decorate. This activity is great for fine motor skills and can be used many times over as the pom-poms come off easily and can be re-stuck. Jelly Ocean Jelly is a great sensory play option for little ones who are still mouthing. I found this blue jelly in the supermarket, but if you can't find some you could use a packet of gelatine with some blue food colouring. Add the sea creatures before leaving the jelly to set. Then provide spoons and other tools so that the kids can enjoy digging them out and 'rescuing them' from the jelly. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura | Inspire My Play ® (@inspiremyplay) Under the Sea Salt Painting We love salt painting! It is such a fun and effective art technique that just uses salt, glue and watercolours. You can learn about the whole process on this Instagram post. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura | Inspire My Play ® (@inspiremyplay) Shaving Foam Ocean I made this Arctic Ocean using shaving foam with a few drops of food colouring swirled in. To make the ice I used freezer frost! But if you're better than me at keeping your freezer in check you could use blocks of ice frozen in packaging or bits of polystyrene. Layers of the Ocean This liquid density activity is a brilliant way of exploring the layers or 'zones' of the ocean and uses everyday liquids that you should be able to find at home. Find out all the details on this Instagram post. Rock Pool Play Tray We may not be able to go to the beach at the moment but you can bring the beach to the kids by creating your very own rock pool! Set it up in a large tray or tub so they can get their feet in and get the whole experience! Salt Water Habitat Sort Explore where different sealife come from with this mini habitat sort. I chose a coral reef, open ocean, rockpool, polar ocean and mangrove for my habitats. The girls sorted the sealife into the right habitat and we discussed a few that you might find in different places. Then they had a lovely time playing with the small worlds afterwards. Frozen Aquarium The girls loved rescuing the sealife out of our frozen aquarium on a hot day last summer. I gave them bottles of warm water and tools to chip away at the ice. Find all the details about how I froze it in layers on this Instagram post. Bubble Foam Ocean We love bubble Foam! It's a great enhancement to water play and quick to set up. To make bubble foam put 1 part tear free bubble bath (or washing up liquid) to 2 parts water into a bowl. We usually do 1/2 cup of bubble bath and 1 cup of water at a time. If you'd like to colour your bubble foam add a little food colouring at this stage. Mix it up using an electric hand mixer until you start to get stiff peaks and then scoop it out into a tray for play. We usually make 3 or 4 batches of different colours to fill a tray. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura | Inspire My Play ® (@inspiremyplay) Get your FREE ebook For more simple DIY recipes & ideas for sensory play at home download your Beginner's Guide to Sensory Play by subscribing to Inspire My Play today. Get Yours Now Fizzy Ocean Have you tried mixing bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) with vinegar before? It makes an exciting fizzy reaction that little ones just love! To make a fizzy ocean lay out a thin layer of bicarbonate of soda onto a tray and add in some sealife figures and shells. Then fill a couple of dishes with white vinegar and add a few drops of colouring to make one blue and one green-blue. Provide pipettes or droppers for children to transfer the vinegar to the play tray. As they squeeze it into the tray it will react with the bicarbonate of soda and create a fantastic fizzy, foamy ocean. Once the girls had finished creating their ocean I then provided them with a bowl of water and they had fun cleaning up the animals. Sand Play Dough This may be slightly off the ocean theme but sand play dough is great stuff and I had to share it! Sand play dough has a really unique texture to it and perfect for at-home beach play. Add some shells and loose parts for them to make their own pictures in the dough. You can find my sand play dough recipe on this blog post. For more beach and ocean themed activities do check out my pinterest topic board here. You can find a full list of our favourite play & craft supplies on my Amazon storefronts. Amazon UK Supplies Amazon US Supplies
Host an Ocean Themed Playdate for your kids and their friends. We're sharing 4 simple ideas that you can do at your next playdate including this watercolor seashell craft. Fun and easy hands on ideas all about the ocean.
Starfish or sea stars are our favorite shapely invertebrates from the ocean and today we are sharing how to make one using paper, buttons, and...
This post shares 12 hands-on, play-based, ocean-themed learning activities, preschool learning journal activities, & book/puzzle recommendations. The learning activities include an invitation to play with play doh based on the popular book "Rainbow Fish," a few sensory play ideas, fine
An ocean themed playdough invitation to play is the perfect way to introduce preschoolers to an ocean theme. Try this 2-ingredient playdough recipe.
Not only is our Paper Plate Painting Pufferfish Craft adorable, but we achieved the spiky pufferfish effect with a fun cardboard roll stamping technique.
These ocean dot marker pages are perfect for an ocean or sea theme. They are one of the easiest low prep activities to set up for little ones!
Shell painting is a must during your next ocean theme! Let the kids go wild and create colorful masterpieces with the shells they collect.
These free cute sea animal do a dot printables are a fun, no-prep activity for toddlers + preschoolers.
Rescue the Sea Creatures is a fine motor toddler or preschooler activity. Let your little one free whales and starfish using their fingers or scissors!
Jellyfish toddler craft activity: Perfect for an ocean or water theme! Toddlers will love this activity!
Sea turtle activities for toddlers are a great way to introduce them to many things. Sea turtle activities are a great way to introduce your toddler to ocean life.
Aren't coral reefs beautiful? I love all the vibrant colors that seamlessly blend together. They create a gorgeous ecosystem. This easy coral reef art project allows students to make their own stunning coral reefs with just a little paint and some sponges! Materials light blue construction paperacrylic paint in various bright colorsspongespermanent black markerscissorspaper plates
Gracen and I are lucky enough to have one of her little friends join us for an afternoon of play each Wednesday. They play quite well together, so I put a few things out for them to explore in advance, then step back to let them play, helping communication and sharing happen when needed. We…
Whenever my family hits the beach, we go on a hunt for shells. Kids love looking for and finding these natural beauties and we often end up bringing a bunch home after a trip. I am always looking for ideas to use those shells and came up with this easy art activity for kids. Watercolor Painted Seashells are so easy to make and very eye catching. If you have extra shells, try our Bubbling Shell Craft. Why this activity is awesome My favorite kinds of shells to use for this activity are clamrose shells. They come in a variety of
Create an Ocean in a Bottle with your toddler or preschooler in this fun sensory activity. This is a great activity to do with your little one and one they can play with during quiet time.
Check out my round up of my favorite ocean centers and activities designed for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.
70+ fun ocean and under the sea activities & crafts for kids! Tons of ideas to keep your toddler, preschooler or kindergartner having fun and learning!
Not able to make it to the beach, but want to have fun with your little one? Here is an easy Summer Ocean-Themed Sensory Bin Activity to try.
Laura @inspiremyplay Founder of @inspiremyplay, Early Years teacher for 11 years and mummy to three gorgeous girls. I'm passionate about about the benefits of play in early childhood. This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and go on to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Please read my disclosure policy for more details. Ocean themed activities seem to be a big hit in our house! I realised the other day just how many ocean and beach themed activities I've shared on Instagram over the past 18 months and thought it would be great to collate them all in one place to share with you. Many are sensory play based, with a few STEM activities and art & craft thrown in too. I hope you find some inspiration! Spaghetti Ocean We love a bit of spaghetti play! It's such a fun sensory experience and makes a brilliant ocean/seaweed base to play alongside ocean animals. To make coloured spaghetti cook it according to the packet instructions (or use leftover spaghetti). Add a few drops of food colouring and use tongs to toss the spaghetti in the food colouring. Once it has soaked for a few minutes, remove any excess food colouring by rinsing it under water. To make this ocean I divided the spaghetti into two and coloured one half green and one half blue. Ocean & Beach Clean-up Explore the problem of ocean pollution with kids in a hands-on way! I allowed the girls to have fun playing with a lovely clean beach before I sent them away for a few minutes and added the rubbish. They were shocked and saddened by the mess! It was a really powerful way to highlight the issue. The girls then used their fine motor tools to remove the rubbish and restore the beach. Sticky Fish We love the possibilities of sticky back plastic (otherwise known as contact paper)! For this activity cut out a fish shape from cardboard and add a piece of sticky back plastic to the back so that the sticky side is facing upwards. Draw lines over the fish and provide pom-poms or other craft materials to decorate. This activity is great for fine motor skills and can be used many times over as the pom-poms come off easily and can be re-stuck. Jelly Ocean Jelly is a great sensory play option for little ones who are still mouthing. I found this blue jelly in the supermarket, but if you can't find some you could use a packet of gelatine with some blue food colouring. Add the sea creatures before leaving the jelly to set. Then provide spoons and other tools so that the kids can enjoy digging them out and 'rescuing them' from the jelly. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura | Inspire My Play ® (@inspiremyplay) Under the Sea Salt Painting We love salt painting! It is such a fun and effective art technique that just uses salt, glue and watercolours. You can learn about the whole process on this Instagram post. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura | Inspire My Play ® (@inspiremyplay) Shaving Foam Ocean I made this Arctic Ocean using shaving foam with a few drops of food colouring swirled in. To make the ice I used freezer frost! But if you're better than me at keeping your freezer in check you could use blocks of ice frozen in packaging or bits of polystyrene. Layers of the Ocean This liquid density activity is a brilliant way of exploring the layers or 'zones' of the ocean and uses everyday liquids that you should be able to find at home. Find out all the details on this Instagram post. Rock Pool Play Tray We may not be able to go to the beach at the moment but you can bring the beach to the kids by creating your very own rock pool! Set it up in a large tray or tub so they can get their feet in and get the whole experience! Salt Water Habitat Sort Explore where different sealife come from with this mini habitat sort. I chose a coral reef, open ocean, rockpool, polar ocean and mangrove for my habitats. The girls sorted the sealife into the right habitat and we discussed a few that you might find in different places. Then they had a lovely time playing with the small worlds afterwards. Frozen Aquarium The girls loved rescuing the sealife out of our frozen aquarium on a hot day last summer. I gave them bottles of warm water and tools to chip away at the ice. Find all the details about how I froze it in layers on this Instagram post. Bubble Foam Ocean We love bubble Foam! It's a great enhancement to water play and quick to set up. To make bubble foam put 1 part tear free bubble bath (or washing up liquid) to 2 parts water into a bowl. We usually do 1/2 cup of bubble bath and 1 cup of water at a time. If you'd like to colour your bubble foam add a little food colouring at this stage. Mix it up using an electric hand mixer until you start to get stiff peaks and then scoop it out into a tray for play. We usually make 3 or 4 batches of different colours to fill a tray. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura | Inspire My Play ® (@inspiremyplay) Get your FREE ebook For more simple DIY recipes & ideas for sensory play at home download your Beginner's Guide to Sensory Play by subscribing to Inspire My Play today. Get Yours Now Fizzy Ocean Have you tried mixing bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) with vinegar before? It makes an exciting fizzy reaction that little ones just love! To make a fizzy ocean lay out a thin layer of bicarbonate of soda onto a tray and add in some sealife figures and shells. Then fill a couple of dishes with white vinegar and add a few drops of colouring to make one blue and one green-blue. Provide pipettes or droppers for children to transfer the vinegar to the play tray. As they squeeze it into the tray it will react with the bicarbonate of soda and create a fantastic fizzy, foamy ocean. Once the girls had finished creating their ocean I then provided them with a bowl of water and they had fun cleaning up the animals. Sand Play Dough This may be slightly off the ocean theme but sand play dough is great stuff and I had to share it! Sand play dough has a really unique texture to it and perfect for at-home beach play. Add some shells and loose parts for them to make their own pictures in the dough. You can find my sand play dough recipe on this blog post. For more beach and ocean themed activities do check out my pinterest topic board here. You can find a full list of our favourite play & craft supplies on my Amazon storefronts. Amazon UK Supplies Amazon US Supplies
Here is a list of 50+ creative and easy pom pom activities and crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. From sensory and learning activities to arts and crafts!
This cute shark color sorting game is a great way to combine learning and fun with your toddler or preschooler at home.
Create cute turtle craft using cotton pads and coloured water. This turtle craft is a fun activity that you can do anytime of the year.
This sweet little paper plate killer whale is so simple and easy to make - perfect for some under the sea themed crafting!
Jellyfish Counting! Thread beads around the jellyfish to practice counting and fine motor skills with this fun ocean learning printable for preschool learning! **This is a digital download** **No physical item will be delivered** Design is copyrighted by PlaefulPrintables. Learning made fun with our premium preschool printables!
It’s time for The Kids Craft Stars monthly craft challenge! Every month we have a challenge between a few blogger friends and I, to in-cooperate a different craft medium or technique into a simple kid craft. This month’s
Starfish or sea stars are our favorite shapely invertebrates from the ocean and today we are sharing how to make one using paper, buttons, and...
Host an Ocean Themed Playdate for your kids and their friends. We're sharing 4 simple ideas that you can do at your next playdate including this watercolor seashell craft. Fun and easy hands on ideas all about the ocean.
This week we are hosting Ocean Week! Ocean Week will feature five days of playful learning activities for kids ages 1-6. Each day we will be sharing an ocean themed activity along with a few
Explore the ocean with this fun list of ocean kid crafts. There are sharks, jellyfish, whales, fish, and more. Kids will love to make ocean creations.
These Handprint Fish Crafts are one that your child is going to love. You can also use this fish craft for a preschool fish theme, an ocean theme, under the sea craft or Letter F week. There are so many fun ways to incorporate this fish handprint craft into your plans. Fish crafts for preschool
Earth Day Ocean Clean Up is a fun & easy sorting sensory bin to help your little one learn about the importance of keeping our oceans clean!
