The Earth’s surface is made up of 71% water! Even if your students don’t live near an ocean, they must learn about the lively underwater world. How can you teach your preschoolers about marine life so that they can gauge what life under the sea is like?
To help them learn about the ocean, we’ve provided you with 47 hands-on sea life activities; from sensory tables to math and science experiments, there’s certainly an idea for everyone. So, educators- dive right into these marine-inspired activities and take your students on an underwater adventure!
1. Sensory Bins
Mix baking soda and vinegar to create fizzy “ocean water” and invite your kids to explore marine life at their water table! Add seashells and sea creature toys for sensory play and to enhance their knowledge of ocean animals and scientific reactions.
Learn More: Parenting Chaos
2. Ocean Sensory Bottle
Create mesmerizing ocean scenes in bottles with your kids using just a few simple materials. Once they’ve added everything to the bottle, they’ll shake to mix, and then watch the colorful ‘waves’ crash and lap at the sides of the bottle. This is a great calming activity with an engaging, take-anywhere result.
Learn More: And Next Comes L
3. Sea Animal Yoga
Discover how yoga can help your children swim through life with smiles by immersing them in an engaging underwater yoga adventure. Here, they’ll join aquatic animals to strengthen, stretch, and relax.
Learn More: YouTube
4. Underwater Sounds
In this activity, your kids can explore how sound travels through the water with a simple experiment. They’ll submerge objects in a bucket of water and listen through a makeshift, underwater hydrophone. As a result, they’ll discover that sound is louder and clearer underwater- while also learning how whales and fish hear in their aquatic world.
Learn More: Still Playing School
5. Oil Spills
We love this engaging, hands-on learning experience that has real-world implications. Engage your kids in an exciting science investigation of oil spills and their disastrous effects before then inviting them to experiment with ways to contain and clean up the spill using common materials.
Learn More: Science Sparks
6. Process Art
Grab blue paint, tissue paper, glue, and sand, and let your students imagine they’re at the beach with this process art piece. They’ll love crumpling tissue paper to create waves and adding sand and starfish to round off their artwork.
Learn More: Stay-At-Home Educator
7. Foil Fish
Here’s a fun way to spend the afternoon- invite your kiddos to craft sparkling, tropical fish! Task your students with cutting and shaping foil in the shape of sea creatures. Then, they’ll add color and texture before gluing everything onto blue construction paper. This engaging craft is easy, recyclable, and perfect for little hands.
Learn More: Confessions of a Homeschooler
8. Rescuing Frozen Sea Animals
This easy ocean-themed activity takes 30 seconds to set up and leads to 30 minutes of sensory and scientific fun for your little ones. Freeze a few plastic sea creatures in a bin and have your kids rescue them from the frozen blocks by chipping and melting the ice away with different tools.
Learn More: Mas and Pas
9. Animal Nomenclature Cards
Using animal nomenclature cards is one of the best tools for teaching your students about sea life. This hands-on, Montessori approach will allow them to see pictures and names and match the cards accordingly; learning word recognition and boosting their knowledge of marine life!
Learn More: Twinkl
10. Sticky Fish
A fun, open-ended craft to explore textures and colors; this activity invites your children to create colorful, sticky fish! You’ll start by cutting cardstock fish and mounting them on contact paper. Your kids will then add tissue paper, foil, and gems. Once complete, you can display their artwork in a window or leave them up for another sticky wall activity.
Learn More: Toddler Approved
11. Layers of the Ocean
Create an engaging ocean zone jar to teach your kids about ocean layers and density. To do so, they’ll create colorful layers that represent the ocean’s zones and explore the fantastic creatures that inhabit each one.
Learn More: PBS
12. Ocean Animal Matching
Here’s a fun activity that pairs with the picture book, “I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean.” After reading, your little ones can compare the sizes of sea creatures and order the picture cards from smallest to biggest. They can also use the ocean matching cards to play a memory game!
Learn More: Rainy Day, Mum
13. Sea Shell Prints
In this fossil activity, your preschoolers can create lasting keepsakes with seashells that they’ve found on the beach. Start by making salt dough with your students. Then, have them choose seashells or plastic sea animals to lightly press into the dough; making unique fossil imprints by doing so. Finally, bake the dough to harden it and capture the memory of collecting by the seashore.
Learn More: The Imagination Tree
14. Coffee Filter Suncatchers
Turn coffee filters into sea animals with this colorful craft! Your preschoolers will choose the outline of sea turtles, starfish, or shells that you would’ve pre-cut from construction paper. Then, they’ll color them in with markers and attach them to the back of the outline. Once assembled, they can be displayed in the sunny windows of your classroom.
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15. Coral Reef Sponge Painting
Here’s an exciting project that brings to life the vibrant colors of coral reefs. This easy art project allows your students to make colorful underwater scenes with just sponges, cardstock, and paint!
Learn More: Primary Theme Park
16. Dolphin Ocean Slime
Create magical ocean slime with your kids! Mix clear and blue glues, water, liquid starch, and food coloring for a sparkly sensory adventure. Then, have them add ocean animal figurines for an immersive ocean experience that won’t be soon forgotten.
Learn More: The Frugal Navy Wife
17. Seashell Washing
Engage your children in discovery as you clean beautiful seashells together; observing shapes and colors. Keep them engaged by researching the mysterious creatures that once inhabited the various shells.
Learn More: Bright Horizons
18. Sea Foam Sensory Play
Those empty bins come in handy when it’s time for your preschoolers to have some sensory play time! Whipped sea foam can be made by mixing soap and water until peaks form! Your kids will love experiencing the bubbly texture and watching as the magical foam melts away as they play.
Learn More: FunShine Blog
19. Seashell Sort
This hands-on activity will teach your learners to classify different seashells by way of size, shape, and color. You can even complete this activity by using a few plastic sea creatures!
Learn More: Sempre Clarisse
20. Tide Pool Art
Your kiddos will love making simple tide pool art and adding natural sand will provide some sensory fun! Perfect for ocean units; this craft invites your little ones to observe sea life by drawing and painting it and then gluing sand around the border to complete their coastal-themed art.
Learn More: Buggy and Buddy
21. Octopus Counting
This numbered sea creature will help your students develop their number sense abilities! They’ll simply assemble an octopus by cutting and gluing tentacles onto a piece of paper displaying a pre-drawn octopus head. Then, they’ll practice counting by labeling and numbering the tentacles and adding the corresponding number of stickers to each.
Learn More: All Kids Network
22. Fish Breathing Simulator
Here’s a science lesson that will excite your students by bringing an underwater concept out of the blue and making it easy to understand! Let them discover how fish breathe by pouring “oxygen”-filled water through a filter; simulating how actual fish gills extract oxygen from water.
Learn More: Como Zoo Conservatory
23. Dissolve A Shell
This engaging summer activity invites your kids to dissolve seashells in vinegar; visually demonstrating how acid affects calcium carbonate. They’ll love watching the shells dissolve, and bubbles form in this hands-on chemistry lesson that sneakily educates them on ocean conservation.
Learn More: Tinas Dynamic Homeschool Plus
24. Coral Blow Painting
Introduce your preschoolers to an exciting new art technique—blow painting! They can create colorful coral reefs and seal animal habitats with straws, paint, and paper. This fun sensory activity invites them to explore their creative limits by experimenting with angles, colors, and different blowing techniques.
Learn More: Trusted Tech Experts
25. Dive into Ocean Playdough Adventures
Stir up your students’ imaginations with vibrant, ocean-hued playdough! They can even sprinkle in a dash of magic with glitter to capture the ocean’s shimmer and toss in some mini sea critters to sculpt their own underwater realm.
Learn More: Buggy And Buddy
26. The Wonders of Marine Life Collage
Guide your little ones in piecing together an ocean-like collage! Using magazines, newspapers, stickers, and other bits and bobs- they can build an underwater masterpiece. In the end, have them share fascinating facts about each creature that they’ve chosen to include.
Learn More: Kimberly Farmer Mommyhood
27. Lighthouse Wonders
Here’s a fun tutorial on how to draw a lighthouse! See how closely your little ones can follow the instructions as they fashion their beacons of safety. Afterward, you can illuminate the importance of lighthouses by explaining the pivotal role they play for seafarers.
Learn More: YouTube
28. Sail the Story Seas
Immerse your little listeners in tales of underwater wonders. Choose from captivating tales like “The Rainbow Fish” or “Commotion in the Ocean”, and set sail on a literary adventure. After your reading session, you can have your kiddos replicate the rainbow fish with paper plates and tissue paper.
Learn More: Fun With Mama
29. Seashell Symphony
Let the gentle sounds of the ocean echo in your classroom by turning seashells into delightful musical instruments. Filled with dried beans or rice and sealed securely, these shakers will have your little learners’ hands making waves of rhythm.
Learn More: Seashell Music
30. Jellyfish Jubilee
With a few simple materials like paper bowls and colorful tissue paper, you can turn your classroom into an underwater world! Once your students assemble these jellyfish, they can hang and twirl freely from any spot in your room.
Learn More: First Palette
31. Turtle Paper Plate
With this project, your kids will transform paper plates into charming sea turtles! After a splash of green paint, and with heads, tails, and flippers added, they’ll have an array of oceanic friends who are ready for any adventure.
Learn More: Parenting Chaos
32. Treats from the Deep Blue
Your preschoolers will be even more excited for snack time when it’s a voyage into the deep blue sea!! Serve up enticing blue jelly, reminiscent of ocean waves, that’s been peppered with gummy fish, or perhaps sandwiches that have taken the playful form of our finned friends.
Learn More: Food Network
33. Starfish Impressions with Bubble Wrap
Here’s an art project that is the epitome of tactile fun! Your students will use bubble wrap as their painting tool to impart textured prints onto starfish cutouts.
Learn More: YouTube
34. Tracing Tales in Sand
Etch out a sensory-rich learning experience with a sand writing tray. Let your kiddos’ tiny fingers trace letters and numbers into the sand- a tactile practice that’s sure to make writing more enjoyable.
Learn More: Learn With Play At Home
35. Counting Treasures from the Deep
In this hands-on activity, number mats are used to count objects like seashells and marine toys. Included are printouts of numbers represented numerically, in words, and arrays that your littles can also sort onto the correct mat. These counting exercises will certainly ignite their number sense with every sea creature they tally.
Learn More: Fantastic Fun and Learning
36. Melodies from the Ocean’s Depths
Entertain your little ones with the rhythm of the sea! Introduce them to enchanting songs and rhymes like “A Sailor Went to Sea” and “Down by the Bay”.
Learn More: YouTube
37. Puzzle Pieces of the Ocean
Puzzles can be a great team-building activity, and these ocean-themed puzzles are no exception! Be it ones you’ve created or bought, watch as your little explorers enhance their problem-solving and motor skills by piecing together the marine world with their classmates.
Learn More: Amazon
38. Feed The Shark
Liven up your learners’ day by having them feed this hungry shark! To set up play, you’ll need to craft a cardboard shark that has a wide open mouth, and then grab some plastic balls. Challenge them to feed the shark and practice their listening skills as you call out a color and let them feed that color of ball to the shark.
Learn More: Teachers Mag
39. Seashell Canvas
Let your young artists express themselves on an array of seashell treasures. With watercolors or tempera paint, watch as they turn each shell into a unique masterpiece.
Learn More: YouTube
40. Ocean Magic in a Bag
Create a portable slice of the sea! Fill a ziplock with blue gel, add mini marine creatures, and let your little ones be absorbed in this tactile ocean toy; exploring without getting wet.
Learn More: Natural Beach Living
41. Crafting a Coral Kingdom
Here’s a great art project with little to no mess! Using vibrant clay, pipe cleaners, and various craft supplies, guide your kiddos in sculpting their very own intricate coral reef; celebrating the beauty of marine biodiversity as they work.
Learn More: YouTube
42. Marine Puppetry by Moonlight
These marine puppet printouts are the perfect addition to your classroom playbox! Task your kids with pasting these shadow puppets to some craft sticks. Then, with the lights off, they’ll shine a flashlight spotlight onto the puppet and project it onto a blank wall. We bet that they’ll be enchanted by the imagery and quickly weave undersea tales with their theatrical play tools!
Learn More: Adventure In A Box
43. Layered Ocean Vistas
Color, texture, and a pinch of creativity! Supply your kids with colored sand and transparent containers- letting their artistic inclinations shine as they lay oceanic landscapes!
Learn More: Amazon
44. Sequin-studded Seahorses
Time for some shimmering marine craft! Hand out seahorse shapes cut from cardstock and task your little artists with outlining the body with glue. Then, they’ll need to remove the cutout and add yarn on top of the glue. Finally, they’ll embellish the center of the seahorse with sequins, sparkles, or sand and add a vibrant marine background to make their images come to life!
Learn More: Craft Project Ideas
45. Marine Mimicry with Charades
Your playful little ones will certainly get a kick out of playing ocean charades! Simply have them pick cards and emulate the graceful dance of a jellyfish or the spirited antics of a dolphin.
Learn More: Darcy and Brian
46. Lush Seaweed Canvases
Here, your little ones will produce a seabed in this larger-than-life art project! With green paint and strands of string or yarn attached to a stick, they’ll replicate graceful seaweed by standing on large butcher paper and gracefully applying paint to their canvas seabed.
Learn More: Learn Play Imagine
47. Stamping the Ocean’s Wonders
Your early learners will adore using these sea life stamps for their next art project. They’ll certainly have fun picking their favorite marine creatures and then using a palette of colorful paints to produce vibrant underwater scenes that are teeming with life.
Learn More: Amazon
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