25 Ocean Crafts For Toddlers

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The ocean is a mighty and wondrous world. Brimming with fascinating creatures and mysteries, it’s a majestic place that sparks the imagination of children and adults alike.

For toddlers, who are naturally curious and eager to explore, ocean-themed crafts can be a fantastic way to appreciate, understand, and learn about this incredible part of our planet while sparking creativity and honing their fine motor skills.

So, let’s dive into a sea of fun with these 25 engaging ocean crafts that are perfect for little hands and provide hours of enjoyment!

25 Amazing Ocean Crafts For Toddlers

1. Jellyfish Suncatchers

Kids can create colourful jellyfish that look beautiful when the sunlight shines through them using coffee filters, contact papers, and streamers.

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2. Seashell Painting

Collect some seashells and let your children paint them with bright colours or decorate them with various patterns. It’s a good sensory activity for toddler groups!

3. Paper Plate Fish

A simple paper plate transforms into a vibrant fish with just a few cuts and some paint. Add a googly eye for extra fun!

4. Sandpaper Starfish

Cut starfish shapes from sandpaper and colour them with crayons for a textured look. Some glitter will also do!

5. Handprint Crabs

Paint your toddler’s hand red and press it onto paper to make crab bodies, then add cute large eyes and legs.

6. Ocean in a Bottle

Fill a clear bottle with water, a little bit of oil, some blue food colouring, and ocean-themed trinkets. It’s mesmerising to watch the items float and sink.

7. Clothespin Sharks

Paint clothespins grey and add teeth and eyes to make sharks that can “chomp” on things.

8. Treasure Chest

Decorate a small shoebox to look like a treasure chest and put in your “treasures”. It could be some coloured beads or gems for the toddler to sort by colour or size.

9. Bubble Wrap Octopus

Use bubble wrap as a stamp to create an octopus with eight tentacles. Use it to help teach your kids counting in a fun way.

10. Fishbowl Collage

Glue blue cellophane or marble paper onto a bowl-shaped cutout, then add some colourful fish stickers or cutouts to create a fishbowl scene.

11. Clay Sea Turtles

Mould and decorate turtles using air-dry clay, then paint them once dry. You can also use playdoughs to make other sea creatures! 

12. Seaweed Ribbons

Hang green streamers or ribbons from a doorway to create a seaweed forest that your little one can walk through and explore.

13. Sponge Boat Racing

Cut sponges into boat shapes, add sails with papers and popsicle sticks, and race them in a tub of water! It’s a perfect craft for those summer kiddie pool parties.

14. Egg Carton Whales

Transform boring egg cartons into adorable whales! Just cut out the individual cups from a carton, paint them ocean blue, and add fins and a face.

15. Coral Reef Painting

Use celery stalks as stamps to paint a coral reef scene.

16. Paper Roll Binoculars

Reuse empty paper rolls by decorating them with ocean-themed stickers or drawings. Connect two rolls with string to make binoculars for pretend ocean exploration.

17. Ocean Animal Masks

Cut out masks from paper plates and let toddlers decorate them as their favourite ocean animals. Add elastic strings to secure them – and that’s a day’s worth of fun right there.

18. Ocean Slime

Mix clear glue, water, and liquid starch, then add some blue food colouring and ocean-themed glitter or confetti for a squishy, stretchy ocean slime.

19. Seashell Wind Chimes

Thread strings through seashells and tie them to a hoop or stick. Hang them outdoors to create beautiful wind chimes that capture the effect of the ocean breeze.

20. Foil Fish Collage

Cut out fish shapes from aluminium foil and glue them onto paper. Let your young ones decorate their foil fish with beads, glitters, or sequins, beads for a sparkly finish.

21. Cupcake Liner Jellyfish

Make some cute jellyfish using cupcake liners. Stick colourful streamers or yarn for tentacles and let your toddlers unleash their imagination with stickers or markers!

22. Mermaid Tails

Create mermaid tails with cardboard and foil, then decorate them with markers and stickers.

23. Seashell Jewelry

Transform seashells into wearables by stringing them onto elastic cords or embroidery floss. Feel free to use acrylic paint or glitter before turning them into bracelets or necklaces.

24. Marine Paper Bag Puppets

Decorate paper bags with colourful markers, googly eyes, and pieces of craft paper to make them look like sea creatures such as sharks, whales, or clownfish. After they dry, toddlers can use these bags to make up stories and play pretend games about the ocean!

25. Sandcastle Building

Head outdoors or to a sandbox and let toddlers build their sandcastles using buckets, shovels, and moulds. Encourage them to decorate their creations with seashells, seaweed, and small toys.

These 25 ocean crafts are fun and educational, providing a playful way for your toddlers to learn about the sea and its inhabitants.

Let your little one pick from this list, and watch their creativity fly like a seagull over the sea. Crafting is a wonderful parent-child bonding activity after all, and these projects are sure to spark joy.