preschool ocean science experiments

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25 Best Ocean Activities, Experiments and Crafts

Whether planning a visit to the beach or setting up an under-the-sea theme in the classroom, these ocean activities are the perfect opportunity to teach kids about the ocean, including sea animals, with hands-on play! Fun ocean science experiments and ocean crafts to learn, discover, and explore one of the best places on Earth: the beach!

Explore Ocean Theme For Summer Science

Every summer we have the chance to visit the ocean for a couple of weeks. What a wonderful time it is exploring the beaches and the tidal pools. Each year we explore a bit more and learn a bit more.

NOTE: You can do all of the activities below even if you DO NOT live by the ocean or even plan to visit one. These ocean activities are a MUST TRY for anyone who loves the ocean and ocean animals.

Our ocean activities, including ocean science topics, are inspired by our time in the ocean. These ocean activities and ocean crafts for elementary are an opportunity to build simple skills, make observations, and discover changes happening in the ocean. I can’t wait to see what this summer will bring! Explore more summer science here!

There are so many ocean activities to explore!  Check out all our fun ideas below for easy ocean play and learning!

Ocean theme activities also pair well with our Earth Day activities ! Teach kids how to care for our Earth, which includes the oceans and amazing sea animals!

We have many free printable ocean worksheets and activities . Check out the various science and art projects you can download for free today. You’ll also find color-by-number, pattern blocks, and more fun mini-packs!

Watch the Ocean Activities Video!

Quick ocean activities for toddlers to preschoolers.

Make an icy ocean sensory bin that will keep the kiddos engaged as they free sea creatures from the icy, frozen ocean!

Create this sand and aquarium grave ocean sensory bin and grab the free sea creatures coloring book.

Here is an ocean sensory bottle that is fun for young kids to make and explore.

Whip up the best fluffy slime ever for a hands-on ocean slime activity for kids! Decorate with shells and gems or small plastic sea creatures!

Swirling ocean waves of color! Here is another way to make ocean slime .

Explore 3 ways to create your own gorgeous and playful ocean in a bottle .

FREE Printable Ocean Activities Guide!

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Ocean Science Activities

We have divided these fun and easy ocean activities into 3 groups for you; ocean science topics, ocean building activities (learn about sea animals), and ocean crafts. Click on the titles below for the full supply list and step by step instructions for each ocean activity.

Enjoy ocean experiments that will introduce kids to the concepts of coastal erosion, ocean acidification, buoyancy and more!

B each Erosion Lab

Explore what happens to the coast line when a big storm rolls through. Set up a coastal erosion activity to demonstrate the effects of coastal erosion.

How Do Fish Breathe Underwater?

Fish are fun to look at in an aquarium or to try to catch in a lake, but did you know that fish breathe too? Learn more about how fish breathe with this simple model to teach kids how fish gills work.

How Does a Shark Float?

Or why is it that sharks don’t sink in the ocean? Learn about how these great fish coast around through the ocean with this simple ocean science activity.

Check out more awesome shark week activities here .

How Do Squid Swim?

Explore how squid swim or move through the ocean with this fun squid locomotion activity. Learn more about these fascinating sea creatures!

H ow Do Whales Stay Warm?

The ocean can be a chilly place, but there are many mammals who call it home! How do some of our favorite mammals live in such cold conditions? It is to do with something called blubber. Test out how blubber works as an insulator with this blubber experiment.

What are the Layers Of The Ocean ?

Just like the layers of the earth , the ocean is also made up of layers or ocean zones. Explore the layers of the ocean with this cool liquid density experiment.

What are Ocean Currents ?

Learn about ocean currents with a few simple ingredients you can grab from the kitchen. Make this simple ocean currents model and discover what things cause the movement of water in the ocean.

Can You Map the Ocean Floor ?

What does the ocean floor look like? Be inspired by scientist and map builder, Marie Tharp and make your own relief map of the world. Represent the topography or physical features on land and on the ocean floor with easy DIY shaving cream paint.

Ocean Waves In A Bottle

Create an ocean wave bottle as a fun way to demonstrate a little bit about how waves work. Combine learning about the ocean with a visually appealing sensory bottle for fun and playful learning for kids.

Oil Spill Experiment

Explore what things clean up oil and what doesn’t with this easy ocean science experiment. Get kids thinking about why it’s important to keep our oceans clean!

Seashells In Vinegar Experiment

Find out what happens to shells when you add them to vinegar. Learn what seashells are made of and why we need to protect our oceans from ocean acidification!

Ocean Building Activities

Build a lego shark.

Even if you are not interested in the official Shark Week, these cool ocean fish have always amazed adults and kids! Check out how to build your own LEGO sharks and grab a free activity pack.

Build Sea Animals and Make a Minifig Habitat

Check out our ocean animal and sea creature ideas, and then make a whale, octopus, and crab. Don’t worry if you don’t have exactly the right colors, have fun! It also includes free printable ocean LEGO challenges !

Build A Narwhal

Learn about the amazing unicorns of the sea, Narwhals with these fun and easy STEM activities. Plus, we share with you fun facts we’ve discovered about Narwhals.

Ocean Crafts and Art Projects

Printable ocean animals craft.

Make these cute, printable ocean animal crafts using split pins or brads! They move!

Shark Newspaper Craft

Create this easy shark paper craft to celebrate Shark Week or add to your ocean theme! Learn about these fascinating ocean creatures with a fun ocean theme art project!

Narwhal Collage Craft

Learn fun facts about Narwhals and create a fantastic Narwhal collage craft with more background ideas to choose from.

3D Ocean Paper Craft

This 3D ocean craft is a terrific way to explore how dimensional images can be created. Take your two dimensional ocean activities up a notch with our free printable 3D under the sea template. 

Coral Reef Art

Create a textured painting inspired by coral reefs using simple materials like sponges, bubble wrap, and watercolors. Printable coral reef template included!

Fish Painting

This fun and easy ocean craft will sure to be a hit with your kids. Paint fish inspired by famous artist Jackson Pollock and his style of ‘action painting’ and abstract art! Free printable included!

Glowing Jellyfish Craft

Make a fun DIY jellyfish that will glow in the dark, similar to jellyfish in the ocean. Learn fun facts about jellyfish and how they aren’t fish.

Black Glue Jellyfish Art

Black glue art with a watercolor background for an awesome ocean craft and STEAM project!

Ocean Salt Painting

The perfect ocean background for art projects! Combine a popular kitchen ingredient, salt and a bit of physics for cool art and science that everyone will love!

Salt Dough Starfish

Make your own starfish or sea stars with our simple salt dough recipe. Learn about these amazing sea creatures while modeling out your own to keep.

Turtle Dot Painting

Get our free printable turtle template and create your own fun dot painting design. Turn this turtle into a Green Sea Turtle!

You can find more ocean craft ideas here!

Printable Ocean Activities Pack

If you want to have all of your printable ocean activities in one convenient place, plus exclusive worksheets with an ocean theme, our 100+ page Ocean STEM Project Pack is what you need!

Check out The Complete Ocean Science and STEM Pack in our SHOP!

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12+ Easy and Fun Ocean Science Experiments for Curious Kids

When it comes to summer learning, there is just something about the beach and ocean that seems to call to us all! Whether you are traveling to a beach this year or staying home, you can bring the beach to life with these ocean science experiments!

The experiments on this list are a lot of fun for kids from preschool through middle school and will provide tons of science learning whether your kids have previously been into science or not.

These hands-on ocean experiments will make a science lover out of any kid and are the perfect science fair project ideas for kids who may not love science yet.

Fun Ocean Science Experiment Ideas

If you love the ocean, and you love science, these ocean science experiments are for you! Before you check out the complete list of ocean activities for kids, make sure you have these science supplies on hand.

Ocean Science Supplies

Shop these Amazon Affiliate links to make sure nothing is missing for your ocean science activities.

Ocean Science Books

Here are some fun books about ocean science!

Free Science Lesson Plans

Click the picture below to get 2 complete science lesson plans sent to your inbox!

The Best Ocean Science Experiments for Kids

Hands-down, these ocean science projects are tons of fun for kids! These ocean experiments are perfect for doing at home, in an after-school program, at daycare, or just for fun!

Click each ocean science activity to get to the directions for that project.

This Easy Ocean Slime Recipe is a super fun way to bring the ocean to you, even if you can’t get to one this year!

Learn all about the unicorns of the sea when you make this Narwhal Craft !

This Ocean Slime Recipe uses glitter glue and is fun for kids of all ages.

Learn fun oyster facts for kids when you make this Oyster Craft .

The Jellyfish in a Bottle Science Experiment shows kids how jellyfish can move in the water. And it’s pretty to look at!

When you try the Desalination Science Project , kids will learn how to remove salt from water.

This adorable Paper Plate Seahorse Craft can teach kids all about seahorses and their lives in the ocean.

Make your own Cartesian Diver Experiment and explore how fish, sharks, and even scuba divers move in the ocean!

This Water Density Experiment shows how cold water is denser than hot, and why the ocean has different densities depending on how deep you are.

Learn How to Make Sand Slime using real beach sand!

This Beach Slime Recipe mixes ocean slime with sand slime for a total beach experience.

Kids will love learning how to make these Sand Painting for Kids .

This Ocean Layer Liquid Density Experiment teaches kids about the layers of the ocean.

When you’re ready to do some coloring, these Aquarium Printables are perfect to do while learning about ocean animals.

Octopus Science Experiments

We love octopuses so much, we put together an entire idea list on octopus STEM activities! So many fun ways to learn octopus science!

More Summer Science Experiments

Summer STEM Calendar

Mindblowing Summer Science Experiments You Must Try This Summer

Crazy-Fun Mermaid Science Experiments Perfect for Summer!

Ocean candy experiment

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33 Ocean Activities, Experiments, and Crafts for Kids To Dive Into

Everything’s better under the sea!

Have you ever watched as a child stares into an aquarium with awe? Whether it is the song “Baby Beluga” or the movie Finding Nemo , kids love all things ocean! So you know they’ll be eager to dive into this collection of ocean activities. Whether it is a science experiment to see how fish breathe underwater, an art lesson where students create their own underwater scene, or a writing prompt about the ocean, students will learn all about our watery planet. Come on in … the water’s fine!

1. Read an ocean book

Whether you’re looking for picture books or chapter books, fiction or nonfiction, our list of terrific ocean books has got you covered .

2. Make an ocean in a bottle

Turn an old water bottle into a mini-aquarium. Sand, shells, and plastic sea creatures bring the ocean to you anytime.

Learn more: A Little Pinch of Perfect/Ocean in a Bottle

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3. Dive into an ocean-themed sensory bin

Round up shells, toy sea animals, and maybe even a boat or two, then drop them into a bin of water. Every kid will enjoy splashing around while they learn!

Learn more: Fun Learning for Kids

4. Take a virtual aquarium field trip

Can’t get to the aquarium? No problem! Take a virtual field trip instead with live webcams and video tours. See our list of virtual aquarium trips here.

5. Create an ocean in an egg carton

Ask your friends and family to save their egg cartons in the weeks before you plan on doing this project. Once ready, have your students paint their cartons. Finally, have them decorate their scenes using a variety of underwater objects and stickers.

Learn more: The Imagination Tree

6. Check out the Smithsonian’s Ocean site

Just as you’d expect from the Smithsonian, this website is full of information, photos, and more ocean activities. You’ll even find free lesson plans for teachers—score!

Learn more: Smithsonian Ocean

7. Assemble ocean zone bottles

Learn the zones of the ocean with these clever bottles. Simply use food coloring to dye the water deeper shades of blue to represent the amount of sunlight that reaches each zone, then add a representative sea animal toy.

Learn more: Edventures With Kids

8. Turn paint strips into ocean layers

Grab some blue paint sample strips and label them to represent the ocean layers. Then add stickers or drawings of corresponding animals to each layer.

Learn more: A Little Pinch of Perfect/Ocean Zones Crafts

9. Study how fish breathe underwater

This simple science experiment will help kids better understand how fish breathe underwater. Before beginning, pick your students’ brains to see what they already know or suspect about how fish breathe.

Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands

10. Upcycle an ocean zones craft

Here’s one more way to learn about the layers of the ocean. Use crepe paper to upcycle a plastic container, then get free printables at the link to add to your creation.

Learn more: Living Porpoisefully

11. Watch an ocean documentary

Every streaming service is loaded with nature documentaries. Disney+ has an especially robust collection that’s perfect for kids. On Amazon, try Wildest Places or Ocean Mysteries . Netflix’s new Our Planet series has episodes on coastal seas and high seas.

12. Peruse the Marine Life Encyclopedia

Looking for online ocean activities? Try the Marine Life Encyclopedia. Kids will get in-depth information about all their favorite sea creatures, from sharks to otters.

Learn more: Marine Life Encyclopedia

13. Assign an ocean-themed writing prompt

Pair this ELA lesson with a science lesson on ocean life.

Learn more: 3 Dinosaurs

14. Learn how ocean currents work

This cool demo uses hot and cold water mixed with a little food coloring to demonstrate how ocean currents form. (The plastic sea animals are just for fun!)

Learn more: Life Over Cs

15. See ocean waves in action

A layer of oil floating on the water helps make wave action more obvious. You can do ocean activities like this one in person or as an online demo.

Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands/Ocean Waves

16. Explore saltwater density

Kids may be surprised to learn that it’s actually easier to float in salt water than fresh water. This experiment proves it!

Learn more: Science Kiddo

17. Fish for numbers

This fun activity works equally well for little ones who are working on number recognition and slightly older students who are already working on addition. It will require a little bit of preparation on your end, but the end result is so fun!

Learn more: Buggy and Buddy

18. Dive and Discover

Here’s another website full of online ocean activities. It simulates the thrill of joining actual underwater explorations, from coral reefs to deep-sea trenches.

Learn more: Dive and Discover

19. Put together an ocean animal notebook

Want to explore a wide variety of sea animals? Then grab this free printable 60-page notebook. Each page includes space for kids to fill in the information and add their own illustrations.

Learn more: Homeschool Giveaways

20. Do an ocean animal research project

Here’s another way to explore sea creatures. Each student chooses their own favorite, then dives deep to learn all about it. Have kids give a presentation, design a slideshow, or even make their own documentary!

Learn more: 2 Literacy Teachers

21. Create an underwater scene using chalk and tempera paint

We love that this art project shows students a different way of using both paint and chalk or pastels. Begin by creating the sunset or ocean water with chalk or pastels, then dip your finger in white tempera paint and watch as the color spreads. Finally, cut out ocean animals, coral reefs, or boats to add to your scene.

22. Transform eggs into sea creatures

How adorable are these? They were made using wooden eggs, but plastic ones would work well too.

Learn more: Craft Play Learn

23. Build LEGO sea creatures

Pull out the tub of LEGO bricks and set kids free to create! Show them these pics for inspiration, then see what they can come up with on their own.

Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands/LEGO Sea Creatures

24. Use a fork to paint a puffer fish

You’ll be surprised at how easy this impressive painting is to create. Pick up a bag of disposable forks and get ready for undersea fun!

Learn more: Crafty Morning

25. Paint a coral reef with sponges

Here’s another surprisingly easy ocean craft for kids. Cut disposable sponges into coral shapes, then stamp an underwater scene.

Learn more: Primary Theme Park

26. Make a tasty ocean-themed snack

If allergies aren’t a concern, you can whip up these adorable snacks for your students. If allergies are a concern, you can always send the recipe home. Vanilla pudding dyed blue makes for perfect water, and graham cracker crumbs are the perfect stand-in for sand. Add some Swedish Fish and a little umbrella for good measure!

Learn more: Hunny I’m Home

27. Sculpt sea stars from salt dough

Starfish, more properly known as “sea stars,” come in a wide variety of sizes and designs. Have kids sculpt their own from salt dough or Play-Doh.

Learn more: Crafting Chicks

28. Craft a whale from a paper plate

No whale craft is complete without a spout of water from the blowhole! All you need is a pack of paper plates to get started.

Learn more: Krokotak

29. Draw a life-size whale

Did you know that blue whales are the largest creature ever to have lived on Earth? They’re even bigger than dinosaurs! Head to the playground with some sidewalk chalk and a tape measure to see if you can draw a life-size blue whale model.

30. Create a colorful seahorse

The secret to this cool marbleized pattern? Shaving cream! This is one technique that never fails to impress.

Learn more: I Heart Crafty Things

31. Create a beach scene

Kids will definitely love personalizing their beach scenes. You can use air-dry clay or salt dough to create the sand side of your ocean scene.

Learn more: First Palette

32. Hang suncatcher jellyfish

Re-create the translucent bell of a jellyfish with tissue paper, then hang ribbon tentacles for a pretty ocean craft you’ll love to display.

Learn more: I Heart Arts ’n Crafts

33. Make a cereal box aquarium

We love that this craft encourages reusing rather than throwing away since kids will be upcycling their favorite cereal’s box. Be sure to provide kids with plenty of variety in stones, colored card stock, etc., so they can really personalize their aquariums.

Learn more: The Best Ideas for Kids

If you enjoy these ocean activities, check out 20 Wild Ways To Explore Animal Habitats With Kids.

Plus, 16 of our favorite national geographic activities kids can do at home ..

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What Should You Teach Preschoolers About the Ocean?

While you’re creating beautiful ocean masterpieces and crafting your child’s favorite sea animals, it’s a great time to give them a little lesson about the ocean. There’s so much to learn and explore that your preschooler or toddler will love hearing all the new concepts about the ocean.

When teaching about a new topic I like to focus on simple questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How? This allows your preschoolers to speculate and engage in the discussion.

You can ask the following questions to see if they know or simply just teach the concepts and ask them if they remember later on:

• Who are the animals that live there?
• Why is the water salty?
• What do they eat?
• How do they breathe?
• How do the animals move?

These are all really great questions to ask and discuss while engaging in activities with your preschoolers. I love to listen to their answers and see what they already know about the ocean.

• Where do they sleep?
• How much of the ocean takes up the earth?
• What are high and low tides?
• How can you be safe in the ocean?
• Where do shells come from?

1. Ocean Themed Sensory Bin

In this fun activity preschoolers get to be hands on and you have the simplicity of using items your preschooler probably already has! All you need are ocean animals and water beads.

You can have your preschooler sort the sharks from the fish, discuss how sharks can breathe underwater, but whales cannot. The conversations are endless!

2. Sea Creature Rescue

This activity would be so much fun to do on a hot summer day. All you have to do is freeze plastic sea creatures in a muffin tin and then let your preschooler dissolve the ice with salt and a little bit of water.

There are sure to be lots of giggles! You can even have a friendly competition to see who can rescue the most animals.

3. Jellyfish in a bottle

How cool is this jellyfish in a bottle? Your preschooler will have such a fun time making this jellyfish.

This activity would be a great way to show how a jellyfish moves, discuss the different parts of the jellyfish and if your kids are anything like mine they will be blown away that jellyfish don’t have eyes!

4. Ocean Themed Sensory Bath

A noodle bath is what preschooler dreams are made of! In this activity you use noodles that are dyed different shades of blue and green to make ‘seaweed’.

You can toss in a few plastic sea creatures and talk about what kinds of plants there are living in the ocean and what kinds of sea animals use them for homes and hiding places. This ocean themed activity will be a huge hit with your kiddos.

5. Ocean Playdough Surprise

Who doesn’t love playdough? Playdough is a great way to help develop and strengthen the muscles in children’s hands, all while creating and learning.

Simply take some plastic sea creatures and roll them into the playdough. Ask your preschooler to identify what animal they found!

6. Squishy Fishy Bags

Your preschooler is sure to love this fun ocean themed activity. Making these squishy bags is very simple and will provide tons of fun.

Tape the sensory bags to the window for added light.

7. Under the Sea Slime

My preschooler absolutely loves slime and this fun activity is fun for little hands! Make ocean slime for under the sea fun!

8. Ocean Scene Jello Dig

Little ones love to get messy! Add some ocean themed toys to blue jello and wallah, you have a fun sensory activity that provides lots of giggles and fun.

9. Soap Foam Sensory Bin

Let your preschooler go crazy with this fun ocean soap foam sensory bin. This activity is best to do outside and perfect for summer!

10. Alphabet Shells

Help your preschooler learn the letters of the alphabet and dig for shells. Your preschooler will love digging for shells in this ocean themed activity!

11. Ocean in a Bottle

How fun is this mini aquarium in a bottle?! Help your preschooler engage in sensory play and identify different ocean animals.

12. Underwater Animal Coloring Games

Explore the ocean’s depths with online underwater animal coloring games, where imagination meets education.

SplashLearn stands out as the go-to platform, offering a vibrant selection of  preschool activities  that introduce kids to the wonders of marine life, from clownfish to sharks, in an engaging and interactive way. Kids learn about fascinating sea creatures and their habitats while having fun.

13. Ocean Process Art

I absolutely love this ocean process art project. Painting with q-tips is great to help further a preschooler’s grip on smaller objects!

14. Ocean Themed Coloring Pages

My kiddos love these ocean themed coloring pages. After you are done cut the images out and string them up in their rooms for an under the sea display of their art!

15. Paper Plate Tropical Fish

Make some fun and vibrant tropical fish with paper plates. The best part is that your kiddos can be creative and decorate their fish however they want!

16. Octopus Handprint Craft

I love handprint crafts. They are a fun keepsake for you as a parent and my kiddos love seeing their hands as part of their artwork.

17. Jellyfish Craft

Let your kiddo enjoy some fun self expression with this jellyfish craft. I always enjoy seeing what colors kids like to choose when they are in control!

18. Shark Fin Hat

Baby shark do do do do! This shark fin hat is so simple to make! Turn on the baby shark song and let your little ones dance!

19. Paper Plate Seahorse

Seahorses are one of the most fascinating sea creatures. This paper plate seahorse is so cute and your kids will love learning about these amazing creatures.

20. Handprint Crab

This handprint crab is so cute and easy to do for kids. You can mix it up with some different colors of paper, stamps, etc for more fun!

21. Suncatcher Jellyfish

Your preschooler will love being able to see their craft hung up in the window for all to see if you do this suncatcher jellyfish craft.

22. Handprint Fish

If your kids like the movie Finding Nemo, they will love this clownfish craft. Let them color in the background for added fun!

23. Cardboard Fishy

If you have some extra paint and toilet paper rolls laying around this craft is for you! Ask your preschooler to come up with their own color scheme and fish scale pattern!

24. Whale Craft

Whales are such cool animals and I think teaching about them is just as cool. Your preschooler will be amazed to know that some whales can stay underwater for as long as 90 minutes!

25. Clothespin Shark

Your preschooler will love this fun clothespin shark craft. You can even use different size clothespins for smaller and larger sharks!

26. Glow in the Dark Jellyfish

This jellyfish craft is a cool way to help preschoolers learn about bioluminescent animals like jellyfish.

27. Paper Plate Pufferfish

Kids love puffer fish, and let’s face it.. They are really fascinating. This paper plate puffer fish craft will be a great conversation starter about puffer fish.

28. Beach Themed Pudding Cups

These beach themed pudding cups are so much fun anytime, but especially perfect for summertime ocean learning!

28. Gluten Free and Vegan Goldfish

Your kiddos will love this vegan, allergy free, and grain free goldfish recipe and you will love how healthy they are!

29. Cucumber Boat

Sometimes it can be hard to get your kiddo to eat their veggies, but who would be able to resist this cucumber boat?

30. Shark Chocolate Bark

If your kiddos are shark obsessed this treat is definitely for you! This shark bark is easy to make and your preschooler will love getting to help!

31. Ocean Themed Turtle Snack

Enjoy this ocean themed turtle snack with your preschooler while discussing fun turtle facts like the bottom of the turtle’s shell is called the plastron.

32. Shark Bait

This shark bait snack would be perfect for watching a sea themed movie. Your kids will love the salty and sweet combo!

33. Ocean Hide and Seek

Hide and seek is one of my preschoolers favorite games. I love this hide and seek worksheet that will help your preschooler develop their investigative skills.

34. Cutting Practice

Cutting is an important skill for preschoolers to develop. Your little one will love this fish themed cutting practice worksheet!

35. Paper Plate Scallop Shells

Did you know that scallops can have up to 100 eyes?! This paper plate scallop craft is perfect if you have some extra paper plates lying around!

36. Fine Motor Fish Collage

Help your preschooler perfect their pincer grasp with this fun fine motor fish collage!

37. Ocean Themed Sorting and Threading

I love this activity for fine motor skills. Have your preschooler add different animals to the pipe cleaner. For an added challenge have them add the animals in a pattern!

38. Rescue the Sea Creatures!

Let your little one be a hero and rescue the sea creatures! Simply wrap up sea animals with pipe cleaners and rubber bands and let the fun begin.

39. Fine Motor Jellyfish Craft

Make this simple jellyfish craft with items you have around the house! You can use those leftover jingle bells from Christmas time to add some pizzazz!

40. The Rainbow Fish

The rainbow fish is one of my favorite books. Even if you don’t have the book, this activity will be so fun for preschoolers to make their own rainbow fish!

41. Beach Themed Printables

42. Ocean Themed Yoga

Yoga is always a hit in our house. This activity is perfect to engage your kids into stretching their little bodies and having fun while learning about different animals that live in the ocean.

43. Ocean Animal Movement

Get your little ones moving and grooving with this ocean animal movement activity. Show your little ones how to walk like a crab, jump like a dolphin and sing like a humpback whale!

44. Ice and Salt Experiment

This activity combines science and art, which is always so fun! This experiment will help kids learn how salt helps to melt ice!

45. Tide Pool Experiment

Help your preschooler learn all about tide pools with this fun ocean themed activity!

46. Sounds Underwater

Are sounds louder underwater? This activity is great for teaching preschoolers about sound underwater and how animals communicate using high pitched sounds.

47. How do Arctic Animals Stay Warm in Cold Water?

When I think of the ocean, I always think of warm sunny weather. This activity will help to teach preschoolers about the cool part of the ocean and how the animals that live there survive and keep warm!

48. Ocean Zones

Let’s learn the names of the zones in the sea! This activity will help kids to learn about where certain species of animals spend most of their lives and how they live and eat.

49. Float and Sink

My kiddos are always asking about whether different items are able to float or sink while playing in the bath. This activity would be so fun to help preschoolers learn about density and an object’s ability to sink or float!

50. Ocean Song

Teach your preschooler this ocean themed song to the tune of ‘Take me out to the ball game’. If your kiddos are anything like mine, they love learning new songs and rhymes.

51. Ocean Dot Activities

This set of ocean dot activities includes ten pages of FREE printables for dotting. You can use dot markers, stickers, stampers, or whatever else you want to complete these fun dot activities. 

52. Ocean Themed Printable Bundle

Everything you need for your preschooler or pre-k child to learn while having fun! These low-prep activities are perfect for centers and beyond.

Teaching dozens of math and literacy concepts, they will never get bored!

It doesn’t matter which activities you choose to do with your preschooler, he or she is bound to have a blast and learn so much! If you try any of these 50 ocean themed activities let me know in the comments which is your favorite! Happy learning!

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Happy Hooligans

Crafts and Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers to Tweens

Ocean in a Bottle with 3 Simple Ingredients

Last updated on June 11, 2020

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Make an ocean in a bottle with 3 easy ingredients.  One of the fastest and easiest-ever science activities for preschoolers .

I love to make  homemade toys for the hooligans.  Discovery bottles are always a favourite here.  They look so beautiful, and no matter what we fill them with.

This particular ocean in a bottle has to be the most amazing looking bottle we’ve made yet though!  It was SO easy to make, and you likely already have everything you need on hand.

This oil and water science experiment isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s a classic preschool science activity that’s been around for years.  I actually can’t believe we haven’t done it before!  Yesterday, I happened upon this learning discovery bottle over at Play Trains, and I decided we’d make an ocean bottle of our own today.

To make our Ocean in a Bottle, we used:

• cooking oil (we used canola, but vegetable would work well)
• blue food colouring
• large clear, plastic bottle (2 litre pop bottle, shampoo bottle, mouthwash bottle etc.)

TIP:  a mouthwash bottle is perfect, as it has a child-proof lid which prevents the kids from opening it when playing with it.

If you want to explain the scientific details to your child, pop over and check out this article explaining why oil and water don’t mix .

How to make an ocean in a bottle:

I didn’t have a 2L pop bottle on hand, so we used an empty mouthwash bottle.   I like that the lid is child-safe, and too challenging for little hands to twist open.  If you’re using a bottle that’s not child-safe, you might want to run a little hot-glue around the inside of the bottle lid.

• Fill approximately 1/3 of your bottle with water.
• Add several drops of food colouring.
• Have your child shake the bottle to disperse the food colouring.

Now, simply top up the bottle with oil.  I filled ours right to the top and then popped the lid on.

Let the fun begin!

Tip the bottle upside down and watch your ocean come to life.

The pictures really don’t do this activity justice. You have to see it in action.

The way the waves roll cascade inside the bottle is just beautiful, and watching the big blobs of colour swoosh and fall through the yellow oil is really fascinating.

The more you agitate the bottle, the more the bubbly the ocean becomes.

Set your bottle down occasionally to let the bubbles settle, and then start all over again.

Doesn’t it look amazing?

More easy experiments for kids:

• Water Displacement Experiment
• Salt, Glue and Watercolour Art
• Wax Resist Art
• Melting Ice with Salt and Water
• Colour Mixing Experiment 

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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.

Reader Interactions

Dorothy Tulk

May 31, 2014 at 10:54 am

Do you use 1/3 oil .then fill up with water

happyhooligans

May 31, 2014 at 11:17 am

1/3 water, and then fill up with oil, Dorothy.

June 22, 2016 at 11:06 am

If you fill 2 litre bottle with oil, very expensive project?.???

June 23, 2016 at 12:10 am

You could use a smaller bottle, and probably get away with a half cup of cooking oil. If you think about it this way: you would use a cup of oil to bake a cake, and the cake would be gone in a couple of days. This will last forever. 🙂

May 31, 2014 at 5:34 pm

This is just WAY cool! I LOVE it and as an adult, I’d want to try it. I can’t wait for my son to get a little older and do cool stuff like this with him. Thanks so much for sharing!

April 22, 2023 at 6:40 pm

Would baby oil work?

Jackie Currie

June 8, 2023 at 4:36 pm

I haven’t tried making them with baby oil, Helen, but I imagine it would work!

Selina Strong

June 1, 2014 at 9:43 am

Please revise the instructions for ocean in a bottle. Oil is one of the three ingredients, but there is no mention of adding the oil to the bottle. Surely it is either added first ( although the food coloring doesn’t mix in ) or second? Thanks.

June 10, 2014 at 10:44 am

After the food coloring and water are shaken, the instructions say “Now, simply top up the bottle with oil.”

June 10, 2014 at 1:09 pm

Yes, simply top up the bottle with oil. That’s right, Dan.

June 9, 2014 at 6:04 pm

Such fun!! Using mineral oil instead of cooking oil means the oil is clear and I really love that effect with the food coloring in the water and the other half (the mineral oil) perfectly clear.

June 9, 2014 at 7:28 pm

Yes, or baby oil would have the same look too. I must pick some up at the dollar store!

Michelle Bordeaux

June 9, 2014 at 10:13 pm

This is really cool. I was thinking about doing it as the craft for an Easter Egg Hunt next year (2015). I was also thinking about buying small plastic sea creatures and/or small shells to add a few in. Have you tried anything like that before?

June 9, 2014 at 10:50 pm

I haven’t in the oil and water bottle, Michelle, but I’ve added odds and ends to bottles that I’ve filled with water or hair gel or coloured rice! I think it’s a great idea!

June 9, 2014 at 11:20 pm

Thank you for the response, I will have to test out a few ideas .

June 20, 2014 at 8:57 am

In case you are tempted to add glitter for a touch of glam… Don’t do it! Maybe someone who knows science better than I do can explain it, but it looks like the glitter catches everything up and emulsifies it , so it takes a very long time for the oil in the water to separate again! I just threw everything away and started over!!

September 22, 2014 at 9:38 pm

Thanks so much for the warning! That would have been something we’d try.

July 3, 2014 at 4:07 pm

Shake it too much and it never separates again. Very disappointed in this project.

July 3, 2014 at 8:11 pm

Very interesting, Nancy. Never?

August 7, 2014 at 9:12 pm

I think thats what happen to mine! right off! boo boo! Wish I had read this before I shook it like a crazy person! 🙁 now I have to go to the store and buy more oil

April 16, 2015 at 3:16 pm

That’s actually, totally, not possible. Chances are there was something else in your bottle to begin with. If it was an old lotion or soap bottle there could have been some residue left in the bottle from what was in it before that emulsified it. Water and oil cannot permanently emulsify from vigorous shaking alone. It needs the addition of an emulsifier.

April 16, 2015 at 3:35 pm

Oh, that is a very helpful response, Megan. Thank you! I was wondering how the oil and water could become completely emulsified, as mine always separate after resting. Brilliant. Thank you!

July 3, 2014 at 7:26 pm

We just made these for a preschool program. We called them sink-or-float bottles. We added small seashells and the larger glitter shapes. It was a great demonstration of what the word displacement means. The kids and parents loved them. 🙂

July 6, 2014 at 2:21 am

My 2y.o. will enjoy it 🙂 Thank you!

July 21, 2014 at 8:44 am

Absolutely beautiful. I think of the yellow oil as sunshine filtering through the water.

August 8, 2014 at 3:17 pm

Can you make this in a smaller bottle? I’d love to do this as a take home craft for my son’s birthday party, but I don’t know that I want to go in search of 14 2 liter bottles. Thanks!

August 9, 2014 at 10:14 pm

You could give one a try and see how it turns out, April.

July 1, 2015 at 3:21 pm

My younger brother (age 12) and I just did this experiment with an empty Poland Spring bottle. Still worked great!

July 2, 2015 at 11:26 am

Yay! So glad you loved it!

July 9, 2015 at 5:27 pm

they have those small water bottles, that would be great for a kids party thing. Perfect size too. I’m going to try this with sand and sea shells and make a beach in the bottle with my daughter. Hopefully it works…

August 16, 2014 at 6:32 pm

Ok, I am 57 years old and I love this. My son is 32 and have no grandbabies yet so this is for ME. I am decorating my home in the beachy coastal style and this would be a great way to bring the ocean into my home since there is no ocean near where I live in “Missouri”. I will put it in a large pretty bottle and sit it near my sea shells and let people shake it up and admire it when they come to visit. Thanks!

October 25, 2014 at 12:35 pm

I’m an 8th grade science teacher … and believe me … many of your experiments will enchant and delight 8th graders too. Thank you for these that show kids that science is interesting and FUN!

November 20, 2014 at 6:59 am

Tnks i won the science fair tnx for sharing

December 17, 2014 at 10:32 am

I used this for a white elephant recycling themed gift exchange for my cub scout. My son loved doing this, we used a baby oil bottle, bonus we used the last third of the oil for the project and topped it off with some veg oil. He chose blue also. And since it’s for scouts, we used plastic putty glue to permanently (I hope)glue shut the lid. Should be fun! Thanks!

December 17, 2014 at 7:07 pm

Trying to think of a way to use this as decor for an Ocean themed wedding. My niece is getting married next year and I think something like this would be awesome to display, maybe on tables. Just not quite sure on bottle types and if putting in sea shells would work. Any suggestions??? Pls help!

December 18, 2014 at 9:33 am

I’ve similar bottles with shells added, Heidi. As for how to display them, there’s a brand of bottled water called Voss. I’m not sure where you are, but if you have it there (in your grocery stores), you could use those bottles. It’s pricier than regular bottled water though, so you may need some pals splurge on it once in a while, and give you the bottle when they’re done. You could also check Michael’s or Hobby Lobby for interesting looking containers with lids that seal tight.

February 21, 2015 at 11:48 pm

The easiest place for me to find VOSS water locally is at Walgreen’s drugstores. They are often on sale, too, for $3 for two bottles.

Chickielady

August 25, 2015 at 9:31 pm

We used a VOSS water bottle for a similar project at our school and it was dropped on the floor and the lid cracked open. I’ve used soda bottles and not had this problem. I have saved some bottles from dry roasted peanuts to use.

February 1, 2015 at 8:22 pm

i tried it, its so cool! but instead i used a small coke bottle and eyeballed it!

March 14, 2015 at 1:39 pm

I was so excited to do this but I tried it twice and it didn’t work. I ended up with a layer of blue water and a layer of oil on the top no matter how much I shook it. Was it because I used vegetable oil?

March 14, 2015 at 1:40 pm

I mean olive oil?

March 14, 2015 at 10:51 pm

That might be the reason, Mae. I can’t think of any other reason it wouldn’t have worked for you.

April 8, 2015 at 5:37 pm

Hi! I came across this craft on Pinterest, and decided to try it with my tween sister (I’m a teen).

We made this craft and absolutely love it! We used smaller bottles, so we could display them on our window sills. I love to look at it, and I’m definitely going to make it again, and use green, pink orange, purple, any color really.

I wrote a review about it on my website if you want to check it out!

April 8, 2015 at 7:12 pm

Hey Ally! So glad you loved the ocean in a bottle. I think it’s great that you and your sister made them. An assortment of colours would be awesome! I need to do that too. Cool blog you’ve got there, girl!

May 16, 2015 at 9:37 am

I live 100 meters from the shore, I think I could just walk there with te bottle and trap some fishstinking water and called it “sea in the bottle” how about that 😀 😀

May 31, 2015 at 12:40 am

yeah….didnt work…4 year old was so disappointed…

May 31, 2015 at 12:49 pm

How odd. It’s simple science. I can’t imagine what would go wrong unless perhaps there was residue in your bottle. That could prevent the oil and water from behaving properly.

June 12, 2015 at 6:46 pm

This is great, thank you! My toddler and I used mini water bottles and they were the perfect size for little hands doing the pouring, squeezing, and shaking.

Allison Jones

June 19, 2015 at 6:56 pm

Beautiful! Great activity for the kiddos

July 22, 2015 at 3:59 pm

I made this when I was in Kindergarten. The teachers used baby food jars and just super glued the lids shut. We got to pick out tiny sea animals to put in ours. Definitely one of my favorite projects since I still remember it 20 years later!

August 1, 2015 at 5:26 am

awesome idea! add 1/2 alka seltzer tablet or other tablets that fizz and use half the quantities of oil and water. Stand back and watch it fizz! for more help on how to make this go here…. http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/easylavalamp.html

August 26, 2015 at 3:19 pm

I absolutely love this idea! We save our cleat 2 liter bottles for science and crafts, so we’ll have the bottles when we want to do something like this. Not too crazy about using 2/3 of 2 liters of oil though, so we’re going to definitely use a smaller bottle. Glad to know about glitter not being a good idea for this. If someone want’s a great science activity using 2 liter bottles, one is the tornado in a bottle and the good news is, glitter is a really good idea to put in them! On the other side of a coin, I’m already planning our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet for next year. Planning on a theme to do with the sea, maybe Cubs Under the Sea or something like that. This will be perfect to have on the tables for both decoration and take home! Thanks for the wonderful idea!

December 12, 2015 at 8:19 pm

This is beautiful. I love the blue – very soothing. My nephews will love this, but i was also thinking what a great stress reliever it would be on the desk too.

December 12, 2015 at 10:13 pm

I love it just as much as the kids do, Cheri. It’s very relaxing!

January 20, 2016 at 1:14 am

I was wondering if it would work if we put it in ziplock bags and double sealed it with tape and put it in another zip lock bag?

January 21, 2016 at 7:52 pm

It might, Jayne. It’s up to you weather or not you want to risk the bag popping. That’s a lot of oil in there, which would ruin carpets/furniture etc if it did leak.

May 2, 2016 at 1:16 am

Is it working only with food coloring? Is it okay to use water color or acrylic paint?

May 3, 2016 at 12:05 am

Watercolour paint would work because it’s water soluble. I don’t think acrylics would work as well, but I’m just guessing there.

June 5, 2016 at 11:47 am

Just did this with my kids and didn’t turn out at all like I expected. The oil began to solidify after about 5 minutes of play, so it’s cloudy

June 6, 2016 at 9:44 am

How strange. What kind of oil did you use, Asia? Was it fairly fresh? I know old oil can go cloudy when you shake it up. As for solidifying, that is really odd. I’ve never known an oil to solidify.

November 13, 2016 at 11:28 pm

I made this myself and the oil became cloudy after first use, it was pretty fresh. And instead of going through the water, it went down the walls of the jar, so no ocean effect. I also washed it before putting stuff in it. I’m wondering what happened?

November 15, 2016 at 12:15 am

Hmm. I haven’t a clue, Kayaqua. I haven’t heard of that happening before. I’m sorry I can’t offer you a solution!

January 28, 2017 at 8:40 pm

could the food colouring work with paint?

Pam backman

April 17, 2017 at 1:36 pm

I do this every year with my preschool class. I use a small gatorade bottle or dr pepper instead of water bottle as the are thicker plastic. I have also used baby oil because it is clear. We habe out toy fish and sand in to make it more authentic looking. Sand was not as pretty . I let the kids choose the color so each one is unique and theirs.

April 17, 2017 at 1:42 pm

Should be have used toy plastic fish

April 23, 2017 at 10:33 am

This is really cool! I really want to make this. I need something to shake sometimes, if ya know what I mean. I made something too! I just used a baby food jar,filled it with water,add a drop of dish soap. Last add some pieces of string. Swirl it around. Really fun! In my opinion.

May 29, 2017 at 8:31 am

Would it still work well if I mixed this with a “jellyfish in a bottle”? I’m interested in making one if so. I might try it out soon!

May 29, 2017 at 2:06 pm

It might, but I’m not sure if the oil would interfere with the behaviour of the jellyfish. I’d give it a shot if I were you. Worst case, you can remove the jelly fish and still have an awesome sensory bottle for the kids to play with and observe.

July 18, 2017 at 11:45 am

My Church will be do this with VBS kids next summer. Thank you for sharing!

July 19, 2017 at 4:26 pm

Yay! You’re so welcome, Cyndi!

September 4, 2017 at 12:46 am

It works with water down acrylic paint

September 18, 2017 at 4:55 pm

To those getting cloudy oil, i suspect you are leaving air inside the bottle. If you shake it really hard with air inside, it will mix tons of air bubbles into the oil and make it cloudy. Try to let as little air inside the bottle as possible.

December 10, 2017 at 12:23 am

Will water colour not work instead of food colour?

February 16, 2018 at 1:03 am

I actually just made one of these for me to relax me…after my parents stopped freaking out because it’s something different and weird. I love the effect of the water and oil, and the food colouring ties it all together with the yellow-green-blue. A brilliant idea, and a beautiful one, at that!

February 21, 2018 at 12:46 am

Wonderful! I’m so glad you love it. How nice to know that it’s not just preschoolers enjoying our activities!

March 29, 2018 at 1:13 pm

This project turns out so well! I tried it with my toddler and he was completely amazed by the ocean in a bottle. I shared your link on my blog as part of a post about activities to do with toddlers indoors. Thank you for sharing such a great idea!

Leah Winters

April 20, 2018 at 10:57 pm

Hi Jackie! I love your project and linked it to my blog – would love to connect with you about cross-promotion if you’re interested.

February 19, 2019 at 9:02 pm

hey, just wondering im doing a project for my class is there anything else I need to worry about before I start. also what color is best?

February 19, 2019 at 9:12 pm

Hi Sam. Nothing really to worry about. Just make sure the lid is on tight of course. We’ve only used blue because we wanted it to look like an ocean, but I imagine any colour would work. Red or purple would be pretty cool. It might look like a lava lamp!

June 5, 2019 at 11:16 pm

So, just to get this straight in my head, it’s 2/3 water, blue food color, mix, add 1/3 oil??? Do you leave any air space? Thank you!

June 6, 2019 at 2:45 am

“Fill approximately 1/3 of your bottle with water. Add several drops of food colouring. Now, simply top up the bottle with oil. I filled ours right to the top and then popped the lid on.”

April 15, 2020 at 7:39 pm

Is it normal for it to look cloudy after a day? I used canola. I wonder if that’s normal for that type oil?

April 16, 2020 at 8:57 am

Hmm… Is it possible your bottle wasn’t completely clean? I’m thinking if there was any bacteria in it, it could cause the contents to go cloudy and eventually develop mold.

Shreiya Aggarwal-Gupta

June 25, 2020 at 3:36 am

Thanks so much, Jackie! This is so, so simple and enjoyable even though it’s been so many years since you published, obviously. I also enjoyed reading the tweaks in the comments. As you said, the pictures don’t do the activity justice – it’s simply amazing to see it in action 🙂

November 13, 2020 at 1:10 am

Help! I followed your instructions to a “T”, and it was beautiful . . . for a week. I even bought fresh oil, to ensure that everything would work perfectly. But after a week, something began to happen, where it looked like some of the oil was somehow disintegrating into the water — the water ended up looking dull, murky, and translucent instead of transparent, giving the effect of dirty, polluted water. I’m really disappointed, as this project looked just so stunning at first that I almost wanted to keep it for myself instead of giving it to my grandson.

Please advise! Thanks!

November 14, 2020 at 8:20 am

Hi Diana, I wonder if there was some residue in the bottle that caused bacteria to form, or somehow, while making it, bacteria entered the bottle. We made our bottle about 6 years ago, and only recently did ours start going cloudy.

November 16, 2020 at 11:46 pm

Thanks for your reply, Jackie. I actually washed out the bottle (a new Voss glass water bottle) very thoroughly with hot soapy water and then carefully rinsed it out with hot water several times. And as mentioned in my previous email, I purchased a new bottle of oil for the project. The finished project was initially so beautiful when I first made it that I hate to give up. I think I’ll try it again with distilled water to see if it makes a difference. If it does, I’ll let you know.

November 18, 2020 at 12:12 pm

SO strange, Diane. I hope it works for you with the distilled water. Please let me know how it goes!

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18 Ocean STEM Activities for Kids

By: Author Jacquie Fisher

Posted on Published: July 6, 2022

Categories Educational Activities , Kids Activities & Crafts , Science Experiments

Head under the sea with these cool ocean STEM activities & projects for kids !

We’re diving down deep today to explore ocean zones , marine animals and more with these amazing STEM ocean activities that are perfect for a little summer learning!

If your kids are fans of whales, sharks and the big blue sea, they’ll LOVE these hands-on ocean science activities!

18 Awesome Ocean STEM Activities

The underwater world is so intriguing to kids (and adults for that matter 🙂  There’s so much we don’t yet know about the ocean and it’s contents which makes it the perfect subject to intrigue young minds.

One of my favorite things about ocean projects is the beautiful colors! 

And the fact that they ocean activities almost always involve water which is a big bonus during the hot days of summer 🙂  Here are a few of our favorite ocean projects along with affiliates links to books and others items that are perfect for some under-the-sea fun!

Before you get started, you may want to read a few ocean-related science books.  One of our favorite non-fiction science series is the Let’s Read & Find Out Science books !  They come in different reading levels and are perfect for kids who are always asking ‘why?’ and ‘how?’! 

For ocean life, try these:

Life in a Coral Reef – explores who lives in a coral reef and why reefs are so important to the ocean ecosystems!

How Deep Is the Ocean? – an introduction to the various ocean zones, what you find as you travel through ocean layers and what exists at the bottom of the big blue sea!

What’s It Like to Be a Fish? – a fun look at life as a fish with details about how life in the ocean is different from life on land.

Plus, be sure to check out our list of fun Ocean Activities and Books for Kids too!!

Ocean Science Activities

Learn why the ocean looks blue with this Layers of the Ocean science project ! || Edventures with Kids

Grab this FREE prinable Under the Sea Scavenger Hunt & use live webcams to find all the items || Edventures with Kids

Watch for the tide to go out and then explore your own tide pool || Amy Pessolano

Check out the Ocean Science Unit printable pack for LOTS of learning activities! || Etsy

Explore sea-side habitats and tides on your next beach visit || Edventures with Kids

Ocean-themed Math Projects

Draw a Life-size Whale and see just how big they are with this easy math activity || Edventures with Kids

Create ocean zones using sidewalk chalk with this Ocean Layers STEM Activity scale model || Edventures with Kids

Practice counting with a Shark Number Sensory Bin || Living Montessori Now

Create your own Ocean Slime || Little Bins for Little Hands

Practice adding and number sequencing with Ocean Raiders, an award-winning math game || Amazon

Under the Sea STEM: Engineering Projects

Build your own Ocean in a Jar || Edventures with Kids

Construct a Cartesian Diver Experiment || Wise Owl Factory

Make your own Tide Pool to explore Ocean Science || Buggy & Buddy

Build Ocean Animals from LEGOs to play in the slime! || Little Bins for Little Hands

Ocean Animal Science Activities

Learn about Stingrays with these Fun Facts for Kids || Edventures with Kids

Did you know a group of sharks is called a shiver?  Learn the names of Ocean animal groups with this FREE printable || Edventures with Kids

Print these gorgeous Ocean Animal families & Whales mini-posters || Etsy

Learn How Sharks Float || Preschool Powol Packets

Explore marine life with an Ocean Sensory Table || Stir the Wonder

Discover more about whales with a Whale Sensory Bin || Living Montessori Now

Kids will LOVE this Search & Find Ocean Animal Puzzle with more than 40 types of sea animals!  || Amazon

More Ocean Activities for Kids:

Keep exploring with these fun activities focused on ocean animals and life at the beach!

10 Books for a Day at the Beach

8 Ocean & Beach Activities

fun & meaningful learning every day

30+ Fantastic Activities for a Preschool Ocean Theme

Shared by Mary Catherine 13 Comments

Oh, how I love a good preschool ocean theme !  Of course, the following ideas would be wonderful for a kindergarten ocean theme, too!  Or adapt them for older children, as well!  This collection is broken down into categories so you can find exactly what you want- arts and crafts, sensory bins, science, play doughs, math, literacy, and snacks.

Table of Contents

Amazing Ideas for a Preschool Ocean Theme!

Art & crafts.

Let the kiddos get creative as they learn about the ocean:

• Shell Painting with Watercolors – Fun-A-Day
• Cardboard Aquarium Craft – MollyMoo
• Toy Surfboard Craft for Kids – Play Trains
• Create and Ocean Play Scene – Paint on the Ceiling
• Coffee Filter Seahorse Art – Planet Smarty Pants

SENSORY PLAY

Hands-on sensory play ideas for an ocean theme:

• Super Simple Ocean Sensory Bin – Fun-A-Day
• Ocean Slime Recipe for Kids.  – Fun-A-Day
• Taste-Safe Play Sand & Beach Small World – Fun-A-Day
• Ocean Floor Discovery Bin – My Nearest and Dearest
• Giant Sensory Lagoon – Twodaloo
• Ocean Sensory Tray with Frozen Rice – The Imagination Tree

Activities for your little oceanographers:

• Frozen Ocean Animal Rescue – Mama.Papa.Bubba
• Explore Ocean Zones with Under the Sea Bottle – KCEdventures
• Invitation to Explore Ocean Water – Little Bins for Little Hands
• Ocean Science for Kids – Salt Water and Waves – Gift of Curiosity
• Octopus Black Ink Experiment – Learn.Play.Imagine

PLAY DOUGHS

Sensory meets arts/crafts for more ocean fun:

• Taste-Safe Coconut Cloud Doug h – Fun-A-Day!
• Sea Life Play Dough Imprints – Plain Vanilla Mom
• Beach Sand Cloud Dough Recipe (with Real Sand) – Fun at Home with Kids
• Rocky Shore Small World with Play Dough – Buggy and Buddy
• Natural Sand Play Dough – Creative Playhouse

Ocean math ideas to get the kiddos counting and sorting:

• Shell Sorting – No Time for Flashcards
• Counting Pearls for Shells – Rockabye Butterfly
• Sorting and Graphing Shells – One Time Through
• Fishbowl Counting Mats – The Preschool Toolbox
• Fish Math – Mom to 2 Posh L’il Divas

Ways to encourage literacy learning during a preschool ocean theme:

• Sea Shell Letter Match – And Next Comes L
• Ocean and Beach Books for Preschoolers – Mamas Like Me
• Sight Word Seashells – NurtureStore
• Don’t Soak the Shark Letter Matching Gam e – Toddler Approved
• Montessori-Inspired Beach Language Activities – Living Montessori Now at PreK and K Sharing

Make those snacks even better with these ocean twists:

• Jellyfish for Lunch – JDaniel4’s Mom
• Sand Dollar Cookies – Diamonds for Dessert
• Seashell Snack and Play – Fantastic Fun and Learning
• Fine Motor Fishing Snack – Twodaloo
• Under the Sea Snack – Creative Kid Snacks

Would you add any other ideas to this preschool ocean theme? Let me know your favorites in the comments below!

Materials for a Preschool Ocean Theme

The possibilities are endless when it comes to an ocean theme in preschool. And I always found that it was one of my students’ favorite things to explore and learn about. So, maybe you’re looking for some inspiration to create your own ocean activities. Check out the items in the list below for a little bit of ocean inspiration!

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

• Kinetic sand
• Ocean animals toys
• Goldfish crackers
• Blue food coloring
• Water table

 Check out Fun-A-Day’s early childhood themes page for more themed fun and learning!

Preschool Ocean Theme Lesson Plans

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

Grab the plans here >>> Preschool Classroom | Home Preschool

Originally published on June 20, 2014

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June 20, 2014 at 6:38 am

Thank you so much for including my jelly fish lunch in this amazing round up!

June 20, 2014 at 11:09 pm

So many cute ocean-themed ideas! I can’t decide where to begin!

June 21, 2014 at 1:03 am

Those ocean themed snacks are adorable.

June 21, 2014 at 2:27 pm

Bringing the ocean indoors — and to the mountains — what a great idea!

June 22, 2014 at 12:03 am

I love sensory bins! These are great. I’ll need to try to make one for my class next year. ~Heather The Meek Moose

June 24, 2014 at 3:26 am

So many ideas! What an index of activities.

June 24, 2014 at 11:35 am

love all ideas that can incorporate learning with the oceans

June 24, 2014 at 1:00 pm

Love the coffee filter sea horses, so pretty!

June 30, 2014 at 2:26 pm

Clearly you have put a great deal of time and effort into this project, thank you so very much. Love your thoughts and ideas on kids playing with ocean themes and sea shells. I did some of these projects with my daughter. Thanks for the awesome resource links.

July 7, 2014 at 2:47 pm

Love these ideas. Thanks for sharing!

July 8, 2014 at 6:44 am

great ideas, it all looks so fabulous, will be trying these our for sure xx

July 9, 2014 at 5:29 am

Thank you very much…i shall adapt some of your ideas when my young nieces come to the cabin this summer

July 9, 2014 at 3:19 pm

Love these ideas! Thanks for sharing!

Search the Fun!

Fun by categories.

Ocean STEM Activities

Exploring the ocean with your preschooler can be a highly rewarding experience. By incorporating ocean STEM activities into their daily routines, you can introduce them to the wonders of the sea in a fun and engaging way.

From building miniature coral reefs to learning about different types of marine life, these preschool ocean theme activities are age-appropriate and sure to spark interest and curiosity in your little one.

Introducing the Wonders of the Ocean

Introducing your preschooler to the ocean can be fun and exciting. With ocean STEM activities, you can teach them about different types of sea life and let them build their own miniature coral reefs.

These activities are age-appropriate and educational, so your little one will learn a lot while having lots of fun!

Build a Miniature Coral Reef

Building a miniature coral reef is an excellent way to introduce your little one to the wonders of the ocean.

By using items from around the house such as Lego blocks, sea shells, pebbles and aquarium plants you can construct coral reefs on a small scale.

This activity will help your preschooler learn about different types of marine life and how they interact within the ecosystem.

Explore Underwater with a Virtual Reality Experience

Introducing your preschooler to the ocean with virtual reality can be a great way to spark interest and curiosity in the world beneath the waves.

Using age-appropriate apps and devices, you can take them on a virtual tour of underwater habitats, learning about different species of sea life along the way.

This is an engaging activity that will help your little one learn about and appreciate the beauty of the ocean.

Make an Edible Aquarium Craft Activity

Making an edible aquarium craft is a fun and creative way to introduce your preschooler to the ocean.

Using ingredients such as blue food dye, frosting, candy fish, and other decorations, you can create an edible aquarium that will help them learn about different types of sea life while having some tasty treats.

This activity will be sure to make a splash with your little scientist!

These ocean STEM activities are sure to be a great way for you and your preschooler to explore the wonders of the sea.

With age-appropriate learning opportunities, it's easy to make a splash while having lots of fun together!

Ocean-Themed Skittles Candy Science Experiment

The science experiment is a colorful and exciting way for kids to learn about dissolving substances.

By arranging Skittles candies in a circular pattern and pouring warm water over them, children can observe the colors of the candy dissolve and mix together.

This hands-on activity is perfect for summer and helps kids understand the scientific concepts of solubility, density, and color mixing.

Ocean Sensory Bag

The Ocean Sensory Bag is a creative and educational activity that allows kids to explore ocean life in a tactile way.

By filling a Ziploc bag with blue hair gel and small ocean-themed toys, children can create their own sensory bag inspired by the ocean.

This fun and interactive project helps kids learn about sea creatures, colors, textures, and sensory play.

Ocean Sensory Bin

The Ocean Sensory Bin is a fun and immersive way for kids to discover the wonders of the ocean.

By filling a plastic container with blue water beads, toy sea creatures, and seashells, children can create their own mini ocean world.

This hands-on activity encourages exploration, imagination, and learning about marine life and habitats.

DIY Ocean Drum Craft for Kids

Ocean drums, sometimes called wave drums, are fun and make a perfect ocean activity or a fun idea for a beach theme for kids.

How to Make an Ocean Zone Density Jar

Learn about density and the layers of the ocean with this ocean zone density jar science activity.

Clean Water Experiment for Kids

Learn about keeping our water and oceans clean with this clean water STEM challenge.

Ocean in a Bottle: an Oil and Water Science Activity

This ocean sensory bottle with baby oil is great for sensory play with young kids.

Your kids will love having their own ocean in a bottle right at home!

Ocean Science for Kids – Easy Ocean Life Experiment Kids Love

This ocean density jar has an ocean floor, ocean water, ocean life, the sky, and fluffy clouds.

Your kids will have so much fun creating and learning about the ocean.

Ocean Slime

Create this fun ocean slime while also learning about the science of slime!

Ocean Sensory Bottle for Kids with Video

See how easy it is to make your own magical ocean waves sensory bottle.

From building miniature coral reefs to exploring underwater habitats with virtual reality, these ocean-themed STEM activities are sure to be a great way for you and your preschooler to explore the wonders of the sea.

With age-appropriate learning opportunities that are both educational and fun, you’ll be sure to make a splash as you introduce them to the beauty of the deep blue!

So why not take advantage of this opportunity today and start planning some exciting ocean adventures? Your little scientist will thank you for it!

Tara is the brains behind Homeschool Preschool, where her journey from preschool and public school teacher to homeschooling mom of three fuels her passion for early childhood education. With a blend of expertise and firsthand experience, Tara’s writings offer practical tips and engaging resources to support families in creating meaningful learning adventures at home.

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Preschool Inspirations

Preschool Activities and Learning

Preschool Ocean Theme Activities that Kids Love

June 15, 2019 by Editor Leave a Comment

Use these preschool ocean theme activities for an engaging and exciting hands-on ocean unit or ocean lesson plan.

The ocean is one of my absolute favorite preschool themes that I repeat year after year. The ocean is such a magical oasis and full of life. Kids absolutely love exploring ocean animals, learning what lurks in the deep waters, and of course beach sand! You can easily make this theme last as long as you like with all these engaging and hands-on activities.

Preschool Ocean Theme Activities

What is the first song that you think of when you hear the word OCEAN? If you said Baby Shark, you would be on the same track as me. Kids are fascinated with this song! I have seen a handful of fun song videos that have intrigued my kids. Check them out at our Ultimate List Of The Best Baby Shark Song Videos!

Ocean Theme Math Ideas

Jellyfish Counting  1-11 from In My World Adding tentacles to these jellyfish is a super simple way to practice counting and number sense for numbers 1-11. This also will help strengthen fine motor skills!

Fish Bubble Counting Mats from The Measured Mom Counting mats are a fantastic tool for math. These can be used individually as a math center or in a small group. It is such an inviting way for children to work on math skills and when they’re adding each “bubble,” they’re also using those great fine motor skills too!

Pearl Color Matching from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games I love how unique this matching game is. The pom-poms represent the pearls in this color matching activity. This helps the children recognize different colors and match them/count them.

Ocean Shells Graphing from One Time Through Graphing is an important math skill that can be introduced to preschoolers. Kids will enjoy this math graphing idea because it is actually graphing with the shells. This is the epitome of hands-on math!

Ocean Alphabet and Literacy Ideas

The Best Ocean Books For Kids from Preschool Inspirations Books are my favorite way to explore, teach, inspire, and dream. These are our favorite books that correlate with an ocean theme and are enjoyable for little minds!

Alphabet Fish Magnetic Memory Game from Stir The Wonder Kids love magnets, right? This is a great way to encourage children to practice alphabet matching. It is an engaging game that they will love playing so much, they won’t even know how much they are actually learning!

Ocean Letter Find Activity from ABC’s of Literacy This hands-on uppercase and lowercase activity is a fantastic way to introduce and practice letters. Children are to identify letters by covering each letter with a mini eraser or manipulative.

Ocean Beginning Sounds from Planning Playtime These adorable ocean animal letter cards are the perfect way to help children with letter identification and recognition as well as beginning sounds!

Don’t Soak The Shark from Toddler Approved This fabulous letter recognition game is perfect if it is warm outside! Kids can get some sun, play with water, and still be learning!

Ocean STEM Activities

Ocean Theme Sensory Bottle from Preschool Inspirations The animals in this discovery bottle, are staying suspended – just like in the ocean. How? Explore the deep blue sea with this exciting discovery bottle!

Easy Ocean Life Experiment For Kids from Natural Beach Living This jar is fantastic fun… not only is it fun to put together and look at but it can teach so many different elements of ocean life!

Ocean Zones and Animals from The Kindergarten Connection Learn about which ocean zones animals live in, then make the zones including the animals! Such a fun hands-on activity!

Frozen Ocean Animal Rescue from Mama Pappa Bubba A fun activity that will rescues the animals while exploring the science behind melting ice. Kids will love this sensory + STEM activity!

Feels Like Beach Sand Ocean Theme Sensory Bin from Preschool Inspirations One of my favorite ways to help children explore a new topic is with sensory bins. They are exploring with all of their senses, which makes learning even more fun! This beach sand feels like real sand so much that it makes me want a vacation!

Ocean Science: Saltwater & Sand from Gift Of Curiosity Saltwater and sand are key components of the sea. These simple activities are an engaging way for children to explore these parts of the water!

O is for Octopus from Learn Play Imagine The octopus is a fascinating animal, partly because of its ability to ink. This exploration of octopus ink will give kids the knowledge of how, why, and WOW!

Rocky Shore Small World Playdough Activity from Buggy and Buddy Playdough is one of our favorite activities. This small world playdough activity will help children see a depiction of the ocean right in front of them. They can explore and pretend, which are important elements of being a preschooler!

Ocean Art & Crafts

DIY Sea Stars from Preschool Inspiration These sea stars are the perfect DIY for your preschool classroom. They hold up against preschool hands and they are so much fun to play with! 

Shell Painting from Fun A Day Bring art and the ocean together. Painting takes all forms, including paper, clay, and shells too!

Seashell Collage from Art Bar These seashell collages are the perfect art idea! It has process art and the beauty of the water all in one. It’s a great keepsake that kids and parents will adore and want to hang on their walls!

Paper Bag Jelly Fish from No Time For Flash Cards This animal craft is the perfect activity to help kids with color mixing and scissor skills! Plus it is easy and adorable!

Starfish Craft from My Mommy Style This craft is not only beautiful but a great way to practice and strengthen fine motor skills as well as introduce symmetry.

If you want even more preschool activities with an ocean theme, there are 24 engaging activity ideas in this bundle ! It’s a whole ready-made lesson plan!

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Science Fun

Ocean Science Experiments

Ocean and marine animal science experiments you can do at home! Click on the experiment image or the view experiment link below for each experiment on this page to see the materials needed and procedure. Have fun trying these experiments at home or use them for SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT IDEAS.

Underwater Volcanos:

Explore Ocean Currents And Underwater Geography

Coastal Erosion:

Examine Shifting Shorelines

Seashells And Vinegar:

Making Waves With Chemical Reactions

Frozen Ocean:

Can The Ocean Freeze?

Polar Bear Blubber:

Shortening, a Household Insulator

DIY Hydrophobic Sand:

Make Sand That Is Scared Of Water

50+ Ocean Preschool Activities (that they’ll actually love)

Are you ready to set off on an adventure of learning with your little ones? These ocean preschool activities are packed with hands-on learning and fun ideas for the kids. Is your preschool crew ready for an exciting adventure? An ocean theme is a fantastic way to engage young learners and spark their curiosity about the underwater world. From playful ocean animals to the mysteries of the deep, this theme offers endless possibilities for fun and educational activities.

Whether you call it an ocean theme preschool , under the sea preschool activities , or something else entirely, this approach allows you to create a captivating learning environment. It’s perfect for incorporating a variety of preschool ocean activities , ocean theme preschool activities, or even broader under the sea preschool activities !

Let’s dive into some creative ideas to make your ocean theme a splash with your preschoolers. You’ll find everything from captivating ocean animal activities to imaginative under the sea activities, all designed to turn your classroom into an engaging learning environment.

An ocean theme is a perfect way to spark curiosity and engage preschoolers in a world of discovery. And the best part? I’ve listed all my favorites right here in this post!

This post contains affiliate links*

Ocean Preschool and Kindergarten Activities

It’s no wonder this theme is a popular one with kids, teachers and parents alike! From exploring seahells, water and sand, it’s just tons of fun!

I always like to combine themes with learning and I find a theme for each season really enticing for preschoolers.

These printables below are perfect for you if you’re planning an ocean theme in your classroom!

Is Your Preschooler Drowning in Boredom? 🆘

50+ pages of ocean fun for preschoolers.

Struggling to keep your little one engaged and learning? Feeling lost at sea when it comes to finding creative activities? This exclusive 50-page Ocean Preschool & Kindergarten Workbook is your life raft!

I have not had more success in engaging them all summer long – but by using these activities, I also incorporated a lot of sensory activities. These were perfect for on the go long drives and home ‘work’.

Packed with vibrant illustrations, fun-filled exercises, and captivating ocean themes, this workbook will transform playtime into an educational adventure.

Don’t let your child get shipwrecked by boredom – click here to grab your copy today and unlock a world of ocean learning! Limited time offer only through this post.

Under the Sea Theme Preschool

There are tons of skills covered in this post, and I like to include a bit of everything in each theme. Here are some of the skills covered and some of them are quite new to the scene, like SEL and fine motor.

• Alphabet recognition
• Letter sounds
• Counting practice
• Number sense activities
• Fine motor skills and more!

You can teach important skills while also using a theme kids absolutely adore!

5 Ocean Homeschool Activities at Home

Sometimes, all you’re looking for are easy at home activities with materials you’ve got, and here are my favorites. These would go so well with the following materials:

• Package Includes: you will get 120 acrylic multicolored fake crushed gems (red, green, purple,…
• Reliable Material and Proper Size: these multicolored fake crushed gems are acrylic material, the…
• Improves Fine Motor Skills: this sorting material set can improve your cutie’s sorting and counting…

• 【Counting and Color Sorting】Our irresistible Montessori toys make counting and color sorting…
• 【Foster Fine Motor Skills】By using tweezers to grasp beads, this toy can help standardize…
• 【Kindergarten Learning Activities】 Toddlers learn numbers and early color matching every time…

• 🌳🐻【Wooden Lacing Cards for Kids】Our forest animal wooden lacing card is the PERFECT CHOICE…
• 🌳🦌【Forest Animal Sewing Toys】Our cute wooden toy set includes 6 forest animal panels…
• 🌳🦊【Arts and Crafts Kits for Toddlers 】 Our toddler activities learning toy is designed to…
• Underwater Sensory Bin: Fill a bin with blue beans, sand, or water beads. Add plastic sea creatures, shells, and scoops for hours of imaginative play!
• Ocean Creature Puppets: Cut out and decorate paper bags or cardboard rolls to resemble fish, turtles, or octopuses. Let your child narrate their own underwater puppet show!
• Build a Coral Reef: Use cardboard boxes, egg cartons, and paint to create a vibrant coral reef. Decorate with construction paper fish and other ocean creatures.
• Ocean Yoga: Find some ocean-themed yoga poses online or create your own! Encourage your child to imitate a starfish, downward-facing dolphin, or a majestic seahorse.
• Ocean Soundscape: Gather household items to make ocean sounds. Use a whisk for waves, a crinkled plastic bag for wind, and marbles in a jar for bubbles. Let your child create their own ocean symphony!

Amazon Ocean Theme Classroom

I’m obsessed with creating a captivating ocean theme in my classroom, and guess what? Amazon has become my go to! It can become like a rabbit hole though, which means it can be hard to find specific and the best type of materials.

That’s why I’ve curated them for myslef (if I want to come back to them in future) and for you! Here are some of my top picks that will help you create an unforgettable learning environment for your students.

• Super Value Classroom Supplies: You will receive…
• Durable Bulletin Board Paper: printed on thick but…
• Classroom Decorations: use this fun and colorful…
• Unique Design: a variety of designs to meet…

• Nice to sea you: this bulletin board decor set is…
• With glue points: one piece for each letter of…
• Under the sea decor: a variety of ocean themed…
• Gorgeous printing: bulletin board cutouts are…

• AFFORDABLE and EASY – Create classroom decor for…
• DURABLE CONSTRUCTION – Made of high-quality…
• FADE-RESISTANT – Available in vibrant colors and…
• MADE in the USA – Fadeless bulletin board paper…

• Package includes: our ocean bulletin board is 150…
• Giant octopus design: our cutout set includes an…
• Easy to use: these decorative ocean animal cutouts…
• Sturdy material: our ocean animals bulletin board…

Materials to use with ocean theme:

• ALL-IN-ONE SENSORY FUN: Open up the bin to find 24…
• EXPLORE DIFFERENT TEXTURES: Get hands-on with play…
• DISCOVER THE BENEFITS OF SMALL WORLD PLAY: Bring…
• LEARN THROUGH PLAY: Use this sensory bin as an…

• BRING HOME THE BEACH: If you don’t live near the…
• EASY CLEAN UP: When playtime is over just pack…
• GET CREATIVE: One of the beautiful things about…
• WHERE FUN BEGINS: Kidoozie toys are engaging,…

• CONSTRUCTION TOYS FOR 3+: Dig, build, and learn…
• SENSORY BIN: Sensory bins are great toddler…
• TODDLER GIFTS: Give the gift of creative play to…
• SENSORY BIN FILLER: All sensory bins fillers are…

• Valuable Playset: The box includes 2 lbs of…
• Sensory Experience: Magnetic sand is easy to shape…
• Toddler Gift: Best present for kiddos who love sea…
• Easy Clean and Storage: Comes with a beautiful…

• Farm Sensory Bin：This 40pcs sand toys set…
• 2.2lb Play Sand & Storage Box：This play sand is…
• Designed for Small Hands：This farm sensory kit…
• Safe Farm Toy Playset：Our farm toy playsets…

• Messy and Sensory Play – The Inspire My Play…
• Designed for Play – Unlike most products on the…
• Features – The shallow bin doubles up as a lid for…
• Size – With a 15.4″ diameter play area, the large…

Phonics Ocean Activities

These phonics ocean activities are the best way to engage kids when you’re looking to help them learn letter sounds, letter recongition and more.

I Spy Letters Under the Sea

This I spy letters ocean activity kit is one of our favorites! We always grab this when we need some quick and fun activities to work on letter recognition .

/G/ Words Octopus Craft

This super cute activity is one of our favorites, we work on /g/ sounds in all positions as an initial letter sound activity PLUS and speech articulation activity. I’m always combining these two now.

You can get this activity as part of the Ocean Speech Activity bundle here.

/L/ Sound Words Dot Printable

Ever need just some more work on /l/ sounds? This printable comes with images that target the sound in all positions. I love having the kids say each sound 5 times before we ‘smash’ it with a dot marker.

You can also get this as part of the speech & phonics theme bundle here for free.

/P/ Sound Words Dot Printable

Ever need just some more work on /p/ sounds? This printable comes with images that target the sound in all positions. I love having the kids say each sound 5 times before we ‘smash’ it with a dot marker.

Ocean Animals Words Preschool

This ocean animals ‘smash mat’, includes the most popular ocean animals that kids are likely to learn about.

You will guide the child in identifying the names of the ocean animals and then have them smash each word on the mat.

20 More Free Ocean Activities for Preschoolers

Looking for even more ocean fun? Here are 20 additional ideas to keep your little ones engaged:

/G/ Words Feed the Shark

This  G Words Speech Therapy  for initial sounds printable game with dot markers is perfect!

/K/ Initial Words Feed the Shark

This  FREE K Words Speech Therapy  for initial sounds printable game with dot markers is perfect! 

Shark Counting with Pegs

These cards are perfect for both teachers and parents to use as an educational tool for children of all ages.

Ocean Theme Feed the Shark

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karen (@abcsofliteracy)

Fishing Theme Letter Find

Ocean theme sensory.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Motherhood • Creations • Play (@woodentinywonders)

Open Mouth Shark Craft Kids

Shark painted rocks.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Creativity For Days (@creativity_for_days)

Easy Shark Craft

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Arts & Crafts | Unboxing Surprises (@creative.kids.channel)

Fishing for Letters Shark Craft

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Agnes Hsu (@hellowonderful_co)

Shark Number Craft

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kendra Arthur (@the__parenting_game)

Bubble Wrap Octopus

View this post on Instagram A post shared by paper crafts creator (@paper.crafts.in)

Giant Octopus Craft

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kids craft ideas (@luckymarysunshine)

So set sail on an adventure of learning with your little ones! With these free ocean preschool activities, you’re sure to create a wave of excitement and discovery.

For more ocean-themed printables and ideas, be sure to explore my blog! Happy learning!

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40+ Ocean Theme Activities for Preschool

Exploring the natural world underwater and on the beach can be fun and exciting. This list of over 40 ocean themed activities will engage your preschoolers in lots of learning and discovery.

Ocean Theme Activities

1. Ocean Play Dough Surprise Game (Pre-K Pages) –  Combine play dough with  ocean creatures to give your little ones a fun surprise! You can even add an alphabet twist for children who are ready.  This hands-on activity is an awesome way to get children excited to learn about the ocean, and I found that my own children wanted to do it over and over again.

2. Ocean Sensory Bin (Pre-K Pages) – Learning and sensory play is a wonderful combination. After many days of rain in our part of the world we took advantage of a lovely sunny day and did an  ocean  sensory bin.

3. Ocean Picture Books for Preschoolers (Pre-K Pages) – These books will not only help develop critical vocabulary about the ocean and ocean life, but also include many opportunities for literacy, math, and science.

4. Ocean Theme Fine Motor Play (Pre-K Pages) –  Our  ocean theme  sensory and fine motor invitation to play is the perfect way to motivate children to work their hand muscles as they explore!

5. Ocean Theme Snack: Sea Turtles (Pre-K Pages) – Sea turtles are amazing creatures to learn about during an  ocean theme . Here is a simple (and healthy) recipe for a bread and fruit sea turtle snack that you can assemble with your kids at home or in the classroom.

6. Ocean Theme Counting Activity (Pre-K Pages) – The best preschool activities allow children to be interactive and hands on while they explore new concepts. We’ve developed a fun, easy to prepare  ocean theme  counting activity to do just that.

7. Alphabet Shells Sensory Bin (Pre-K Pages) – Digging for alphabet shells is an engaging sensory experience that will give children a chance to learn and play with the alphabet. Preschoolers will enjoy digging in and discovering shells in this  ocean theme  activity.

8. Squishy Fishy Aquariums (Teach Preschool) – Learn how easy it to make these squishy gel bags in this fun sensory experience.

9. Wave Storytelling on the Easel (Teach Preschool) – Explore waves in the ocean through literature, art, water play, and other experiences with this storytelling easel activity.

10. Sponge Painted Fish (Teach Preschool) – After reading the book, Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle, your little ones will love using sponges to paint their own fish in this activity.

11. Ocean Websites for Kids (Prekinders) -Ocean theme activities, lessons, and printables for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten.

12. Ocean Word Cards (Prekinders) – Here’s a set of Ocean/Beach picture word cards that can go with an  Ocean Theme Unit .

13. Fish Play Dough Counting Mats (Prekinders) – These play dough mats are perfect for an ocean theme in your classroom.

14. Small World Ocean Play…Without Water (Powerful Mothering) – These activities are fun to explore the ocean (without any water involved!)

15. Ocean Science Activities (Little Bins for Little Hands) – The fun ocean science activities are perfect for your preschool classroom.

16. Shell Painting (Fun-A-Day) – Painting sea shells is simple, but fun, ocean art for kids!

17. Ocean Play Dough Invitation (Mom Inspired Life) – This ocean play dough invitation is a hands-on way for preschoolers to explore and learn about the ocean habitat.

18. Paper Plate Jelly Fish Craft (Simply Today Life) – With paper plates and streamers, your toddlers will love making these jelly fishes.

19. Ocean Sensory Table (Stir the Wonder) –  No water needed for this fun ocean themed sensor table.

20. Glow in the Dark Ocean Bottle (Sunny Day Family) – Take your sensory bottle to the next level by making it glow in the dark!

21. Beach Cloud Dough (Craftulate) – Make this simple cloud dough from just oil and flour and make it beach themed for your classroom.

22. Five Little Starfish (JDaniel4’s Mom) – A fun kids song or chant becomes even more fun when kids can make a craft to go with it.

23. Suspended Ocean Creature Discovery Bottle (Preschool Inspirations) – Make this easy ocean creature discovery bottle! And the ocean creatures actually stay suspended!

24. Jello Ocean Exploration on the Light Table (Still Playing School) – Use animal figures, light, and gelatin to explore this science concept in a hands on sensory activity for kids.

25. Bubble Wrap Jellyfish (Crafty Kids at Home) –  Gather some bubble wrap and googly eyes and give your little ones the task of creating their own Bubble Wrap Jellyfish craft.

26. Ocean Themed Sensory Play (Playground Parkbench) – A fun silicone mold, and some Jello is all you need for this ocean themed sensory play activity.

27. Ocean Play Dough (My Mundane and Marvelous Life) – Make your own ocean blue play dough, then use shells to make imprints into the dough.

28. Storytelling Sea Shells (Educators’ Spin on It) – Spin a tale with these cute kid-made storytelling sea shells.  They are a great literacy activity extension to fairy tale chapter books.

29. Ocean Inspired Monoprints (Munchkins and Moms) – A little bit of paint goes a long way to create these ocean inspired art prints.

30. Underwater Small World Under the Table (Little Worlds) – Create a whole world under the sea…under the table in this fun activity your toddlers will fall in love with.

31. Shark Attack Punch (Parenting Chaos) – Your little ones will love this punch made with different juices and gummy sharks!

32. Ice Painting with Sea Creatures (Parenting Chaos) – This Ice Painting with Sea Creatures activity could not be easier or more FUN! It only uses two ingredients & the kids have an absolute ball creating with a new medium!

33. Stapling Fish (Brick by Brick) – Your preschoolers will work on their fine motor skills as they staple these fish together in this fun ocean themed activity.

34. Ocean in a Bottle (Happy Hooligans) – Make an ocean in a bottle with 3 easy ingredients.  One of the fastest and easiest-ever science activities for preschoolers.

35. Paper Roll Fish Craft (No Time for Flash Cards) – Save those toilet paper tubes and use them for this easy fish craft.

ADDITIONAL IDEAS– 36. Ocean Animal Printable Clip Cards (A LIttle Pinch of Perfect) – Use these fun printables along with some of our favorite Ocean Themed Activities for a fun day of learning under the sea.

37. Make Ocean Slime (Little Bins for Little Hands) –  Here are 5 basic homemade slime recipes which are quite simple to make for wonderful science and sensory play.

38. Paper Plate Starfish (JDaniel4’s Mom) – Use a paper plate to create this super cute starfish!

39. Free Shark Facts Printable (Natural Beach Living) – Learn all about sharks with these fun shark printables!

40. Lego Brick Ocean Animals (Little Bins for Little Hands) – Come under the sea with LEGO ocean animals for a fun summer LEGO building project the whole family can get into!

41. Ocean Counting Mats (Mom Inspired Life) – These ocean counting mats are such an inviting way to practice counting and number recognition this summer! It’s the perfect addition to an ocean theme.

More Ocean Ideas

1 thought on “40+ Ocean Theme Activities for Preschool”

I love this list, just coming home from the beach a couple weeks ago my toddler would love this!

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Ocean Science for Kids – Easy Ocean Life Experiment Kids Love

It’s summer, so that means it’s the perfect time to enjoy activities on Beach and Ocean Science for kids . Start teaching your children about the beach and ocean life by setting up this fun summer science activity. Kids will love learning about density with an exciting hands-on ocean activity. So gather your preschoolers, kindergarteners, and early elementary children for an easy ocean life experiment they will love.

This ocean density jar has an ocean floor, ocean water, ocean life, the sky, and fluffy clouds. Have fun!

Ocean Science Activities for Kids

Are you starting an ocean theme preschool unit or looking for fun ocean theme ideas to keep your children excited and learning throughout this summer? You’ve come to the perfect place. We love learning and sharing about the beach and filling the year with under the sea activities .

Water Density Experiment

What you will need to make your Ocean Life Density Experiment  is in this picture below. However, I have it displayed in list form towards the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

affiliate links can be found on this blog at no cost to you.

Under the Sea Preschool Activities

Before doing this science experiment, we took some time to read together about the ocean, beach and ocean life.

Spend time talking about what types of things live in the ocean and explaining the different layers in this Science experiment helps the children understand what they are learning.

Under the Sea Science Experiments

Ocean Activities for Preschoolers in Science

Let your children guess where each ocean animal will land inside your density jar. Do they think everything will sink to the sand floor, or will some things float? Let’s see what happens.

Ocean Activities for Preschoolers and Kindergarten

Start by gathering your supplies on a tray for your child. It makes everything run smoother if you can have the set up ready before you start.

Science Activity for Kids – let’s get started

Have your child fill the bottom of the jar with sand a couple of inches deep, depending on the jar.

You only need one drop of food coloring to color the water light blue. The 2nd step is for your child to pour the water into the jar slowly so it fills it about 2/3 full.

I prefer to have the amount of water that’s needed already in a pouring cup for the children to use.

Next, slowly pour in the oil until about an inch from the top of the jar.

Squeeze a thick layer of shaving cream around the inside edge of the jar to resemble puffy clouds. Squeeze a very thin layer on the top of the oil in the center of the jar opening, leaving one or two little holes with no shaving cream. The small holes with no shaving cream will make it much easier to drop stuff into the jar.

I prefer to do the shaving cream squirting myself so it doesn’t go all over the place, but if you have older children doing the science activity, I am sure they can make the clouds themselves.

If you are using glitter , sprinkle that over the shaving cream to represent rain. It will not go through the shaving cream, so that means the rain is still stuck in the clouds.

Beach Science Experiments

• Now it is time to start the density experiment: The sand represents the ocean floor, the water is the ocean water, the oil is the sky, and the white shaving cream is the clouds.

Sand is heavier than water, water is heavier than oil, and oil is heavier than shaving cream, so that is why the density jar is layered that way.

Start dropping in ocean objects to see which will go down in the sand, which will float in water, and which will float in the oil. It all depends on the weight of the objects we are using. We had some ocean objects on the sand, some floated in the water for a few minutes, and the whale, starfish , and the sea plant floated in the oil.

Ocean Books for Kids

Ocean Science Experiments for Preschoolers and Kindergarten

Density jars are an easy and fun way to show kids how different liquids and different objects have different densities. Some liquids float above others (like oil and water), while others sink right through.

Preschool and Kindergarten Ocean Science

This is a fantastic STEM experiment to begin talking about the science behind our oceans and differences in density. For younger kids, it’s a fun beginner activity to explore different solids, liquids, and gas.

Hands-on Science activities are fascinating for children and keep learning new things exciting.

Ocean Science Experiments for Preschoolers

Ocean Life Density Jar

What’s Needed

1 Empty Quart Jar Sand Vegetable/Canola Oil Blue Food Coloring Shaving Cream—foamy type Plastic Ocean Creatures , Glass Rocks or Sea Glass, Aquarium Sea Plants, Small Shells Glitter (optional) Water

1. First, fill the jar’s bottom with sand a few inches deep. 2. Color the water light blue. Slowly pour water into the jar, so it fills it about 2/3 full. 3. Slowly pour in the oil until about an inch from the top of the jar. 4. Squeeze a thick layer of foam shaving cream around the inside edge of the jar to resemble puffy clouds. Squeeze a very thin layer on the top of the oil in the center of the jar opening, leaving one or two little holes with no shaving cream. The little holes with no shaving cream make it much easier to drop stuff into the jar. 5. Now it is time to start the density experiment: The sand represents the ocean floor, the water is the ocean water, the oil is the sky, and the white shaving cream is the clouds. 6. If you are using glitter , sprinkle that over the shaving cream to represent rain. It will not go through the shaving cream, so that means the rain is still stuck in the clouds. 7. Sand is heavier than water, water is heavier than oil, and oil is heavier than shaving cream, so that is why the density jar is layered that way. Start dropping in ocean objects to see which will go down in the sand, which will float in water, and which will float in the oil. It all depends on the weight of the objects we are using. I had some ocean objects on the sand, some floated in the water for a few minutes, and the whale and the sea plant floated in the oil.

This is a fun summer ocean experiment for kids to learn about density!

Beach Stem Activities & Ocean Science Experiment

For more resources, printables, and activities related to the ocean and its inhabitants, please visit our  Oceans Activities  page and my  Under the Sea Pinterest board .

Ocean Slime Science with Clear Slime Recipe  Click Here

Ocean activities for kids.

Studies have shown that you will also love the following articles if you like this. I have pulled them together for you right here!

Ocean Unit Study with Free Ocean Theme Printables

35+ Ocean Theme Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

 20+ under the sea activities for kids.

PIN OCEAN SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS TO SAVE

Ocean Life Density Jar for Kids

• 1 Empty Quart Jar
• Vegetable/Canola Oil
• Blue Food Coloring
• Shaving Cream—foamy type
• Plastic Ocean Creatures Glass Rocks or Sea Glass, Aquarium Sea Plants, Small Shells
• Glitter optional
• First, fill the jar’s bottom with sand a few inches deep.
• Color the water light blue. Slowly pour water into the jar, so it fills it about 2/3 full.
• Slowly pour in the oil until about an inch from the top of the jar.
• Squeeze a thick layer of foam shaving cream around the inside edge of the jar to resemble puffy clouds. Squeeze a very thin layer on the top of the oil in the center of the jar opening, leaving one or two little holes with no shaving cream. The little holes with no shaving cream make it much easier to drop stuff into the jar.
• If you are using glitter, sprinkle that over the shaving cream to represent rain. It will not go through the shaving cream, so that means the rain is still stuck in the clouds.
• Sand is heavier than water, water is heavier than oil, and oil is heavier than shaving cream, so that is why the density jar is layered that way. Start dropping in ocean objects to see which will go down in the sand, which will float in water, and which will float in the oil. It all depends on the weight of the objects we are using. I had some ocean objects on the sand, some floated in the water for a few minutes, and the whale and the sea plant floated in the oil.

 Shark Theme Activities

Click here to learn more, this themed unit study   teaches all about sharks, the sharks of the world, parts of a shark, alphabet activities, graphing sizes, food chain and more..

Packed with   35 pages of learning activities , this shark study is perfect for your children or students.

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The Preschool Toolbox Blog

Educational Learning and Play for Children 2-7

May 11, 2016 Ocean Theme Activities · PreK

38 Ocean Themed Activities for Preschool!

Thanks for sharing!

As our own preschoolers prepare to end our school year, we’d like to offer a special round-up of playful learning activities from the Early Childhood Education Team.  We hope your own kids will love playing and learning this summer with activities centered around an Ocean Theme!

38 Ocean-Themed Activities for Preschool!

Top ten ocean/beach themed activities across all learning areas:.

Top 10 Ocean and Beach Theme Activities

Literacy/Book Activities for Preschool:

I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean Story Book and Activity

A House For Hermit Crab Activities

Commotion in the Ocean Book and Activity

There’s a Shark in the Sea Beginning Sounds Song

Message in a Bottle Craft

Story Telling Sea Shells

Alphabet Ocean Sensory Bin

Alphabet Fun with Seashells

Under the Sea Painting with Pout Pout Fish

Ocean-Themed Math Activities for Preschool:

Find the Hidden Numbers Ocean Clip Cards

Ocean Color Sorting and Threading

Fishbowl Counting Mats and Fishy Letters

Making 10 Addition Puzzles

Ocean I Spy Counting Printable

Ocean Animal Tangram Cards

Free Ocean Matching Pack Printable

Ocean-Themed Science Activities for Preschool:

Sea Turtle Life Cycle and Sensory Bag

Hunting for Sharks Teeth with Kids

Sea Turtle Life Cycles

Jello Ocean Exploration on the Light Table

Ocean-Themed Arts/Crafts/Sensory Play for Preschool:

Collaborative Ocean Art Project for Kids

Ocean Play Dough Invitation to Play and Learn

Small World Ocean Play (Without Water)

Play Sand – Ocean Play

Spin Art Fish

Paper Plate Shell Craft

Ocean Inspired Mono Printing

Laundry Hamper Sailboat

Under the Sea Play Plus Search and Find

Super Simple Ocean Sensory Bin

Ocean-Themed Playdate Suggestions for Preschool:

There are 5 Oceans Children’s Song

DIY Mermaid Tiara to Make and Wear

Host an Ocean Theme Playdate

Ocean Themed I Spy Jar

Ocean Animal Busy Bag

Painted Shells Art Project

Make Rainbow Sea Shells

Water Color and Salt Coral Reef

For even MORE ways to play and learn this summer, please see the OCEAN THEMATIC UNIT here on the blog! $10.00 – Ocean Thematic Unit for Preschool Checkout Added to cart

Join our newsletter & receive the FREE DOWNLOAD: Explorations with ALL 5 SENSES! Enjoy in the classroom or at home!

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July 5, 2016 at 4:49 am

thanks for sharing your information,very useful information

critical thinking activities for preschoolers

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Preschool Ocean Theme Activities

Here are some hands-on Pre-K & Preschool Ocean theme activities for learning about ocean animals. This page includes Ocean Activities for Math, Literacy, Science, and more.

Find more Ocean Activities for Pre-K

Your little learners will enjoy these preschool ocean theme activities! You will find ideas for teaching math, literacy, fine motor, science, and more. Read more to find activities for art, letters, counting, songs, and how to make wave bottles.

Ocean Books

Click here for a complete list of books about Ocean Animals

Preschool Ocean Large Motor Games

Children crawl like a crab from one point to another. After children have had some practice, have them figure out a way to carry a bean bag while crawling like a crab.

Preschool Ocean Fine Motor Activities

Sea shell play dough prints.

Children use seashells in the play dough area to press into the play dough to make prints. You can do the same activity using self hardening clay and the children can keep them.

Preschool Ocean Art Activities

Ocean art: colored tape fish.

Children draw their own fish on a piece of paper. They tear off pieces of colored masking tape and stick them on for the fish’s gills.

Wax Resist Ocean Art

Children draw an ocean scene or one ocean animal with oil pastels. They paint over the whole paper with blue watercolor paint to create the water. The wax in the oil pastels resists the water, so the picture shows through the paint.

Ocean Art: Sea Salt Paint

The children mix their own salt paint, and then paint a picture of an ocean animal.

Salt paint recipe: 2 tsp. Salt 1 tsp. Liquid starch Few drops of food coloring

Mix ingredients together. The salt gives a frosted or sandy appearance to the paint.

Preschool Ocean Literacy Activities

Ocean bingo.

Use this for Literacy or Math. Use plastic fish counters to cover the letter/number/shape on the bingo cards. We use these to play alphabet bingo, number bingo, shape bingo, or rhyming bingo.

Ocean Roll & Write Game

Children love this game to practice writing skills! Print and find directions here:  Roll & Write Games

Ocean Bingo Stamping Game

Use this for Literacy or Math. Read about and print the Ocean Bingo Game here .

Ocean Story Retelling

This is an activity that goes with any theme. Choose a book that goes with the theme, and have the children retell the story. Read the blog post here for details: story retelling

Ocean Alphabet Activity

Children can match letters or match letters to beginning sounds with this ocean alphabet activity: Purchase the Ocean Math and Literacy pack here .

Ocean Rhyming

Children can match rhyming pictures on the starfish to the rhyming word pictures in the tide pool with this ocean rhyming activity: Purchase the Ocean Math and Literacy pack here .

Preschool Ocean Math Activities

Ocean math game: fishing game.

Our “ocean” is a blue shower liner on the floor. Paper fish have 0-10 dots on them, with a paperclip attached, and are tossed onto the “ocean”. Children catch a fish with magnetic fishing pole, count the dots on the fish, and write or stamp the numeral on a fish cutout. The magnetic fishing poles were made with a magnet wand tied to a rhythm stick with string.

Ocean Math Game: Fish Flop

Children use spray-painted beans (one side yellow, one side blue) as pretend fish. Ten fish are placed in each child’s cup. The children dump the cup onto the table and count to see how many fish flopped on the blue side and how many flopped on the yellow side.

Ocean Pattern Block Mats

Read about and print here:  Pattern Block Mat Printables . (Go to this page and look for the fish mats.)

Ocean Grid Game

Read about about print here: Grid Games

Ocean Roll & Cover Math Game

This roll and cover game can be used to practice counting and numeral recognition. Read about and print it here:  Roll and Cover Games

Ocean Geoboards

Children will practice shapes and fine motor skills by creating the ocean designs on the geoboards.  Purchase these Ocean geoboard cards here .

Ocean Shapes Play Dough Mats

Children can build the fish shapes with these ocean shapes mats: Purchase the Ocean Math and Literacy pack here .

Ocean Patterns

Use colored manipulatives to practice ocean patterns! Includes AB, AABB, ABC, ABB, AAB patterns. Purchase the Ocean Math and Literacy pack here .

Preschool Ocean Science Activities

Ocean wave bottles.

Children use a funnel to pour a cup full of baby oil (or cooking oil) into a clear plastic bottle. They fill the bottle the rest of the way with water. We give the liquid a chance to settle, then add a few drops of blue food coloring. It’s fun to watch the blue as it drops through the oil and “explodes” into the water. Last, we add plastic “fish” (sequins), and make waves by turning the bottle sideways and rocking it gently.

Sea Turtle Life Cycle

This Sea Turtle Life Cycle set includes life cycle posters, sequencing cards, mini book for students in black and white, and a full size book in color for a read aloud. Teach your preschoolers about sea turtles and how they grow! Purchase the Sea Turtle Life Cycle here .

Ocean Cooking Activities

Ocean snack: tuna fish sandwich.

With this snack, we get to taste something that comes from the sea. We use a fish cookie cutter to cut two pieces of bread. We make tuna salad by adding mayonnaise and sweet pickles to a drained can of tuna. Then, spread the tuna on the sandwich.

Ocean in a Cup

We place three vanilla wafers in a ziplock bag and crush them to make sand. We pour the sand in the bottom of a clear cup, and scoop blue Jello on top. Last, we add gummy fish.

More Ocean Activities

Ocean / beach prop box.

Suntan lotion bottles, Sunglasses, Flip flops, Radio, Swim fins, Face mask, Beach hats, Beach ball, Towels, Ice chest, Juice cans, Cassette tapes of beach songs, Buckets, Pails, Sand molds, Beach chairs, Mini umbrella

Ocean Related Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes that go well with an Ocean Theme:

• Rub a Dub Dub
• Catch a Floater

Catch a floater, catch an eel, Catch a lazy whale, Catch an oyster by the heel And put him in a pail.

Look for a printable poster of the Rub a Dub Dub nursery rhyme on the Nursery Rhymes Page .

Ocean Songs

Find lots of Ocean Songs for Music and Movement

Ocean Activities In My Shop

You might like this Animal Environments Sort & Classify pack, which includes ocean, polar, safari, forest, and farm animals and their environments. Available in my shop.

Ocean Preschool Links

• Ocean Unit @ Pre-KPages.com
• Rainbow Fish Craft by Ivory Gilcher
• Starfish @ Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

Title image graphics by Kate Hadfield Designs .

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Ocean Science Experiments

Looking for a creative and fun way to teach your kids about ocean science? With these Ocean Science Experiments , you can turn your home into an ocean-themed laboratory!

For more ocean ideas, have a look at my list of fun Ocean Activities for Kids .

From an ocean in a bottle to a diving fish experiment, each of these activities will capture the curiosity and imagination of children while teaching them all about the wonders of the ocean. Get ready to dive in and explore!

This post may contain affiliate links meaning I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Read my disclosure policy here.

See a list of my favorite Amazon Deals for your home and homeschool.

Fun Ocean Science Activities

Are you looking for ocean science activities that are easy, fun, and educational? Whether you’re homeschooling or just want to teach your kids about the wonders of the ocean, these activities are sure to get your kids excited about science.

Visit an aquarium or beach

Kids will love to see the ocean or the ocean creatures right before their eyes. So planning for a trip like this is always a good idea. Bring with you some ocean printables like notebooking pages, worksheets, coloring pages, and more, so kids will have a great learning experience. You can also do a scavenger hunt at the beach. It will be fun!

Build an Ocean Diorama

Build a model of the ocean and talk about the ocean floor, waves, corals, and all living things we can see in the ocean! Kids will love to see miniature versions of their favorite ocean animals!

Science Experiments

You can teach kids about the colors of the ocean, water currents and the movement of water molecules in a fun and hands-on way with science experiments. For example, you can have an ocean in a bottle experiment, ocean-themed slime, diving fish experiment, and more!

You can look for great science experiments from the list that I’ve prepared below.

Recommended Ocean Books for Kids

Have a better understanding of ocean life with these ocean books. Kids will learn important lessons about how animals and other living things survive under the ocean and what we can do to protect them.

Recommended Ocean Activity Kits

Are you looking for ocean activities for kids but don’t want to worry about all the supplies?

Little Learners Print & Go Math Kit: Ocean

This set of ocean math worksheets will help your preschooler or kindergarten student master the foundations of math concepts, and get them on the road to enjoying numbers.

Ocean Craft Kit

Grab this Ocean Craft Kit that will encourage your kids to use their imagination and creativity.

Ocean Busy Box Kit

Get them this Ocean Busy Box Kit that includes cute ocean animals that they can play with.

Your little one will enjoy learning about the ocean with these ocean science experiments. They are easy, fun, and educational. Kids will love them!

Ocean in a Bottle Experiment

You don't have to dive into the ocean to see what it looks like. This Ocean in a bottle experiment will bring the ocean to the comfort of your home.

Simple Sand Slime Recipe

Follow this simple recipe on how to make a sand slime.

Make An Underwater Volcano Ocean Science Experiment

Are you wondering how underwater volcanoes erupt? This science experiment will let kids visualize the event.

Seashells And Vinegar Ocean Science Experiment

See what happens when you put seashells in vinegar..

Diving Fish Cartesian Diver Experiment

Discover how fish rise and sink with this simple science experiment.

Lifelike Jellyfish in a Bottle Science Experiment!

This lovely experiment showcases a lifelike jellyfish. They're fun and easy to do.

Easy Desalination Science Project for Kids

This science activity will teach kids how to remove salt from water.

Make Your Own Ocean Zones in a Jar

Grab a jar and make this science experiment to find out the different zones of an ocean.

Ocean Currents Science Experiment

Watch how ocean currents are formed in this amazing science experiment.

What is Pollution? - Visual Sea Pollution Demonstration

Try this science experiment to teach kids about sea pollution and what they can do to prevent it.

Inspiring Kids to Protect Our Oceans Oil Spill Activity

Teach your kids about the harm of oil spills to the ocean while doing this exciting activity.

Ocean Science for Kids – Easy Ocean Life Experiment Kids Love

Kids will be so excited about your ocean-themed density lesson with this experiment.

Wave in a Bottle | Activity | Education.com

Check out this science experiment about what waves look like. It's perfect for your ocean science lesson.

Salt Water Experiment

Gather the materials needed to make this interesting science experiment about saltwater. Will the items sink or float in saltwater?

These ocean experiments provide hands-on learning opportunities for children while introducing them to various scientific concepts such as density, wave motion, viscosity, thermal expansion/contraction, states of matter etc., making them ideal for homeschooling parents who want their children to learn about ocean science without leaving their home.

Try out any one (or all) of these experiments today and turn your homeschool into an exciting ocean-themed laboratory!

More Ocean Activities

Ocean Animals Food Chain Printables

Ocean Counting Mats

Ocean Zones Worksheets

Free Under the Sea Coloring Pages

Ocean Crafts for Preschoolers

Ocean Coloring Pages for Kindergarten

Ocean Themed ABC Spin & Color  from 3 Dinosaurs

Ocean Coloring Pages for Preschoolers  from Homeschool Preschool

I share educational printables and activities to help homeschoolers make learning science fun and engaging!

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