The ocean is vast and home to many different animals. From fishes to turtles to enormous whales, there are various animals for kids to craft!
Let kids bring the ocean and its many animals home with these ocean crafts!
These 30 ocean crafts are arranged by skills level (easy, moderate, and challenging).
Easy Ocean Crafts Toddlers Can Do
These are 16 fun and simple ocean craft activities toddlers can mostly do by themselves (with a little help from a grown-up) that can also help develop fine motor skills.
1. Paper Plate Octopus Craft
Photo credit: Buggy and Buddy
Paper plates and pasta are some of the most used crafting materials. For this octopus craft by Buggy and Buddy, you’ll need paper plates, a hole puncher, pipe cleaners, markers, and rigatoni pasta.
Cook what’s left of the pasta for a quick snack with your kids!
2. Paper Plate Pufferfish Craft
Photo credit: Buggy and Buddy
Here’s another paper plate ocean animal craft from Buggy and Buddy. This time, your kids will make a paper plate pufferfish.
While people tend to stay away from these ocean animals because of their poisonous spines, kids can safely take them home with this craft!
All you need is a paper plate, scissors, Q-tips, paint, a paintbrush, glue, construction paper, and markers.
3. Paper Plate Crab Craft
Photo credit: Kids Craft Room
Want to make crabs that rock? Kids Craft Room shows kids how to create this rocking paper plate crab craft with the use of a paper plate, orange paint, scissors, glue, googly eyes, markers, sticky tape, a hole puncher, and round-head fasteners.
Since round-head fasteners have the potential to poke or be sharp, it’s best for a grown-up to handle this step.
4. Egg Carton Oyster Craft
Photo credit: Steamsational
The world is your oyster! Kids can make this easy-to-do oyster craft and bring their own oysters home.
Steamsational demonstrates how to make a cute egg carton oyster craft with an egg carton, googly eyes, glue, scissors, a pom pom, paint, and a paintbrush.
5. Egg Carton Whale Craft
Photo credit: I Heart Crafty Things
Upcycling an egg carton, I Heart Crafty Things shows kids how to make this adorable little whale craft using the dimples. Whales are really large animals, but this craft lets kids take one home in a small package.
The other materials include blue pipe cleaners, blue cardstock, blue paint, googly eyes, markers, a paintbrush, scissors, and glue.
6. Empty Toilet Paper Roll Octopus Craft
Photo credit: Kids Activities
What other things from your home can kids upcycle to make ocean crafts? An empty toilet paper roll! Using an empty toilet paper roll, paint, markers, and scissors, Kids Activities gives kids a tutorial on how to easily make an octopus.
7. CD and Button Turtle Craft
Photo credit: Fireflies + Mid Pies
Speaking of upcycling, if you have some old and unwanted CDs at home, Fireflies + Mid Pies shows kids how to make a colorful turtle craft using a CD.
Aside from a CD, kids will need buttons, googly eyes, scissors, a green marker, glue, tape, and a black pen. Fireflies + Mid Pies also has a free printable template.
WARNING: I recommend a grown-up supervise kids with this craft as buttons can be a choking hazard!
8. CD Fish Craft
Photo credit: Healthy Happy Thrifty Family
Here’s another colorful aquatic animal you can make with CDs! Healthy Happy Thrifty Family shows kids how to make a CD fish craft using a CD, glue, scissors, sequins, and colored construction paper.
9. Handprint Ocean Animal Crafts
Craftionary shows kids, with some colored construction paper, how to make five simple handprint ocean animal crafts. Other materials include scissors, markers, glue, and googly eyes (optional) – that’s it!
10. Paper Narwhal Craft
Photo credit: DLTK
Unicorns don’t exist, but the ocean has the next best thing! Narwhals have been called the unicorn of the sea (or the Jedi of the sea for Star Wars fans), and kids can make them at home with this guide from DLTK that provides free colored and black and white templates.
The materials needed are scissors, glue, paper, googly eyes (optional), and paint.
11. Paper Whale Craft
Here’s another, larger, whale craft from KROKOTAK that just uses blue paper, a marker, colored pencils, scissors, and glue. They also include a free printable template in the video description!
12. Paper Starfish Craft
Here’s a quick and easy-to-do paper starfish craft by Yen’s Art. What do you need? Just paper, scissors, and a marker (optional)!
13. Honeycomb Pufferfish Craft
Photo credit: Tinkerabout
Do you want a 3D pufferfish craft? Then check out this tutorial from Tinkerabout! The materials you need are 2” honeycomb balls, googly eyes, colored construction paper, glue, and scissors.
14. Spiky Sensory Ball Pufferfish Painting
Photo credit: Crafty Morning
Just like how almost anything can be used for crafting, almost anything can be used as a canvas! Crafty Morning ingeniously uses a spiky sensory ball to paint a pufferfish. The pointy ball, when stamped, easily lets kids paint a pufferfish.
The other materials needed are paint, black and white paper, wax paper, black marker, glue, and scissors.
15. Seashell Crab Craft
Just like their name implies, this seashell crab craft tutorial from Easy Kids Craft is easy! All you need are shells, pipe cleaners, paint, a paintbrush, glue, and googly eyes – simple, right?
16. Paper Octopus Craft
Rounding off this section of crafts for toddlers, we have this neat paper octopus craft from Craft Sweet Craft. All you need is colored cardstock, glue, googly eyes, a stapler, scissors, a pencil, an elastic cord or string, and various sizes of hole punchers (5mm, 15mm, and 25mm).
This one may require a little more help from a grown-up, but kids can hang this craft in their room or can be used as a baby mobile!
Moderate Level Ocean Crafts For Preschoolers
These nine ocean crafts are more suitable for preschoolers to make with supervision from a grown-up.
17. Yarn Octopus Craft
Photo credit: Aunt Annie
Do you have some yarn at home? Aunt Annie has a tutorial that shows kids how to make a lovely yarn octopus craft. All you need is yarn, glue, googly eyes, cotton balls, a ruler, and scissors.
18. Origami Manta Ray Craft
Kids have probably made paper boats and planes before, but origami ocean animals are much better for developing motor skills!
This detailed tutorial from Easy Origami helps teach kids how to make this origami manta ray craft using a sheet of paper.
19. Mini Clay Ocean Animals
While a grown-up needs to help bake these clay ocean animals when they’re done, kids can mold these animals all by themselves. Despite Clueless Crafts making mini ocean animals, kids can make bigger ones, too!
20. Paper Plate Ocean Craft
Eat your vegetables, kids! Or use them as art materials. Super Simple Arts and Crafts uses celery sticks to stamp fish in this paper plate ocean craft. Other materials are a paper plate, glue, paint, a paintbrush, colored tissue paper, and small stones.
21. Paper Plate Beach Craft
Pasta, celery, and now corn flakes! Crafts with Toddler shows kids a beach craft using corn flakes as sand. They also use a paper plate, paint, glue, a paintbrush, Q-tip, scissors, colored paper, seashells, drinking straws, a Ziploc bag, a rolling pin, and a toothpick.
22. Egg Carton Ocean Craft
Photo credit: The Imagination Tree
This time, from The Imagination Tree, let’s use the entire egg carton! Their tutorial shows kids how to make an egg carton ocean craft using an egg carton, seashells, blue paint, glitter glue, pebbles, colored cardstock, colored tissue paper, colored foam sheets, plastic gems, glue, and scissors.
23. DIY Ocean In A Bottle Craft
Give kids the ocean in a small package with this ocean in a bottle craft! Dream Gem shows kids how to make this beautiful ocean in a bottle craft by using a bottle, oil, water, and blue food dye.
24. Mini Aquarium Bottle Craft
Photo credit: A Little Pinch of Perfect
A Little Pinch of Perfect demonstrates how you can also bring underwater animals home to your kids! The materials needed are an empty plastic bottle, seashells, blue food dye, water, small ocean animal toys, and sand.
25. Ocean Sensory Bag Craft
Here’s a more stimulating and squishy ocean craft for your kids. This ocean sensory bag from Kids Activities is perfect to pass the time. What you need is a Ziploc bag, hair gel, blue food dye (optional), glitter, small ocean animal toys, and packing tape.
Challenging and Fun Ocean Crafts For Older Kids
These last five ocean crafts will definitely require more help from a grown-up, making them more suitable for older kids.
26. DIY Ocean Slime Jar Craft
This is an even squishier craft! In this fun and educational tutorial, Goldieblox shows kids how to make this ocean slime jar craft with glue, slime activator (contact solution mixed with baking soda), black and blue food coloring, sand, mixing bowls, and a jar.
The result is a beautiful ocean slime that shows the different layers of the ocean. This is a great science experiment for kids to do!
27. DIY Seashell Seahorse Craft
Photo credit: My Pinterventures
We’ve shown a seashell crab, but here’s another take on seashell animals!
My Pinterventures shows us how to put together this picturesque seashell seahorse craft! What you need is a picture frame, hot glue gun (a grown-up should handle this), seashells, paint, a paintbrush, sea glass, and a piece of chalk or white felt pen.
While this requires a hot glue gun, you can also get a low-temperature glue gun for kids to use (still with proper supervision).
Now, the tutorial shows how to make a huge seashell seahorse craft, but kids can make it any size they want!
28. Plaster of Paris Seashell Mosaic Craft
Photo credit: Alpha Mom
Here’s a beautiful seashell mosaic created with Plaster of Paris by Alpha Mom you and your kids will love! Don’t be too concerned with the plaster because it’s really easy to use.
Aside from Plaster of Paris, all you need are seashells, Mod Podge, pie pans, a bucket, a measuring cup, and something to stir with.
Here’s another take by Beauty and Bedlam where they make Plaster of Paris handprints with plaster, seashells, and sand!
Photo credit: Beauty and Bedlam
Try doing these plaster sand prints next time you go to the beach!
29. Seashell Pot Crafts
We’ve shown cute crabs made of seashells, and we’ve shown a seahorse made from seashells, so what else can be made with seashells?
AIRINS CRAFT answers that question by showing us how to make a seashell pot! The materials needed are a hot glue gun, craft glue, a balloon, a marker, a lid, and seashells!
You can also opt for a simpler method like this tutorial from Green Plants.
In this tutorial, Green Plants shows kids a simpler way to make a seashell pot by glueing seashells directly onto a pot.
Since both methods require the use of a hot glue gun, a grown-up should help. You can also opt for a low-temperature glue gun so your kids can do the glueing (while still under appropriate supervision, of course).
30. DIY Seashell Water Fountain Craft
DIY mini water fountains and ocean dioramas mostly use resin for the water, which is unsafe for kids.
Infinity Workshop shows us a great alternative to resin. This tutorial uses glue from a hot glue gun for the falling water.
Aside from the hot glue gun, the other materials are seashells, mini plastic plants, small stones, scissors, and a piece of cardboard.
As mentioned previously, you can also have kids use a low-temperature glue gun so they can craft it themselves while a grown-up supervises.
An Ocean Craft Fanta-Sea!
From using paper plates and sea shells to painting with a spiky sensory ball to creating sensory bags and bottles, these 30 crafts will test your kids’ creativity and let them experience an undersea adventure at home.
If you’re looking for more ocean crafts, check out my post on 23 Adorable Jellyfish Crafts!