Whales, dolphins, jellyfish, and starfish - animals of the ocean make fantastic preschool crafts! These ocean animal crafts are a great way to teach kids about the animals found in the ocean, to introduce them to crafts that use a variety of textures and materials, and they are just a fun way to spend an afternoon! Our kids ocean crafts range from simple to complex and can all be modified for any age group. We have done all of these ocean animal crafts in our own home, many of them with our own daughter, so that we can assure you they are child-friendly and easy to do.

Ocean Animal Crafts for Kids

Beaded Starfish Craft beaded starfish craft

This fun beaded starfish craft is a nice activity to do in the summer or when learning about the ocean. It is an easy project that requires just a few materials and takes little time. These starfish look great over an ocean bulletin board if making them at a daycare or camp.


Handprint Hermit Crab Craft handprint hermit crab craft

There are many elements to this Hermit Crab craft that children will just love. They'll be making their handprint and using fuzzy pipe cleaner for the antennas and ripping up the tissue paper for the hermit crab shell. Your child is sure to have a great time creating this one.


Jellyfish Craft kids jellyfish craft

Make our jellyfish craft using paper plates, tissue paper and glue. This is a simple preschool craft that turns out great everytime. Add a string to hang your jellyfish craft from the ceiling to create your own ocean indoors.


Starfish Craft kids starfish craft

Every now and then we create a simple craft that our daughter flips over, and this starfish craft is one of those! Tiny star-shaped pasta gives this starfish craft the bumpy texture of a real starfish. This ocean craft is a fantastic toddler craft or preschool craft.


Octopus Counting Craft octopus counting craft

This craft is both adorable and educational! Kids will enjoy making this cute counting octopus and to complete it they have to count the number of circles on each leg and attach it to the correct spot on the octopus body.


Sock Whale Craft kids whale craft

It took a while to come up with this sock whale craft. There are few materials that let you form a good three dimensional whale! This sock whale craft is easy to put together and our daughter kept giggling because we were crafting with a sock. We hope your kids giggle too.


Letter O Octopus Craft letter o octopus craft

O is for Octopus and it doesn't take much to transfer the letter O into an eight-legged friend. We made our O Octopus craft out of orange construction paper and then used a letter O stamp to make the suckers on his tentacles. This was a great alphabet craft on its own, but would also be great for an ocean craft.


Paper Bag Whale Craft paper bag octopus craft

This paper bag whale craft is made from two lunch bags, a little yarn, and a lot of blue crayon! It requires a little maneuvering of the pieces, but once it's together it's sure to make you smile. Give this great ocean craft for kids a try.


Crab Craft kids crab craft

This styrofoam crab craft is a ocean craft that you can make with your kids. Transform styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners and paint into an incredibly cute crab! This project uses materials with great textures and encourages your children to be creative and use materials in different ways.


Paper Bag Octopus Craft paper bag octopus craft

Turn a paper bag and crumpled newspaper into a happy octopus! Our paper bag octopus craft is a great preschool craft, as young children seem to love watching it come together (we know our daughter did!). This octopus craft was our first attempt at turning a paper bag into an animal craft and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.


Dolphin Craft kids dolphin craft

When we asked our daughter what dolphins do, she responded "they jump out of the water". So we created this dolphin craft to make our paper dolphin do just that! Made from a milk carton, construction paper and our dolphin template, this kids ocean craft can be put together from materials you most likely already have in your home. This is a more advanced kids craft, so we recommend trying with an older child, unless you are able to do a bit of prep work to be able to adapt to a younger child's abilities (and attention span!).


Octopus Craft kids octopus craft

Decorate eight squiggly craft foam legs with pony beads to make this cute octopus craft. This is a fantastic preschool craft and is great for teaching patterns and fine motor skills. Our daughter really enjoyed making this fun ocean animals craft and we hope your kids will too.


Ocean Worksheets for Kids ocean worksheets for kids

Check out our collection of free printable ocean worksheets for kids. We've created a whole set of kids ocean worksheets to go along with this collection of kids ocean animal crafts. This set of printables includes worksheets designed to work on early spelling skills, math skills and more


Letter C Crab Craft letter c crab craft

This crab is made from the letter C and while it is part of our alphabet crafts section, it also makes a perfect addition to our ocean animals section. Kids will have fun making this crab craft and its simple using our instructions and printable C is for Crab template.