If your summer adventures or classroom lessons are taking you under the sea, try incorporating these great ocean theme activities. They are chock full of learning opportunities, skill reinforcement, and fun! The ideas can also be adapted for one child or thirty, depending on the size of your home, class or camp audience.
Ocean Activities for Kids
I Caught a Fish This Big!
Liven up class or camp games with this fun math fishing activity. Cut out a dozen fish of varying lengths from poster board or card stock. Laminate them and attach a magnetic circle to one end. Turn two dowels into fishing poles by attaching strings and magnets to one end of each pole. Then, in an unused corner of the room, construct a fishing area by placing a large appliance box covered in blue paper with wave edges. The box should be tall enough that the children cannot see into it when fishing, but low enough that the poles will reach the bottom. Have kids work in pairs to go fishing. When they have caught all of the fish, have them measure each one and add up the lengths. The person who has caught the longest length of total fish is the winner. Adapt the game to reinforce different skills, such as, measuring in centimeters vs. inches, multiplying the lengths vs. adding them, graphing the order of the fish caught by length, etc.
Fish Plates
For this simple craft you will need paper plates, crayons, markers, glitter glue and scissors. Give each child a plate and have them draw lines on the back to divide the plate into six equal parts. Next, have them cut out one of the one-sixth “slices” of plate. The missing area is now the fish’s mouth and the cut out piece can be stapled onto the back for the tail fin. Have students decorate the fish and hang them from the ceiling as decorations. Another idea is to have students create a fish for each book that they read during the duration of the ocean unit and create a bulletin board to display the group’s reading achievements.
Marine Life Coloring Book
This quick coloring book resource is a great way to start a packet of ocean related activities for the week. Have students color in the pages and write a fact about either the ocean creatures or area of the world that the picture depicts. The pictures could also be used as inspiration for a creative writing or drama station. Children can create a skit using possible dialogues between the scuba divers once they return to the surface, or even what the sea creatures may be thinking when they see the divers. Even as a simple coloring book it is great to have on hand for long bus rides or rainy days.
Ocean Bottles
This easy idea is perfect for hot summer days when kids might need a chance to get a little wet. Be sure to do this outdoors under a tree or pavilion!
What are some of your favorite ocean related activities and lessons? Share with us!
Kim Smythe says
I love these ideas! We also made Jelly fish with small paper plates cut in half, with white crepe paper streamers. They look very cool hung from the ceiling!