Dive deep into a world of imagination and creativity with these fantastic under the sea craft ideas! The ocean holds endless fascination for children, teeming with colourful fish, mysterious creatures, and enchanting legends. Bringing these wonders to life through arts and crafts is a brilliant way to engage kids, spark their curiosity about marine life, and develop their fine motor skills. Forget expensive kits; many of these projects use simple household items and recyclables, making them accessible and eco-friendly too. Let’s explore some fun ways to create your own underwater adventures right at home.
Fantastic Fish Crafts
Fish are often the first sea creatures kids learn about, with their vibrant colours and diverse shapes. Capturing their beauty is easy with these simple craft ideas.
Paper Plate Fish
This is a classic for a reason – it’s easy, versatile, and always looks cheerful! You probably have most materials already.
What you’ll need:
- Paper plates (the uncoated, cheaper kind work best for paint)
- Child-safe paints (various bright colours, especially blues, yellows, oranges, reds)
- Paintbrushes
- Googly eyes
- Glitter or glitter glue (optional, but adds sparkle!)
- Scissors (adult supervision recommended)
- Glue stick or liquid glue
How to make it:
- Start by painting the paper plate entirely in a base colour. Let it dry completely.
- Once dry, cut a triangle wedge out of one side of the plate – this will be the mouth.
- Glue the cut-out triangle onto the opposite side of the plate to form the tail fin.
- Now, let the decorating begin! Kids can paint stripes, spots, or patterns onto their fish body.
- Add some sparkle with glitter glue or by applying liquid glue and sprinkling glitter over it while wet. Shake off the excess.
- Stick on a googly eye near the mouth area.
- Let everything dry thoroughly. You can punch a hole near the top and thread string through to hang your colourful fish!
Handprint Fish
This craft creates a wonderful keepsake, capturing the size of little hands. It’s incredibly personal and sweet.
What you’ll need:
- Washable paint (orange, blue, yellow – any fishy colour!)
- Paper or cardstock (white or light blue works well)
- A paintbrush (optional, for applying paint to hand)
- A shallow tray or paper plate for the paint
- Googly eyes or a marker
- Markers or crayons for details
How to make it:
- Pour some paint onto the shallow tray or paper plate.
- Help your child press their hand (palm and fingers together, thumb slightly out) firmly into the paint, ensuring even coverage. Alternatively, you can paint their hand using a brush.
- Carefully guide their hand onto the paper, pressing down firmly. Lift straight up to avoid smudging. The main part of the hand forms the fish body, the fingers become the tail fin, and the thumb can be a side fin.
- Wash hands thoroughly!
- Once the paint is dry, stick on a googly eye near the heel of the handprint (the fish’s head area). Alternatively, draw an eye with a black marker.
- Use markers or crayons to draw a little mouth, maybe some bubbles coming from it, or even some seaweed around the fish.
Bottle Cap Fish Scales Art
A fantastic recycling project that turns trash into treasure! The bottle caps make wonderfully textured scales.
What you’ll need:
- Cardboard (an old cereal box or shipping box works great)
- Plastic bottle caps (washed and dried, various colours if possible)
- Strong glue (like tacky glue or a low-temp hot glue gun with adult help)
- Scissors
- Paint (optional, for caps or background)
- Googly eye
- Marker
How to make it:
- Draw a simple fish shape onto the cardboard and cut it out.
- If your bottle caps aren’t colourful, you or your child can paint them and let them dry. Painting the cardboard fish body can also be done first.
- Starting from the tail end, begin gluing the bottle caps onto the cardboard fish shape in overlapping rows, mimicking scales. Make sure the open side of the cap faces down.
- Continue gluing rows of caps until the entire body is covered, leaving space for the head/eye area.
- Glue on a googly eye.
- Use a marker to draw a mouth.
- Let the glue dry completely. This fish has great texture and dimension!
Awesome Octopus Art
With their eight wiggly arms, octopuses are inherently fun subjects for crafts. These ideas bring these intelligent invertebrates to life.
Toilet Paper Roll Octopus
Another great recycling craft! Turn humble cardboard tubes into charming eight-legged friends.
What you’ll need:
- Empty toilet paper rolls or kitchen towel rolls cut in half
- Child-safe paint (purple, blue, pink, red – any colour!)
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Googly eyes
- Glue
- Marker (optional)
- Yarn or paper strips (optional, for extra tentacle texture)
How to make it:
- Paint the outside of the cardboard tube your chosen octopus colour. Let it dry completely.
- Once dry, use scissors to make eight evenly spaced cuts up from one end of the tube, going about halfway up. These will be the tentacles.
- Gently curl each cut strip outwards. You can wrap them around a pencil to get a nice curl.
- Glue two googly eyes onto the uncut portion of the tube (the head).
- Use a marker to draw a smile or other facial features if desired.
- Optional: Glue short pieces of yarn or thin paper strips onto the tentacles for added texture or ‘suckers’.
Cupcake Liner Octopus
These are incredibly cute and simple, perfect for younger crafters. The frills of the liners add natural waviness.
What you’ll need:
- Colourful cupcake liners (standard size)
- Construction paper or cardstock (blue for water background is nice)
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Googly eyes
- Markers or crayons
How to make it:
- Flatten one cupcake liner slightly – this will be the octopus head. Glue it onto your background paper.
- Take another cupcake liner (same or different colour). Cut it into eight thin strips or wavy tentacle shapes.
- Glue these eight tentacles underneath the head on the background paper, arranging them so they look like they are dangling down.
- Stick two googly eyes onto the head (the flattened liner).
- Use markers or crayons to draw a mouth, maybe some spots on the head, or little circles on the tentacles for suckers.
- You can add drawn seaweed or bubbles to complete the underwater scene.
Socktopus (No-Sew Sock Octopus)
Use up those lonely odd socks! This creates a soft, cuddly octopus friend without needing any sewing skills.
What you’ll need:
- An old, clean sock (longer socks work well)
- Stuffing (cotton balls, poly-fill, fabric scraps, even more old socks!)
- Rubber bands or string
- Scissors
- Felt scraps, buttons, or fabric markers for eyes and mouth
- Fabric glue (if using felt/buttons)
How to make it:
- Stuff the toe/foot part of the sock firmly to create the octopus head. Pack it until it’s nicely rounded.
- Secure the stuffing by tying a rubber band or piece of string tightly around the sock just below the stuffed section.
- Now, cut the remaining length of the sock (from the tie downwards) into eight strips. Try to make them roughly equal in width.
- These strips are the tentacles. You can leave them as is, or braid three or four strips together loosely and tie the ends for thicker tentacles, or even tie knots along each strip for texture.
- Decorate the face! Glue on felt circles or buttons for eyes, or draw them on with fabric markers. Add a smile too!
- Your cuddly Socktopus is ready for adventures!
Magical Mermaid Creations
Mermaids capture the imagination with their shimmering tails and underwater allure. These crafts let kids create their own mythical sea dwellers.
Craft Stick Mermaids
Simple wooden craft sticks form the base for these poseable, charming mermaids.
What you’ll need:
- Jumbo craft sticks (popsicle sticks)
- Paint (skin tones, various colours for tails and tops)
- Paintbrushes
- Yarn (for hair)
- Felt, craft foam, or shiny paper (for tails)
- Scissors
- Glue (liquid glue or low-temp hot glue with adult help)
- Fine-tip permanent markers (for face details)
- Glitter, sequins, small beads (optional, for decoration)
How to make it:
- Paint the top half of the craft stick in a skin tone colour and let dry. Paint the bottom half in a bright colour for the start of the tail.
- Cut out a mermaid tail fin shape from felt, foam, or shiny paper. Glue this to the very bottom of the painted stick.
- Cut several strands of yarn for the hair. Apply glue to the top end of the craft stick (front and back) and press the yarn strands on. Trim or style the hair as desired.
- Use fine-tip markers to draw eyes, a nose, and a mouth on the face area.
- Paint a simple top (like bikini shells) onto the body area.
- Decorate! Add glitter glue to the tail, glue on sequins or tiny beads for extra sparkle.
- Let everything dry completely.
Paper Doll Mermaids
A classic activity with an underwater twist. Kids can design their own mermaid outfits and accessories.
What you’ll need:
- Cardstock or thick paper (white or various colours)
- Scissors
- Crayons, markers, or coloured pencils
- Yarn (optional, for hair)
- Glitter glue or craft glitter
- Glue stick
How to make it:
- Draw a basic mermaid shape (human torso, fish tail) onto cardstock and cut it out. Create multiple if desired.
- Let the kids colour and decorate their mermaid base. They can draw scales on the tail, design a top, and colour the skin and hair.
- Alternatively, create a plain base and then draw separate tail fins, tops, and hair styles on other pieces of paper for kids to cut out and glue onto their mermaid, like traditional paper dolls.
- Add details like yarn hair glued to the head.
- Use glitter glue to add sparkle to the tail, top, or hair accessories.
- Encourage kids to create backgrounds or accessories like tridents, starfish friends, or treasure chests on paper too.
Seashell Mermaid Tail Art
Incorporate natural elements with this beautiful, textured craft using real seashells.
What you’ll need:
- Heavy cardstock or thin cardboard
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Small seashells (cleaned, various shapes and sizes)
- Strong glue (tacky glue or hot glue with supervision)
- Paint (optional, for background or shells)
- Glitter (optional)
How to make it:
- Draw a large mermaid tail shape onto the cardstock or cardboard and cut it out.
- Optional: Paint the cardboard tail shape in a base colour (like teal, blue, or green) and let it dry.
- Arrange the seashells on the tail shape first without gluing to plan the design. Smaller shells work well for creating scale patterns, while larger ones can accent the fin.
- Once happy with the layout, start gluing the shells down firmly. This requires patience! Work in small sections.
- Fill in gaps with smaller shells or even coarse glitter mixed with glue.
- Optional: Paint some of the shells before gluing, or add dabs of paint or glitter glue onto the finished piece for extra colour and sparkle.
- Let the glue dry completely – this may take a while due to the weight of the shells. The result is a stunning, tactile piece of art.
Ocean Exploration Scenes
Go beyond individual creatures and create entire underwater worlds! These crafts encourage imaginative play and scene setting.
Shoebox Aquarium Diorama
A classic diorama project that creates a miniature ocean habitat inside a shoebox.
What you’ll need:
- An empty shoebox
- Blue paint or blue construction paper
- Sand (craft sand or real sand)
- Glue
- Scissors
- String or thread
- Tape
- Small plastic sea creatures OR fish/creatures made from paper/cardstock
- Optional extras: Small pebbles, twigs for coral, green crepe paper for seaweed, shells
How to make it:
- Turn the shoebox on its side so the opening faces forward.
- Paint the inside walls and ‘floor’ of the shoebox blue, or line them with blue paper, to represent the water. Let it dry.
- Spread glue on the bottom ‘floor’ of the box and sprinkle sand over it. Shake off the excess once dry.
- Create or gather your sea creatures. If using paper cutouts, you can make them double-sided.
- Cut varying lengths of string or thread. Tape or glue one end to the ‘ceiling’ (the inside top) of the shoebox.
- Attach the other end of the string to your sea creatures (punch a small hole or use tape) so they hang down inside the aquarium at different depths.
- Glue pebbles, shells, or small twigs (coral) onto the sandy bottom. Cut wavy strips of green crepe paper or construction paper and glue them to the back or bottom as seaweed.
- Arrange everything to create a dynamic underwater scene.
Salt Dough Ocean Treasures
Make your own durable starfish, shells, and fish shapes from simple salt dough.
What you’ll need:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup salt
- About 3/4 cup water (adjust as needed)
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters (starfish, fish, shell shapes – optional)
- A straw or skewer (for making holes if you want to hang them)
- Baking sheet and parchment paper
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrushes
- Sealant (like Mod Podge or clear varnish – optional but recommended)
How to make it:
- Mix the flour and salt in the bowl. Gradually add water, mixing until a dough forms (it should be firm, not sticky). Knead for 5-10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
- Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out ocean shapes, or sculpt them freehand.
- If you want to hang the shapes later, use a straw or skewer to poke a hole near the top of each shape before baking.
- Place the shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at a low temperature (around 250°F or 120°C) for 2-3 hours, or until hard. The time depends on thickness. Let them cool completely. (Alternatively, air dry for several days, flipping occasionally).
- Once cool and hard, paint your ocean treasures! Add details and patterns.
- After the paint is dry, apply a coat of sealant like Mod Podge to protect the paint and give it a nice finish. Let it dry. Now you have durable ocean figures for play or decoration!
Safety First! Always supervise young children during craft activities. Be mindful of small parts like googly eyes, beads, and bottle caps which can be choking hazards for toddlers. Adult assistance is recommended when using scissors or hot glue guns.
Bubble Wrap Print Seascape
Create cool textured water effects using bubble wrap – another fun way to recycle packaging material!
What you’ll need:
- A piece of bubble wrap (bubbles intact!)
- Washable paints (various shades of blue and green)
- Paper plates or trays for paint
- White or light blue paper or cardstock
- Paintbrush (optional)
- Paper cutouts of fish, seaweed, etc. (optional)
- Glue (optional)
How to make it:
- Pour different shades of blue and green paint onto paper plates.
- Cut a piece of bubble wrap roughly the size you want your print to be.
- Press the bubble side of the bubble wrap into the paints. You can dab it into different colours to get a mixed effect, or brush paint onto the bubbles.
- Carefully press the paint-covered bubble wrap onto your paper. Lift it straight up to reveal a bubbly, textured print resembling water.
- Let the print dry completely.
- Once dry, kids can glue on paper cutouts of fish, seaweed, starfish, or even their salt dough creations to complete the seascape. They could also draw directly onto the bubble print background with markers.
Crafting these ocean wonders is more than just fun; it’s a journey under the waves without leaving home. It encourages kids to learn about different sea creatures, think about conservation (especially with recycling crafts), and express their unique artistic vision. So gather your supplies, maybe put on some ocean sounds, and get ready to make a splash with these creative under the sea adventures!
