Beachy Crafts for Kids Are Just What the Doctor Ordered for Spring Break

A spring break trip to the beach isn’t in the cards for everyone, but kids don’t have to live near the ocean to learn about it.

Related story How To Make a Valentine’s Day Mailbox in 8 Simple Steps

These ocean-inspired crafts are super fun, provide hours of entertainment, and — to top it off — are the perfect platform to educate your children about the sea, all the creatures that live in it, and maybe even a little about the importance of conservation.

Jellyfish craft

What you’ll need:

• paper bowl
• assorted ribbon and ric rac
• scissors
• glue
• googly eyes
• string

What you’ll do:

1. Turn the bowl upside down and glue two googly eyes to the side.
2. Cut the ribbon and ric rac down to varying lengths and glue them to the underside of the bowl to make the tentacles.
3. Use the scissors to poke a small hole in the top of the bowl.
4. Feed a piece of string through the hole and tie a knot on the underside of the bowl. Use the string to hang the jellyfish.

More: 8 Fun (Really!) Crafts to Do With Kids

Starfish craft

What you’ll need:

• craft foam
• mini pom poms
• googly eyes
• glue
• marker
• scissors

What you’ll do:

1. Draw and cut out a star shape from the craft foam.
2. Glue two googly eyes to the center of the star.
3. Glue mini pom poms to the legs of the starfish to make the suction cups.
4. Use a marker to draw a smile on the starfish.

Fish bowl craft

What you’ll need:

• two paper plates
• blue paint
• paint brush
• colored paper
• tan paper
• green pipe cleaners
• sequins
• sea shells
• scissors
• glue
• cellophane
• marker
• tape

What you’ll do:

1. Paint the front side of one paper plate and set it aside.
2. Paint the back side of the second paper plate. Once it is dry, cut out the center of the plate.
3. Cut a piece of cellophane that is just larger than the opening on the plate, and tape it to the non painted side of the plate.
4. Cut out a piece of tan construction paper and glue it to the bottom of the first paper plate to create sand.
5. Cut an oval out of the colored paper and glue it to the plate for the body of the fish. Cut two trapezoids out of a coordinating color and glue them to the oval to make the fins.
6. Use the marker to draw an eye and mouth on the fish.
7. Glue sequins above the fish to make bubbles.
8. Fold three green pipe cleaners in half and bend them to form seaweed. Glue the pipe cleaners to the plate, then glue the sea shells at the base of the seaweed.
9. Glue the paper plate with the cellophane center to the other paper plate to make the “fish bowl.”

Handprint crab craft

What you’ll need:

• blue construction paper
• tan construction paper
• scissors
• glue
• red paint
• paint brush
• white paint
• cotton balls
• googly eyes

What you’ll do:

1. Cut the tan piece of paper in half with a wavy line. Glue the tan piece of paper to the bottom of the blue piece of paper.
2. Paint your child’s hands with red paint. Have your child press her hands into the paper with wrists together and fingers facing the opposite direction.
3. Place a googly eye on top of each of the thumb prints.
4. Dip a cotton ball in white paint, then dab it on the sky to form the clouds.

Ocean in a bottle craft

What you’ll need:

• An empty bottle
• water
• oil
• blue food coloring
• craft foam
• scissors

What you’ll do:

1. Fill the bottle two-thirds full with water, then add in several drops of blue food coloring.
2. Cut out the shapes of fish and starfish from the craft foam, then put them in the bottle.
3. Fill the remaining one-third of the bottle with oil.
4. Shake the bottle to make waves and watch the fish move.

Originally published July 2013. Updated March 2017.