To Be Pacific, Here's 23 Fun Ocean Themed Kids' Activities

Eleanor Gustard
Dec 12, 2023 By Eleanor Gustard
Originally Published on May 13, 2020
Young girl having fun in the waves.
Age: 0-99
Read time: 6.4 Min

World Ocean Day is a global event that is held every year on the 8th of June and is dedicated to the conservation and protection of Planet Earth's oceans. We've listed some fun ideas for ocean-related activities for kids to do. Hopefully, they're ready to jump in!

1 - Build A 'Pirate Ship' Indoor Den

Pirates

Building an indoor den with your kids is lots of fun, especially when it's built with a theme in mind. That's why we definitely recommend building a pirate ship themed den together with your kids for World Ocean Day. You can make your den as big or as cosy as you like so let your imagination and creativity help build the perfect unique den. Use cushions and sheets to build your awesome spaceship den with the help of this quick video on how to set up a simple den for your kids. Once you've built your pirate ship den, you are ready to go on lots of wonderful ocean adventures across the big blue sea. Take your favourite sea creature toys and teddies with you as shipmates. Pretend the living room is a nice sunny beach and find some interesting sea creatures and treasure. You can also do lots of the other activities in this article from inside your new pirate ship den!

2 - Bake An Ocean Themed Cake Or Some Cookies With Your Kids

Projects and activities for kids involving food are the best. Luckily there's no shortage of incredible ocean themed food ideas on the web. One of our favourites is are these cute fish and crab cupcakes.

3 - Write An Ocean Themed Story

A great lockdown project for your kids is to write a story. When it comes to the ocean, you can have so much fun writing stories as there's no limit to the imagination! Your adventures could include finding secret underwater civilisations or befriending a friendly jellyfish. If you'd like some storytelling ideas, check out this article on how to write a book, according to a children's author.

4 - Draw Or Paint The Sea

If you and your kids you're feeling creative, then you can draw or paint something to do with the sea. Doing an art project like this during lockdown is really good for the mind and is a great skill to practice. All you need is some pens, paints and paper and you're ready to start on you amazing projects. You can draw or paint your artwork on reusable scrap pieces of paper to highlight and encourage the message of sustainability. Use an old paper bag, or a clean paper plate to draw or paint a World Oceans Day sign to help clean the oceans. You can also use crafts and tissue paper and make your artwork on paper plates too, to really make your artwork come to life.

5 - Watch A Sea-Themed Kids Films

The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, or Pirates of the Caribbean are just some of the many incredible kid's ocean films that are fantastic to watch. There's nothing better than snuggling down and watching a film with your little ones so it's a perfect activity to do during World Ocean Day.

6 - Learn About Sea Creatures

Sea creatures are weird and wonderful so it can be fascinating learning about them.  So a great activity to do on World Ocean Day is to learn more about the things that live there!

7 - Beach Themed Scavenger Hunt

One of our favourite activities for kids during lockdown. Scavenger hunts are great fun and a perfect activity to do during lockdown. Using any beach themed items you have around the house, create a beach-themed scavenger hunt for your kids and award them with an exciting prize when they finish. To give you some ideas for the list, you could use shells, swimwear, sunglasses and fish teddies. If you've made any ocean crafts you could and these to your list.

8 - Show Off Your Seaside Knowledge With A Fun Ocean Theme Quiz

Using Zoom or Facetime, you can run a fun online quiz with friends and family. This is a great way to bring people together during lockdown and show off your seaside knowledge!

9 - Read Some Awesome Books About The Sea

Reading is a fantastic activity, especially during lockdown, and there are some great underwater stories to read for kids of all ages.

10 - Play Some Beach Themed Bingo

This free printable bingo game is great for kids. It's sea-themed so it's perfect for World Ocean Day

11 - Dressing Up Ideas

If you have you got any sea-themed fancy dress, World Ocean Day is the day to use them. If not, you can wear anything blue or sea-like. Perhaps you've already created some ocean crafts for kids that you can wear.

12 - Have A Beach Party

Combine all your fun activities for kids into one incredible World Ocean Day party! Tell your friends about world ocean day so they can join in and have lots of Zoom and FaceTime chats throughout the day.

13 - Sing Some Fun Sea-Themed Songs

You could learn a sea-themed song, or if you're feeling really creative you could write your own song for World Ocean Day!

14 - Learn Some Ocean Dances

You could also learn a sea-themed dance or make your own one up! These activities for kids are great for creativity and it helps to keep fit.

15 - Colouring

You can use these awesome free printable colouring activities for your kids to colour. Colouring activities for kids are calming and mindful so we definitely recommend doing some on this World Ocean Day.

16 - Use Flash Cards To Learn About The Sea

To help you learn the names of sea creatures, you do a flashcard activity. You can easily make your own flashcards by printing off some pictures of some underwater animals and their names. If you're in the mood to do some ocean crafts for kids, then you can decorate your flashcards with any fun materials you have around the house or in your summer crafts box.

17 - Complete An Awesome Sea-Themed Jigsaw

Jigsaws for kids are great fun. You can find sea-themed jigsaws for all ages, or you might already have some at home. You can also make your own jigsaw by cutting up sea-themed pictures that you've printed from online.

18 - Have A Splash In The Paddling Pool

Aquarium

If you have access to a paddling pool, then this is a great activity for your kids on World Ocean Day. The water will help make them feel like they're at the beach and paddling and running around the garden is great exercise.

19 - Play Some Pool Games

While you're in the pool, why not play some fun pool games. One game could be to put some toys in the middle of the pool and to try and fish as many items using only your feet as possible. Or a fun water fight for the older kids!

20 - Build Some Lego Sculptures Of Different Sea Creatures

It's no secret that Lego projects are so much fun, so why not make a sea-themed sculpture for this World Ocean Day and really impress your friends and family.

21 - Play A Sea-Themed Card Game

You can play some fun sea-themed card games. 'Go Fish' is a great card game and you can learn how to play it here if you've never played it before or need reminding. You can also print out some pictures of sea creatures online to make some cool picture cards for your kids which can then be turned into Top Trumps or matching cards to play Pairs.

22 - Play The Shark And Fish Game

Much like the popular kids game cops and robbers, you play a really fun sea-themed chasing game by replacing the cops with sharks and the robbers with fish. The shark has to catch all the fish and then swap roles so everyone gets to chase!

23 - Beach And Ocean Sensory Ideas

fun ideas for ocean related activities for kids

Bring the beach to you by building an ocean sensory experience which allows your kids to feel the water and sand at home.  Build an ocean sensory experience with this tutorial.

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Written by Eleanor Gustard

Bachelor of Arts specializing in Fine Art

Eleanor Gustard picture

Eleanor GustardBachelor of Arts specializing in Fine Art

As a lover of art and crafts since childhood, Eleanor moved to London from Bath to study for a Fine Arts degree from the Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. She enjoys exploring the city and visiting galleries in her spare time, and also loves outdoor adventures and travel. Eleanor is always on the lookout for new destinations to discover.

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