Ocean themed activities are always a big hit in our house! I’ve shared lots on our Inspire My Play Instagram, so I thought it would be great to collate them all in one place to share with you. 

They include ocean sensory play ideas, under the sea activities, STEM experiments, and beach-themed crafts for kids that you can easily recreate at home.  

Many work brilliantly in our multi-award-winning PlayTRAY for contained sensory play and easy clean-up. 

I hope you find some inspiration! 

1. Spaghetti Ocean

We love a bit of spaghetti play! It’s such a fun sensory experience and makes a brilliant ocean/seaweed base to play alongside ocean animals.  

To make coloured spaghetti, cook it according to the packet instructions (or use leftover spaghetti). Add a few drops of food colouring and use tongs to toss the spaghetti until coated. Leave for a few minutes, then rinse off any excess colour under water. 

To make this ocean I divided the spaghetti into two and coloured one half green and one half blue, then popped it into the PlayTRAY along with ocean toy animals and shells.    

👉 Provide our sensory play tongs, mini scoops and bowls so children can retrieve the items from the PlayTRAY – a brilliant fine motor workout for little hands!     

 Top tip: A tiny drop of oil can help revive cooked spaghetti and keep it soft.    

2. Ocean & Beach Clean-up

Explore the problem of ocean pollution with kids in a hands-on way and introduce early environmental STEM learning.   I started with a clean beach setup in the PlayTRAY, then sent the girls away for a few minutes while I “rubbish”. They were shocked and saddened by the mess. It really was a powerful way to highlight the issue.

The girls then used sensory play tongs and scoops to remove the rubbish and restore the beach. 

👉 This is a brilliant ocean conservation STEM activity for Earth Day or any time of year. helping children understand the importance of looking after the planet, while building communication skills, empathy and fine motor control.  

3. Sticky Fish 

We love the possibilities of sticky back plastic (also known as contact paper). 

Cut out a fish shape from cardboard and attach sticky back plastic so the sticky side faces upwards. Draw lines over the fish and provide pom-poms or craft materials to decorate. 

This sensory craft activity is great for fine motor skills, concentration and early mark making, and can be reused again and again as the pom-poms can be removed and re-stuck. 

4. Jelly Ocean

Jelly is a great sensory play material for little ones who are still mouthing.   

I used blue jelly from the supermarket, but you can also use gelatine with a few drops of blue food colouring. Add sea creatures before leaving the jelly to set in the PlayTRAY.

Then provide scoops and tongs so children can dig them out and “rescue” them. 

5. Under the Sea Salt Painting 

We love salt painting! It’s such a fun and effective under the sea craft activity using salt, glue and watercolours, and a wonderfully creative way to explore early mark making.

6. Shaving Foam Ocean

I made this Arctic Ocean in the PlayTRAY using shaving foam with a few drops of food colouring swirled through.    

To make ice, I used freezer frost, but ice cubes or polystyrene work well too. 

This is a brilliant sensory play ocean setup that encourages mixing, scooping and exploring textures.   

👉 It can get messy, so I recommend having a bowl of water nearby for hand washing. My girls love this part. It actually becomes part of the play and gets them involved in the tidying up! 

7. Layers of the Ocean

This liquid density activity is a brilliant way of exploring the layers or “zones” of the ocean using everyday liquids that you should be able to find at home.  A simple but effective STEM ocean experiment for kids introducing early science concepts in a visual way. 

Find all the details on our Instagram post

8. Rock Pool Sensory Play Tray 

We may not always be able to get to the beach, but you can bring the beach to the kids by creating your very own rock pool sensory play setup.  This version uses a large tray or tub, but you could easily recreate it in the deep tray of the PlayTRAY.

Encourage children to explore shells, pebbles and sea creatures using scoops and bowls for collecting and sorting.

9. Salt Water Habitat Sort

Explore where different sea life come from with this mini habitat sorting activity.  Place the PlayTRAY compartments in the PlayTRAY and create mini environments: coral reef, open ocean, rockpool, polar ocean and mangrove. 

Then provide ocean animals and ask children to sort them into the correct habitats.   This is also a great under the sea small-world play activity, that often extends into open-ended imaginative play afterwards.  

10. Frozen Aquarium 

This one is great for a hot summer’s day! Provide bottles of warm water or sensory droppers/pipettes, tongs and other tools to chip away at the ice and rescue the ocean creatures.  

A brilliant ocean sensory rescue activity that also builds fine motor strength and coordination.     

For full details on how I froze it in layers, check out my Instagram post [LINK]. 

11. Bubble Foam Ocean PlayTRAY 

We absolutely love bubble foam! It’s a quick and exciting sensory ocean play idea that kids can’t get enough of!   To make bubble foam, mix 1 part tear-free bubble bath (or washing up liquid) with 2 parts water into a bowl. Add a few drops of food colouring if you like, then whisk using an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form. 

Scoop into the PlayTRAY [LINK] with ocean animals for messy, foamy ocean play!  

12. Fizzy Ocean

Have you tried mixing bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) with vinegar? It makes an exciting fizzy reaction that little ones just love! 

o make a fizzy ocean, add bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to water (we added a few drops of blue food colouring) in the deep tray of the PlayTRAY along with sea creatures and shells.     Use droppers [LINK] to transfer white vinegar into the PlayTRAY and watch it fizz!    This is a brilliant ocean STEM experiment, full of excitement and sensory engagement.    👉 Droppers [LINK] are fantastic for building hand strength and coordination through play. 

13. Sand Play Dough 

This may be slightly off the ocean theme, but sand play dough is too good not to share!  It has a really unique texture and is perfect for beach themed sensory play at home. 

Our Sensory Dough Tool Set [LINK] is the perfect companion for sand playdough play, with five child-friendly silicone tools for rolling, cutting and creating ocean scenes. Just add shells and loose parts so children can build their own seaside worlds. 

Want to make your own playdough? Check out our ‘How to Make Sand Play Dough’ blog [https://inspiremyplay.com/blogs/blog/how-to-make-sand-play-dough]. Or link to our favourite no cook recipe with the updated images.  

Ocean Sensory Play and Crafts are So Much Fun for Kids!

If you try any of these ocean themed sensory play, STEM or craft activities, we’d love to see them, so don’t forget to tag us @inspiremyplay.     

Our PlayTRAY and tools are perfect for many of the activities above, offering contained, safe, sensory play that supports your child’s development and encourages open-ended exploration.    

For more sensory play ideas, offers and inspiration, sign-up to our Inspire My Play newsletter [LINK https://inspiremyplay.com/pages/newsletter]. You’ll get 10% off your first order, plus a FREE Sensory Play E-Book!