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    Home » Theme Based Learning Activities

    Published: Mar 27, 2018 · Modified: Sep 25, 2023 by Fynn · All activities should be supervised by an adult. This post may contain affiliate links.

    Ocean Theme Learning Activities and Shelf

    Here's a summary post of all the ocean theme learning activities we have done for our Ocean Shelf. To learn about how we do home learning at home with our shelf, I encourage you to read our How HTS Works page first. And here's why we love a themed learning shelf!

    Ocean theme learning activities and ocean theme shelf
    Jump to:
    • Ocean Theme Learning Shelf
    • Ocean Theme Learning Activities for Toddlers (1.5 to 3 Years Old)
    • Ocean Theme Learning Activities for Preschoolers (3 to 6 Years Old)
    • Experiments, Art Projects & Sensory Activities

    Ocean Theme Learning Shelf

    Ocean theme learning activities and shelf
    • Pinterest Idea Board: [theme] OCEAN/UNDER THE SEA
    • Unique Hashtag on Instagram: #oceanhts
    • Focus Book: Wish for a Fish: All About Sea Creatures by Bonnie Worth, The Usborne Big Book of Big Sea Creatures by Minna Lacey and Fabiano Fiorin, The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

    This learning shelf and the activities are created for children of ages 1.5 years old to 6 years old. My son was 5 years old and my daughter was 2 years 8 months when I made this learning shelf for them.

    All the activities have been categorized into the six main learning areas (language, numeracy, motor skills, discovery of the world, arts & creative expression, social & emotional development) that I am focusing on for my children.

    Ocean Theme Learning Activities for Toddlers (1.5 to 3 Years Old)

    Bottle caps turtle color matching toy for toddler
    • Glue 9 bottle caps on a piece of cardboard. Since it's an ocean theme, I made the cardboard base into a turtle shape. Stick dot stickers of different colors on these bottle caps. Give your child pompoms of different colors and ask him/her to do color matching and drop the pompoms with matching colors into the bottle caps. (arts & creative expression, motor skills)
    Shark number matching toddler learning activity
    • Draw a shark on a piece of paper. Cut some tab stickers into the shape of teeth and write numbers 1 to 10 on them. Ask your child to give the shark some teeth and do some number matching and counting at the same time. (numeracy)
    Whale Water Sprout Letter Matching Toddler Learning Activity
    • Print out some whales and paste the whales print out on the box. Draw and cut out corresponding number of water sprouts. Write some letters on the whales and water sprouts and practice letter matching. Talk about how the whales breath through the blowholes. Matching activities can be easily adapted for other concepts like matching numbers, shapes or uppercase/lowercase letters matching. (language, motor skills, discovery of the world)
    Clam counting toddler learning activity
    • Make some clams with egg cartons for this cute counting activity. Paint the egg cartons (optional), cut out each cup and use a tape to connect two cups together to make a clam. Stick a dot stickers inside with numbers. I am doing only 1 to 5 for my toddler. You can use bigger numbers for older preschoolers. Use mini pompoms as pearls and ask your child to count and put in the number of pearls that correspond to numbers on the dot stickers. Follow the instructions in this step-by-step video. (numeracy)

    All the above activities are suitable for preschoolers too.

    Ocean Theme Learning Activities for Preschoolers (3 to 6 Years Old)

    Bottle cap turtle sight words matching DIY learning toy
    • Using the same turtle bottle cap toy, play a sight word tic tac toe game. On the 9 dot stickers, write 9 sight words and create a 3x3 table with these same 9 sight words. We are focusing on sight words for this activity but you can do letter/ numbers/ shapes/ color match too. Now put the turtle bottle cap toy in a basket to contain the pompom. Toss a pom pom and until the pompom lands in a bottle cap. Ask your kid to read out the word and search for the word on the tic tac toe card. Game is complete when he/she forms a straight line with the tokens. Here's a video of how to play this fun learning game. (language)
    Fish Chinese word learning activity
    Fish Chinese word learning dot word activity
    Chinese word fish radical learning activity
    • The focus Chinese word is 鱼 (fish) and this Fish Chinese Word Learning Pack with these three activities: 1) dot the word 鱼, 2) find the word 鱼 maze and 3) Find the words with 鱼 as its radical. (language, motor skills)

    Bonus: This printable can be found on my subscriber-only Printable page. As a bonus for joining my mailing list, you get access to ALL my printables. Get them here>>

    Egg carton clam addition game
    • Practice basic addition with our egg carton clams (see above for steps to make them). Ask your child to 'catch' two clams and count how many pearls are there in total. (numeracy)
    F sounds word fishing game
    • Play a DIY fishing game. Ask your child to fish for words with beginning sound F or ending sound F. (language)
    DIY toy to learn. basic sewing
    • Practice basic sewing with this fish sewing board. Follow this tutorial to make this learning toy. (motor skills)
    Button jellyfish color matching and button DIY learning toy
    • Practice simple buttoning with this simple jellyfish button toy and also do color matching at the same time (motor skills). My 2.5yo toddler loves this too!

    Experiments, Art Projects & Sensory Activities

    Ocean in a Bottle activity
    • Create a Ocean sensory bottle using oil, blue water, sand and sea shells. This is a wonderful activity to talk about density of water vs oil. (discovery of the world, arts & creative expression)
    Rescue the frozen sea creatures
    • Frozen sea creatures rescue sensory bin. Freeze some sea creature toys in ice. Provide water in squirt bottles or spray bottles. The children will try to melt the ice to rescue the sea creatures.
    Fish salt painting
    • Make a fish salt painting. Draw a fish with oil pastel crayons. Paint with water colors. Before the water dries up, sprinkle salt over the painting. (arts & creative expression)
    Fishing Pool noodle fish game
    • Make some pool noodle fish and play a fun fishing game! (motor skills)
    Sea creatures made from recycled items
    • Make some cute sea creatures with recycled materials. Watch the behind the scenes video and another cute video of the sea creatures.
    Ocean zones learning activity for kids
    • Ocean Zones Invitation to Create. This is a fun art and animal Science activity to learn about the different ocean zones. (discovery of the world, arts & creative expression)SaveSave

    Bonus: Join my mailing list and download this free guide: 9 Simple Ways to Spark a Love of Learning in your Children. Get this guide now>>

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    About Fynn

    Fynn is a Math and Science teacher from Singapore, author of The Happy Learning Book for Siblings and founder of Happy Tot Shelf. She helps parents enjoy home learning with their children through her highly popular kids' activity membership, The Happy Learners' Club. Fynn has been featured in various newspapers, websites and on radio shows as an expert in early childhood learning and creative hands-on learning ideas.

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    Comments

    1. Karen says

      October 22, 2021 at 11:41 pm

      Hi! Love your ideas! Thanks for sharing!

      Reply

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    Hi there, I'm Fynn, an educator, author and mom of 3. I believe nurturing a love of learning begins at home. I'm here to help parents nurture a love of learning and build a strong bond with their children through fun learning together.

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