# Foam Plate Ocean Craft with Toothpick Sea Animals
> Kids cut blue tissue paper and stick it on a foam plate to make an ocean. Then they paint foam sea animal cut-outs, tape them to toothpicks, add googly eyes, and arrange them in the plate ocean or use them as tiny puppets.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/crafts-kids-ocean-craft/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 20 min, activity 45 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 1 kids
- Skills: fine-motor, scissor-skills, painting, pretend-play, storytelling, ocean-animals
- Cautions: ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 2 piece White foam plates
- 1 sheet Blue tissue paper
- Acrylic paint
- 1 piece Paintbrushes
- Toothpicks (household)
- Tape (household)
- Googly eyes
- 1 piece Scissors (household)
- Glue (glue stick or white school glue) (household)

## Safety
- Toothpicks have sharp points. Watch for those sharp edges, especially when kids use the animals as puppets.
- Googly eyes are small parts and a choking hazard. Supervise closely, and don't use them with children who still mouth objects.
- An adult draws and cuts out the foam animals. Supervise children using scissors.
- Acrylic paint can stain clothes and surfaces. Cover the table and use smocks or old clothes.

## Before you start
- Hand draw a few ocean animals (fish, whale, seahorse, jellyfish, octopus) on a foam plate and cut them out to shape.
- For older children: draw larger figures and let them cut the animals out themselves.

## Steps
1. Cut blue tissue paper into small pieces with scissors.
2. Stick all the bits of blue paper onto a foam plate to create an ocean.
3. Paint the white ocean animal cut-outs with acrylic paint.
4. Lay the painted animals out to dry for a bit.
5. Tape a toothpick to the back of each animal.
6. Add googly eyes to each animal.
7. Hold the animals by their toothpicks and put on little puppet shows.
8. Poke the toothpicks into the plate ocean to stand the animals up.
9. Move the animals around until you're happy with your ocean story.

## Tips
- Involving painting while crafting with kids is a sure way to add some fun and zing to the activity.
- The best part for the kids is adding the adorable googly eyes.
- These ocean creatures make cool puppets too. My preschooler had a lot of fun making up small shows with her teeny tiny ocean puppets.
- Expect extra holes in the plate! She moved the animals around so many times until she was happy with her ocean story line.
- You can hear and see your child's imagination take off as they spin stories while crafting.
- Cutting tissue paper is built-in scissor practice, and sticking the bits down is a fine motor activity.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

What's more fitting for this summer season than an ocean craft using simple supplies? Remember our [ABC Garden](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-craft-abc-garden/) using letters and toothpicks? My preschooler did this craft the same day with just a little help from mom.

### Ocean craft using foam plates and toothpicks.

- Foam plates
- Acrylic Paint
- Toothpicks
- Tape
- Googly eyes

I hand drew a few ocean animals on the foam plate and cut them out to shape. You could draw larger figures and have an older child cut them out.
To prepare the ocean, my 4 year old practice her scissor skills by cutting a blue tissue paper into small pieces. For an inbuilt [**fine motor activity**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/fine-motor-activities/) she stuck all the bits of blue paper on a plate to create an ocean.



Now time to give life to those white ocean animal cut outs. Involving painting while crafting with kids is a sure way to add some fun and zing!to the activity. She painted the ocean animals and we laid them out to dry for a bit. Then we came back and attached toothpicks to the back of the animals using tape. Fine motor alert!



Now the best part for the kids in this ocean craft is adding adorable googly eyes. Now you have your set of creatures for the ocean craft.



These ocean creature make cool puppets too. Watch for those sharp edges. My preschooler had a lot of fun making up small shows with her teeny tiny ocean puppets.



It was great to see the ocean craft turn into a spontaneous pretend play with **[puppets](https://www.funlittles.com/fun-finger-puppets/)** session. Once she was done playing with the ocean puppets, she moved on to the craft and started assembling the animals on the "plate ocean".



Our final display of our ocean craft. You see all those extra holes on the main image of the post? Yes she moved them around so many times until she was happy with her ocean story line. This is a very cute little mom and kid craft for a fun afternoon. The best part? You can hear and see your child's imagination take off while he/she spins stories while crafting.



**Animal habitats sensory/small world we have shared** [](https://www.funlittles.com/small-world-play-rainforest-box/)
[](https://www.funlittles.com/earth-day-activities-sandbox-savannah/) [](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-pond-life-sensory-play/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/animals-of-antarctica/) [](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-desert-sensory-bin/)

Thanks for reading!