Introduce your preschoolers to starfish, one of the many animals that inhabit the ocean. This is a great activity to complete with preschoolers who are constantly exploring texture. Do some of the prep work ahead of time, but allow your students to do the main, and messiest, part of the craft. Obtain a starfish template and then trace it onto pieces of heavy-weight brown paper. Cut out a starfish for each child. Allow the children to cover the surface with white glue and then place pastini pasta on the glue. Let the glue dry and then let the children touch their craft; explain that their starfish have a texture similar to that of a real starfish found in the ocean.
Before completing this activity, share a collection of sea shells with your students, pointing out the different sizes and colors. Then supply your students with the materials to make their own. Pass out one jumbo pasta shell and a paint brush to each child. Set out an assortment of paints and instruct the children to paint as they like. Allow the shells to dry and then set them out to display. Point out that no two of them are alike, just as no two real sea shells are alike.
While some kids may get squeamish at the thought of eating fish, this edible craft has some fish that they won’t very likely turn down. Before beginning this craft, share pictures with your students showing fish swimming in the ocean; then tell them that they will make their own small ocean for a few fish. At the end, they will get to eat the fish -- and the ocean “water” too. Distribute a clear plastic cup to each child. Make boxes of blue gelatin according to the package directions and pour a small portion into each cup. Set the cups in the refrigerator for about an hour so the gelatin can partially set. Take the cups out and let the children put a few gummy fish into the “ocean.” Put the cups back into the refrigerator so the gelatin can finish setting and then enjoy.
Transform a few basic materials into a fish in a matter of minutes. Complete the first step for your students, which entails cutting a wedge from a portion of a white paper plate. This wedge will serve as the fish’s tail. The cut-out area will be the fish’s mouth. Show your students how to glue the wedge onto the opposite end of the paper plate for the tail. Then give them markers, paint or crayons to create scales for the fish, or let them simply color the fish as they’d like. Add a googly eye, if desired, or have the children draw an eye.