A stand-up dolphin is a perfect craft for kindergartners. It can be used as a decoration or as a puppet and lets children use their creativity. To make the dolphins, print out a dolphin outline from the Internet or draw your own. Give each child an outline and let them color it however they see fit. Have the children cut out the dolphin and attach it to a paper towel tube with tape or glue.
You can create dolphin mobiles to hang from the ceiling of a classroom or send home with each child for room decorations. First, print out eight dolphin pictures from the Internet or draw them yourself. (The pictures can either all be the same or you can have four different pictures. If you choose different dolphins, you will need two of each.) Have the children color each dolphin and cut them out. The two matching dolphins should be stapled together, with a small hole in the top. Stuff the dolphins with crumpled up paper through the hole. Once you have stuffed the animals, staple the hole shut. Attach a long piece of string to the top of each dolphin with tape or a stapler. Cut two long, straight pieces of wire from two wire hangers and add small loops to each end. Attach the two pieces of wire together, forming an X shape, with string or a smaller piece of wire. Tie the dolphins onto each loop and tie a long string to the center of the wire X shape. Use the string to hang the dolphin mobile from the ceiling.
An ocean diorama will allow kindergartners to create an ocean scene that mimics a dolphin's natural environment. Have each child decorate the inside of a shoebox using paint or markers. The inside of the shoebox should look like the bottom of the ocean, with water and plants. Print out ocean animals including dolphins from the Internet and have the children color them. Add the animals to the inside of the shoebox, gluing or taping them to different places. The children can also use small plastic pieces or aquarium plants to decorate their diorama. Have the children research what is normally found around dolphins and include these elements in the diorama.
The website Artists Helping Children offers a dolphin mask template that can be printed out and used to turn kindergartners into sea animals (at artistshelpingchildren.org). The template should be printed out on card stock or other heavy paper and the two holes should be cut out where the eyes are. Add a string to each side of the mask and place it on the child's face. The strings can be tied in the back of the head to create a "school" of dolphins.