For this activity, start with a counting lesson. Show preschoolers a dried starfish and have the class count the number of points. Then, tell preschoolers to count the number of fingers on their hands. Children will notice that the number is the same for both. Explain to preschoolers that the starfish use their five points to move in the water and across the sandy ocean bottom. For the project, students will use construction paper and markers to trace the outline of their hands and fingers to make a starfish with five points. Kids can then decorate their starfish by coloring them in. A variation on this project is to have students dip the bottom of their hands into a tray of paint and place their hands flat on a piece of construction paper to make a hand-painted image of the starfish.
Teach preschoolers that starfish often try to blend into the sand to protect themselves against sea predators. Pass around a dried starfish to show preschoolers what the sandy, gritty top of a starfish feels like. Then, give preschoolers a piece of card stock with the outline of a starfish drawn on it. The kids use craft scissors to cut out the starfish. Preschoolers then get to pick out colorful sand that they want to glue to the top of the starfish. The glue is applied to the top of the card stock starfish first, followed by the sand. After the glue dries, the kids must pour off the excess sand. For the finale, preschoolers paste their sea stars to a class bulletin board to make a sandy starfish collage.
You might be introducing preschoolers to starfish because you are teaching them about the letter "S." If so, come up with an activity for preschoolers that incorporates starfish and the letter "S," such as a puzzle. A starfish alphabet puzzle is one that has images of starfish on it, as well as the letter "S." Give preschoolers the puzzle pieces and instruct them to put it together. As they work on the puzzle they will learn to identify "S" with starfish. Make this a jigsaw puzzle so that the pieces are large and age-appropriate for preschoolers.
Teach preschoolers that starfish are invertebrates, which means that they do not contain bones and have a squishy consistency when alive. Follow this lesson up with an activity for preschoolers to make squishy starfish out of dough made from flour and water. Set up the craft table so that each child has his own workspace. Tell the class to roll out the dough, mold it and do whatever they want to do to make the dough look like a starfish. With this activity, preschoolers learn that they can mold the starfish however they want because it is an invertebrate.