3 Playful Activities for Kids to Learn About Ocean Ecosystems + 11 Marine Life Worksheet Bundles

The world beneath the waves is fascinating, eye-opening, and — most excitingly — mysterious.

Marine biology is so much more than just memorizing facts about sharks, it’s a fascinating lens to a whole other world. And it’s sure to capture your little one’s attention.

Our marine life games and worksheets are fun and playful resources to teach your kids all they need to know about the big blue sea.

3 playful activities for kids to learn about ocean ecosystems

These easy and engaging activities are a great way to teach your child lots of exciting marine life facts.

1. Wave bottle

This fun demonstration is the perfect way to explain waves to young children. You will need:

• A clear plastic bottle
• Water
• Blue food coloring
• Oil
• Glitter or plastic fish

Fill the bottle two-thirds of the way with water and add a few drops of blue food coloring. Then fill the rest of the bottle with oil.

If you can get your hands on some glitter or plastic sea animals, throw these in as well. Make sure to seal the lid of the bottle with superglue — this will stop little rascals trying to open it up again!

Give the bottle to your child and ask them to rock it side to side. They will love watching the oil split up into waves, mirroring the waves of the ocean.

2. Blubber gloves

Ever wondered how marine life stays warm, even at the bottom of the sea? Many sea mammals, like seals and whales, have a thick layer of fat — “blubber” — to provide insulation in cold waters.

This blubber also keeps them powering on — they can store energy in the thick skin, to be broken down later.

To learn more about blubber, and how effective it is as protection, you’ll need:

• 3 zippered plastic bags (the sort you buy for lunch boxes)
• 1 large container of lard or butter
• Strong tape
• 2 buckets of ice water

Spoon some of the lard or butter into two of the zippered bags, until it’s about an inch thick. Then seal.

Lay one bag on top of the other and tape three of the sides together — so you’re left with something that resembles a glove or mitten. Slide the “glove” into the third, empty, zippered bag with the open side facing out.

Place into one of the ice buckets and place your hand in. Feel how cozy and warm it is? Now place your other hand in the bucket of ice without a “glove”. Feel the difference?!

3. Snap, ocean style!

This marine life game works best if you’ve got a few children to keep occupied, or you want to get the whole family involved in a creative activity.

Marine life snap is a great way to improve your kid’s math skills, creativity, and knowledge of life beneath the waves, all at the same time!

For this activity you will need:

• Lots of paper plates
• Goldfish crackers
• Paints or felt-tip pens
• Glue

First, set some time aside to really get creative with the paper plates. The aim is to create a magical underwater scene. So, let your kid run wild with their paints, felt-tips pens, and their imagination!

Encourage them to draw some sea-life animals that they’re already aware of. This is also the perfect opportunity to introduce them to some new ones so that they can add them to the paper plates.

Once you and your little one have created the perfect underwater scene on about 20 plates, you will need your goldfish crackers handy.

Divide them into assorted amounts and ask your child to glue them onto each of the plates. You will need each of the plates to have the same amount of crackers as at least one other plate.

For example, you could glue five crackers onto two of the plates, three crackers onto four of the plates, and so on.

Once you’ve finished, it’s time to play snap! If your child already knows the rules of this traditional card game, quickly explain the differences in this marine biology version. 

Tell your child to shout “SNAP!” each time they see two plates with the same amount of goldfish crackers.

You’ll quickly see their math skills improve, as well as their interest in marine life.

11 engaging sea life worksheet bundles

Once you’ve had some fun getting creative with the above activities, our marine biology and marine science worksheets are great ways to further expand your little one’s sea life knowledge!

Marine mammals worksheets

Try out some of the worksheets below to explore interesting marine mammals.

Armed with these worksheets, you could help your child to learn more about their favorite sea mammal (dolphins are always popular!), or introduce one they haven’t come across before.

• Sea otter worksheets
• Dolphin worksheets
• Dugong worksheets
• Beluga whales worksheets

Did you know that Beluga whales are nearly threatened? Or that this species is sometimes called ‘The Canary of the Sea’, thanks to its sing-song chirps and squeaks? Brush up on your marine mammal knowledge right away!

Ecosystem worksheets

Our ecosystem worksheets teach kids about how different ecosystems work and the levels of organization within the animal kingdom. After all, the marine world is just one of 5 other “regions” of the ecosystem, including desert, rainforest, and savanna. It’s always good to know the bigger picture, before diving into the detail.

Then, once your child has this understanding, they’ll be able to plunge into the world of marine ecosystems! This bundle, for more advanced learners, contains incredible oceanography facts, as well as fun games and puzzles, including word searches and crosswords.

Other sea life worksheets

The great thing about marine biology is that there is always more to learn.

So, once your kid has a good grasp of marine mammals and ocean ecosystems, why not introduce them to some other sea creatures?

Our marine life worksheets will help you to do just that.

• Hermit crab worksheets
• Barnacle worksheets
• Lionfish worksheets
• Eel worksheets
• Jellyfish worksheets