10 FUN Fish Crafts for Toddlers (2023)
Looking for some fish crafts for toddlers?
I have 10+ fun and easy fish crafts that your kids will LOVE! These crafts are perfect for an ocean-themed unit, letter F activities, or just for fun!
Let’s get started with some awesome fish crafts.
Craft #1: Watercolor Resist Fish
This fish craft for toddlers was my kid’s favorite activity! They love the element of surprise in this craft.
It’s always fun to watch the lines or designs appear doing watercolor resist projects. This fish is the perfect activity for an ocean-themed activity.
A. Materials you need
- cardstock paper
- watercolors
- white crayon
- googly eyes
- glue
- marker
B. Set-up
Draw a fish shape using a pencil on cardstock paper and cut it out.
Draw lines on the fish using a white crayon. You need to make these lines bold enough to pop out when the kids paint over them.
C. Activity
Have the kids paint the fish using watercolors. They can use one color or multiple colors.
If the kids can see the white lines, they can also make a rainbow fish (like you see above).
Add a googly eye on and make a smile using a marker! This is such a simple and fun ocean craft for kids.
RELATED: Easy Toddler Activities
Craft #2: Celery Printed Fish Craft
Did you ever think that celery could make amazing art? Well, it totally can!
Celery makes the perfect prints for fish scales! We had some old celery sticks that I knew needed to be put to good use. This is such a fun fish craft for toddlers.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- paper
- washable paint
- celery
- dot markers
- googly eye
- paint tray
- markers
B. Set-up
Draw a fish shape using a marker on a piece of white paper. Then, add fins and a few facial features!
Dump the colors of the rainbow in a paint tray. We love the Crayola brand washable paint!
C. Activity
Place a celery stick in each of the colors.
Stamp the celery in order of the colors of the rainbow on the fish!
Your little one can use a marker to color the fins at the top and bottom.
Lastly, we used dot markers to make bubbles for the fish.
Craft #3: Fruit Loop Threading Fish
Here is another fun threading fish craft for toddlers using Fruit Loops!
We love threading activities using Fruit Loops multiple times because the kids just can’t get enough of it.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- Fruit Loops
- art tray
- pipe cleaners
- googly eyes
- marker
B. Set-up
Bend a pipe cleaner slightly to begin making the fish, but don’t close it because the kids need to add the Fruit Loops.
Have the kids sort out the Fruit Loops by color in bowls. We did this activity on an art tray; you can always do it on paper if you don’t have one.
C. Activity
The kids will use color matching skills to thread the Fruit Loops on the right colored pipe cleaner. Once they get enough on, you can close the pipe cleaner and turn it into a fish!
Place it on the art tray or a piece of paper and add a googly eye and a mouth to make a fish face!
Continue this for all the colors of Fruit Loops! This is a yummy and fun way to work on those fine motor skills!
RELATED: Letter F Activities and Crafts
Craft #4: Aquarium Plate Craft
Looking for ways to reuse bottle caps? This fish craft for toddlers is adorable and fun to recycle and create.
The aquarium paper plate is a more detailed paper plate for kids, so if your kids love crafting, this one is for them!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- paper plate
- acrylic paint
- sand
- glue
- shells
- blue rocks
- pipe cleaners
- bottle caps
- googly eyes
- cardstock paper
- hot glue
B. Set-up
Paint a paper plate blue and paint some bottle caps in different colors for the fish! Then, create the fins for the fish by cutting colored triangles from cardstock paper.
Once the caps are dry, add a googly eye. Then, attach the fin using hot glue.
C. Activity
Now it’s time to decorate the paper plate! You can use supplies like sand, rocks, shells, pipe cleaners, and fake coral.
These items can be glued on using regular glue other than the pipe cleaners. However, the pipe cleaners should be glued on using hot glue.
Lastly, hot glue the fish to the plate!
RELATED: Paper Plate Crafts for Kids
Craft #5: Paper Plate Fish
Here is another simple and fun paper plate fish craft for toddlers. I love how colorful and easy this craft is!
Kids will love creating this craft! It is a perfect craft for an ocean unit.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- paper plate
- acrylic paint
- cardstock paper
- glue stick
- scissors
- pencil
- googly eye
- paintbrush
B. Set-up
Create a cut in the middle of the plate to be the mouth for the fish! The piece you cut out will actually become the tail.
Then, use acrylic paint to paint the paper plate. We use acrylic paint because it dries faster than washable paint.
C. Activity
To create the scales for the fish, you’ll fold a piece of cardstock paper and draw semi-circles on the edges, so they pop up!
The kids can cut them out, or you can! Then, they will use a glue stick to glue the scales on. We alternated a few different colors! You can do this or keep it one color.
Glue the tail on the fish and add a googly eye to complete the craft!
Craft #6: Pipe Cleaner Fishing Activity
This isn’t a fish craft, but it is a fish activity! The kids will love this engaging fine motor fishing activity.
Your toddlers will love “fishing” for some pipe cleaner fish.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- baking tray/sensory bin
- pipe cleaners
- scissors
- water
- stick or fork
- food coloring (optional)
B. Set-up
Grab some pipe cleaners and cut them in half. Next, create a loop and twist at the bottom to make the fish shape. Do this multiple times so there is a bunch of fish for your little one.
Depending on how old your child is, you can make this easier or more complicated by creating big or small fish!
C. Activity
Add some water to a baking tray or sensory bin. You can keep it clear or dye the water blue with food coloring.
Have the kids use a stick or fork to pick up the fish!
Have them count how many fish they can color and say the color of the fish they are grabbing.
This is a wonderful fine motor and learning activity for kids! Plus, it’s a blast!
RELATED: Fine Motor Activities for Kids
Craft #7: Fish Bowl Craft
How cute is this fish craft for toddlers?
They will love using cupcake liners to create the fish. It’s always so fun to work with different supplies.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- cardstock paper
- glue stick
- cupcake liners (mini)
- scissors
- googly eyes
- FREE fishbowl template
- paint
- Q-tips
Click HERE for your FREE Fishbowl Template
B. Set-up
Print off my fishbowl template and trace is onto white cardstock paper. Then, cut it out!
C. Activity
To create the water and sand, trace the bottom of the fishbowl you created. Then, create waves for both the water and sand but make the water shorter than the fishbowl and the sand shorter than the water.
Have the kids use a glue stick to glue these pieces on. Then, flatten the cupcake liner and use a glue stick to glue it on. Next, create the fishtail out of cardstock paper and add a googly eye!
We added some seaweed to the sides of the fishbowl. Lastly, create bubbles using q q-tip and paint!
This is such a cute fish craft for kids to create!
Craft #8: Ocean Color by Code
This FREE color by code ocean activity is a great way for toddlers to work on numbers.
My son loves the color-by-code printables SO much! They are by far his favorite learning activity.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- Color by Code sheets
- crayons
- markers
Click HERE for your FREE Ocean Color by Code
B. Set-up
Print off the sheets that you want to use!
C. Activity
Make sure your child understands how to read the key at the top of the page. Then, they will color each number in the picture based on what the key says.
These are my kid’s favorite out of all the printables I create. They love revealing the picture at the end!
RELATED: Math PrintablesÂ
Craft #9: Sponge Print Fish
This is a cute and simple fish craft for toddlers! One of my favorite supplies to use to make prints is a sponge.
We have created so many fun things using a simple sponge!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- sponges
- scissors
- acrylic paint
- cardstock paper
- acrylic paint pens
- googly eyes
- glue
- Sharpie
B. Set-up
Draw a circle using a Sharpie on a sponge and cut it out.
Grab a blue sheet of paper to be the ocean. Then, create sand at the bottom by using yellow paper.
C. Activity
Have the kids paint the sponge using acrylic paint. They will flip it over and make prints on the paper. Make sure to have them press down on the sponge to make sure it makes the best print.
Then, create the fish’s tail and fins by making small hearts. Cut them out and use a glue stick to paste them on.
Add on a googly eye and a smile to each fish! Lastly, use the acrylic paint markers to draw bubbles from the fish!
Craft #10: Handprint Fish Craft
I always have to include a handprint craft in my articles because they are SO cute. This fish craft for toddlers is SO easy.
Handprint crafts are my favorite. I love seeing the kids’ hands in the crafts, and they love it too!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- cardstock paper
- scissors
- glue stick
- googly eyes
- glitter/sequins
- glue
B. Set-up
Trace your child’s hand on a piece of cardstock paper. Then, cut it out.
C. Activity
Create a heart shape and use a glue stick to paste it to the back of the fish, so it looks like the fish has lips!
Glue each fish handprint on a piece of blue cardstock paper.
The kids will glue a googly eye on each fish. Then, add a thin layer of glue down on the fish’s body! Finally, sprinkle some glitter or sequins to be the fish’s scales.
Craft #11: Ocean Oobleck
Oobleck is just an amazing sensory experience for kids! It’s both a solid and a liquid! It’s honestly one of the coolest fillers, and we love to use it!
Oobleck is the perfect filler for an ocean-themed sensory bin because it looks exactly like water, but it’s not!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- cornstarch
- water
- ocean animals
- sand
- tray
- bowl
- spoon
B. Set- up
In a bowl, mix 2 cups of cornstarch, 1 cup of water, and blue food coloring; mix with a spoon!
Dump some sand into half your tray and dump the oobleck in the other half.
C. Activity
Add in some ocean-themed accessories! We love ours from Safari LTD. They are the perfect size for small-world sensory play set-ups like these.
Have the kids play, get a little messy and have fun! This is a great one to take outside.
I will tell you, though; oobleck is easy to clean up if you decide to do it indoors :).
RELATED: The BEST Sensory Bins for Kids
Craft #12: Ocean Jell-O Dig
Jell-O digs are a fan favorite around here. I love them because they are taste safe for the kids, and it helps work on their fine motor skills.
This is a fun fish activity! The kids will LOVE fishing the animals out of the Jell-O.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- sensory bin
- Jell-O (2 packs)
- ocean themed animals
- kid-friendly tweezers
B. Set-up
Make the blue Jell-O by following the directions on the box. I recommend grabbing two packs to have enough Jell-O to cover the animals.
Put the Jell-O inside the sensory bin, then place the animals in the Jell-O before putting it in the fridge.
C. Activity
Once the Jell-O is ready, have the kids use tweezers to grab each animal out! Talk about what each animal is when attempting to grab it out.
Once they are all done, enjoy a little snack 🙂
RELATED: Fun Fine Motor Activities
Craft #13: Ice Fishing Activity
I got a fun science activity for your toddlers that deals with fish!
They will be amazed and have a blast doing this fun icy activity.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- baking tray/ sensory bin
- ice
- yarn
- salt
- blue food coloring
B. Set-up
Add some water and tint it blue with food coloring in a tray. Then, add some ice to the tray.
C. Activity
Have the kids place the piece of yarn on top of the ice. Then, spring salt over the yarn and ice. Let it sit there for 60 seconds before moving the string.
Gently pull the string, and the ice should come with it! The kids will love to see this!
Why does this happen?
When you add salt to ice, it lowers the ice’s melting point.
Salt causes a physical change by changing the properties and temperature of the ice cubes. But, if the temperature is still freezing around the ice, the ice will freeze again and freeze the string as well!
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Fish crafts are so much fun to do with the kids!
I hope you can find some fish crafts for toddlers that you’ll try! I’d love to hear about what craft you tried with your kids at home or in the classroom.
Happy Crafting!
Deena
