20+ Ocean Printables for Preschoolers

Ocean printables for preschoolers can bring a splash of fun into your classroom while still supporting key early learning skills. With playful sea creature activities and easy-to-use worksheets, this theme helps keep kids engaged during the busier, warmer months. It’s also a great way to introduce new preschool theme ideas that combine structure with plenty of movement and discovery.

Whether it’s counting clams or tracing waves, ocean-themed printables offer just enough novelty to make familiar skills feel fresh again. And since everything ties into one theme, transitions become smoother and your day flows with a little more ease.

Free ocean activities for preschoolers to do this summer.

Ocean printables for preschoolers have a way of turning an ordinary lesson into something that feels more like playtime. One minute you’re practicing counting, the next you’re helping a crab find its way through a maze or matching seashells by size and color.

It’s all the learning you want to see, with all the fun your preschoolers look forward to. Themed printables work especially well during the summer months, when attention spans are shorter and kids are daydreaming about the beach.

If you’ve been wanting to mix things up, now’s a great time to explore fresh preschool activity ideas. An ocean theme blends easily into just about any part of the day—from circle time songs about fish to literacy games with bubble letters. And because ocean animals are familiar but still full of wonder, they keep little minds curious and engaged.

Read this: Ocean Art for Preschoolers

Shop our Ocean Printables for Preschool

Make a splash in preschool learning with our engaging and educational ocean printable activities for preschoolers.

Free Ocean Printables for Preschoolers

These ocean themed math printables will be a fun addition to your ocean themed preschool lesson plans. With these free printables kids will practice counting, number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, addition, subtraction, writing numbers, and fine motor skills.

Read this: Ocean Sensory Table: Small World Play

Get the Right Ocean Themed Manipulatives

Bringing the ocean to your classroom means having the right ocean materials. Here’s what I always have for my ocean theme.

Learning Resources Under The Sea Ocean Counters – 72…
  • Set of 72 colorful counters in 6 different shapes and colors
  • Reinforce counting, sorting, patterning, and other early math skill
  • Includes whale, shark, sea lion, octopus, stingray, and sea turtle
Small Montessori Animal Figures with Flash Cards,…
  • Animals Figurines: 12 Pcs Vibrant Colors Realistic Plastic Sea Animal, About 2-3 In.
  • Great for Educational: This Montessori Animal Matching Game is Made for Kids to Help Prepare Them…
  • Realistic Animals Details : Enhance Your Kid’s Imagination And Creativity While Teaching Through…
Learning Resources Ocean Emotions Seashells, Ocean…
  • Seaside Social-Emotional Learning: Kids identify and compare emotions through sensory play with…
  • Build School-Ready Skills: This sorting toy’s pop-apart seashells help build memory and fine motor…
  • Green Learning: Includes feelings poster and Activity Guide filled with kid-friendly sustainability…
Counting Ocean Animal Toys Matching Games, Sensory Toys…
  • Strength Rubber
  • 🦀Counting Ocean Animal Toys For Kids- Complete components includes 56 ocean animal(Crab, Lobster,…
  • 🦞High Safety Factor- Ocean Animal toddler sensory toys are constructed of Strength Rubber,…
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Learning Resources Jumbo Ocean Animals – 6 Pieces, Ages…
  • SPARK INTEREST: Turn your child’s natural fascination about animals into curiosity about the…
  • ENCOURAGE: Inspire imaginative play and vocabulary development. This jumbo ocean animal set is the…
  • DURABLE FUN: Made of lightweight, durable, dishwasher-safe plastic

Ocean Themed Children’s Books

Carefully selected picture books about the ocean can really make your ocean theme come alive, especially if your preschool class doesn’t have any formal experience with the sea. Here are some of my favorite ocean theme picture books I like to read my class during circle time!

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The Pout-Pout Fish
  • Diesen, Deborah (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 32 Pages – 08/06/2013 (Publication Date) – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Publisher)
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National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of the…
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Hardcover Book
  • Hughes, Catherine D. (Author)
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How to Catch a Mermaid
  • Hardcover Book
  • Wallace, Adam (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
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Knowledge Encyclopedia Ocean! (DK Knowledge…
  • Hardcover Book
  • DK (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
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Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became…
  • Hardcover Book
  • Keating, Jess (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
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Hello, World! Ocean Life
  • McDonald, Jill (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 26 Pages – 02/05/2019 (Publication Date) – Doubleday Books for Young Readers (Publisher)
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Inky the Octopus: The Official Story of One Brave…
  • Guendelsberger, Erin (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 32 Pages – 05/01/2020 (Publication Date) – Sourcebooks Wonderland (Publisher)

FAQs About Teaching an Ocean Theme

What do you teach in an ocean preschool theme?

Teaching children about the ocean is a lot more than just playing with buckets of water and pretending to be pirates. Get them excited for math by teaching counting, time sequence skills, or shapes Teach literacy concepts through songs and fingerplays that feature ocean animals, and prewriting activities that feature beach toys.

But an ocean preschool theme doesn’t just have to be about sea animals. You can teach about the difference between fresh water and salt water, the different layers of the ocean, where in the world oceans are found, and about different jobs people might have related to the ocean.

How do you teach an ocean theme if you don’t live near the ocean?

Even if you don’t live near the ocean, picture books and videos about the ocean can make it come alive for preschoolers. You can also create fun, hands-on ocean activities such as sensory bins and water tables to add more enrichment to your lesson plans. And if you have the option, a field trip to an aquarium can open up a whole world of learning about ocean animals for kids.

How do you describe an ocean to preschoolers?

A simple way to describe the ocean to preschoolers is to explain that it is a large body of salt water. You can use a globe, a map, pictures, books, and videos to visually show kids what an ocean looks like. To further explain what the ocean is, add a hands-on activity such as a sensory bin of salty, sandy water with ocean animal toys in it.