Under-the-Sea Lesson Plan for Toddlers

Undersea Diorama

• Use a craft to teach toddlers about what lies under the sea. For instance, use a shoebox to create a diorama of the sea world. Help toddlers paint the box's interior blue. Cut fish from colored construction paper and cut plants from green paper. Standing the box on its side, glue the plant and fish shapes to the box's interior walls. Use blue modeling clay to stand some fish and plant shapes on the box's interior floor. Poke a hole about the size of a quarter in the middle of the shoebox lid and seal the lid on the shoebox so toddlers can see the diorama through an eyehole.

A Close Look

• Allow children to examine sea life for themselves. Buy dried starfish, shells and rocks from a craft supply store. Provide magnifying glasses, notebooks and drawing materials. Ask toddlers to closely examine the sea creatures and draw what they see in a notebook. Children should draw a picture of each sea item as a whole and another picture of what the same item looks like through a magnifying glass. This lesson will help children see fish as more than cartoon shapes; magnifying the sea creatures will help kids notice their details.

Walk Like a Crab

• Show children short video clips of various fish and sea creatures. Have toddlers take special note of how the fish move and ask them to emulate the sea creatures' movements. For instance, have toddlers move like crabs by asking them to sit on the floor while leaning back on their hands. Have them put feet flat on the floor while they try to lift their bottoms off the floor. Tell them to move sideways, similarly to the way that crabs move.

Other Lesson Plans

• Take kids on a field trip to the aquarium, pet store or beach. Teach children about the fish and sea creatures they may see on their trip and follow-up with a review of what they learned. Additionally, have the kids create puppets of an octopus, whale and dolphin and use the puppets in an imaginative play. Make the puppets out of a paper bag, construction paper and other craft materials.