Summertime Crafts: 22 Beautiful Beach Crafts For Kids

No messy sand required for this beach craft! Using sandpaper to make a sandcastle may be an “Aha!” moment for you, and so the creative minds at I Heart Crafty Things will really inspire you. Make this easy for everyone by cutting out basic shapes ahead of time: rectangles, circles, triangles, etc. Children can then design and assemble their own “sandcastles” on a sea of blue cardstock. It’s a super fun way to celebrate a beloved beach activity no matter the time of year, or where you live.

Everyone can enjoy the water with this harmless and adorable jellyfish craft from Non-Toy Gifts! While your children or students paint the jellyfish bodies on paper plate halves, you can go ahead and cut the yarn to tie on for the tentacles. The yarn can match the body, or not — how about rainbow tentacles? Great big googly eyes will add an extra cute touch to these already darling little fellas. Tip: if you’re hosting a sea- or beach-themed party, hang these from the ceiling to create a tactile experience for your guests!

Dive deep into the sea with free printables from A Little Pinch Of Perfect. All you need to provide are black construction paper, white coffee filters, and watercolor paints. Stick with oceanic colors for the children to paint, or let their imaginations go wild with all the colors of the rainbow! When the craft is dry and done, it looks stunning when taped to a window so that the sun can shine through the colors and turn your living room or classroom into a nautical paradise.

Need something clever to do with all those shells you brought home from the beach? Click on over to No Time For Flashcards for a gorgeous, glittery seashell craft! With a little bit of glue and imagination, those beach shells easily become decorative items to brighten up your home. Make an entire family Screen-Free Day of it while you each share your favorite seaside memories. This beach craft is a lovely way to preserve and enjoy a family vacation.

Fish are part of any beach vacation, whether you are fishing for- or swimming with-. And with this project from I Heart Crafty Things, you can make your own lake or ocean at home! Take advantage of all the colorful and decorative cupcake liners out there to get really creative with your fish; make sure to buy mini-liners as well as regular-size ones. Stock up on either blue sequins or white hole punch stickers to make the bubbles; the blog has affiliate links to help you purchase them online. And don’t forget those wavy lines to show the water’s currents!

If you’re wondering how Crafty Morning makes this slime look exactly like sand, it’s because there’s actual sand in it! Use crafting sand or play sand, but either way, this will certainly be one of the most unique slimes you’ve ever made. The slime is not only satisfying to play with, but it makes the perfect base for a sandcastle sculpture or a home for vacation seashells. (See #4, above.) Kids will love this awesomely clever twist on the same old slime they love to play with!

Every starfish craft can be as unique as the child who makes it, thanks to inspiration from The Crafting Chicks. Start with their super easy sand dough recipe, and then get creative making all kinds of starfish with one-of-a-kind designs. Definitely read all the directions before getting started on this project, as there is some excellent advice regarding letting the sand dough harden into shape. Once they are done, make sure to add them to your beach scene with the sand slime base! (See #6, above.)

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to crafting…comes this sweet great white from I Heart Crafty Things! Use this shark craft to teach your children or students about upcycling when they collect old newspapers. (Upcycling also leads to discussions about cleaning up the oceans to help protect marine life.) If the teeth are too sharp in the photo above, simply cut flatter or rounder shark’s teeth for your children, students, or campers to glue on.

If family trips to the beach result in more beach glass than seashells, here’s a craft just for you. And if you don’t have any found beach glass you can buy some through The Homespun Hydrangea‘s affiliate links. Have some pretty, smooth-edged glass pieces in hand now? Good! Use them to grow your own crystals at home, which is a fun way to get some science into your kids. Fill up a mason jar with sea glass crystals for a unique and beautiful decoration or gift.

What better way to remember your family’s trip to the beach than with this darling keepsake from The Imagination Tree? The clay recipe uses real sand (perhaps invest in some crafting sand rather than actual beach sand for this one) as the base to mold your child’s handprint. Got some leftover shells that aren’t quite big enough for some of the other crafts on this list? (See #4 and #6, above.) The little ones are just the right size for this project! Anything with your child’s handprint is going to be cherished for years to come, so make sure you build it to last with this sand clay recipe.

Love slime? Love the beach? Prefer water over sand? (See #6, above.) Then STEAMsational has the perfect craft for you! This slime sparkles like the sea at sunset and feels so satisfying when squished or stretched. Add a wide variety of little plastic sea creatures for effect; better yet, turn this into a party activity by seeing who can grab the most animals in a given amount of time! Combine this with the sand slime to make an even better beach model to display on a party table, or just for fun.

Whether you’re looking for more things to do with sand clay (see #10, above), or more things to do with leftover shells (see #4, #6, and #10, above), Red Ted Art has a clever little craft that kids can wear. This project works perfectly for older kids and tweens who have made new friends at the beach during a family vacation; they can give the necklaces away as gifts or even swap them between new besties. When you get back home, the necklaces can be hung from the corner of a bed’s headboard or on a desk, a loving reminder of a summer friend.

If, after the seashell crafts listed above (#4, #6, #10, and #12), you still manage to have some shells leftover, head to Projects With Kids for this fifth project. “Marble painting” is a modern trend in kids’ arts and crafts, and is a super easy and cost-effective way of doing really cool projects with your children or students. Instead of marbles for this one, though, you’ll scoop your shells through the shaving cream and food coloring. Check out the blog for tips and advice, making sure to read all the directions first so you are set up for success!

Jellyfish are beautiful to watch as they glide with grace through the water. Their bubbles and tentacles are almost like a ballerina’s, so smooth and elegant. And then you have these jellyfish from I Heart Crafty Things, who are ready to party! With their bright colors and crazy curly streamers, this craft looks amazing when hung from the ceiling for a beach-themed party, or hung throughout a classroom during a lesson on oceans and sea creatures. Who’s ready to have fun with these colorful jellies?

Rainy afternoons or sick days got everyone feeling crabby? Click on over to I Heart Crafty Things for a craft that will cheer everyone up! First, bake some cupcakes to make your miserable day a little bit sweeter, and then use the leftover cupcake liners to craft some friendly beach critters. Drawing smiles on their cute faces will absolutely put smiles on everyone else’s faces, too — just look at those silly googly eyes! Before you know it, the long hours of the day will have flown by and everyone will feel just a little bit better.

This Art Bar craft uses actual beach sand, but if you are not near a clean beach you can always purchase craft or play sand. The nice thing about this particular project is that it’s a two-parter, making this one great for when you have a long stretch of time (maybe even several days) ahead of you. First, follow the directions at the blog to dye your sand different colors; next, pour it by layers into a clean, clear bottle that can be tightly stoppered up. This is a classic craft that is a perennial hit with kids of all ages. Don’t forget to invest in plenty of small funnels to minimize the mess!

Even on rainy days, you can enjoy a little bit of sunshine with these jellyfish suncatchers from I Heart Arts And Crafts. It’s truly amazing what some pieces of tissue paper and contact paper can do to bring a pop of color into your home! When you make these and hang them up, they’ll brighten up with even the smallest bit of light from outside, creating a stained-glass effect in any window of your house. Even toddlers can help out with this one, as all they need to do is tear up bits of tissue paper and smack them onto the contact sheet adhesive.

Don’t forget your beach umbrella when you head to the shore this summer! And don’t forget to bookmark this delightful art project over at Crafts On Sea that cleverly uses a folded cupcake liner as an umbrella. What’s great about this craft is that it can be adjusted for kids of almost any age: paint the sky and sand ahead of time for toddlers and preschoolers, then let them glue on the craft stick, cupcake liner umbrella, and draw on some sand toys; kindergarteners and first graders can paint the sky and sand themselves. Ask the children which toys they like to take to the beach, and encourage them to paint those under the umbrella!

Beaches are historically well-known to inspire some great works of art. Why not use the beach itself as your canvas and medium make something beautiful? Over at Must-Have Mom, you’ll find a truly clever and creative idea for making one-of-a-kind beach art. Unlike buying crafting or play sand, with this art you use the actual sand from the actual beach you happen to visit. Take regular paint and puffy paint in a variety of blue (and green?) hues so that each ocean your child paints is unique.

If the crab craft at #15 (above) has your kids walking sideways and pinching their fingers together, it’s time for another adorable crab project! Thanks to Crafts By Amanda, you can use regular art supplies and party staples, to make 3D crabs. Make eye stalks and legs to match the cups, or mix it up to look super funky! This craft works well as a table decoration for a sea-themed birthday party, or combined with some of the sand crafts listed above (#1 and #19).

Everyone’s invited to a beach party with this fun beach ball from Glued To My Crafts! A simple paper plate and some colorful tissue paper are all that’s needed for this project that brings the fun into your own living room — without anything getting knocked over or broken. No templates or special drawing skills required here. And if you don’t have all those colors of tissue paper, the blogger helpfully provides an affiliate link to order some online. Save your breath and make this beach ball craft instead of using all your lung power to blow up a real one!

While you are filling your home or classroom with sea creatures (see #2, #3, #5, #8, #14, #15, and #20, above), don’t forget some happy little whales! Buggy And Buddy has the easy-to-follow directions for putting together a pod of brightly colored nautical mammals. Make sure you add smiles, googly eyes, and colorful polka dots so that your whales will be happy to be part of your undersea or beach theme — talk about whale watching!