Ocean Themed I Spy Jar for Preschoolers

If you saw the ocean themed fine motor activity from yesterday, you’ll be happy to know that this is another activity that is super easy to put together. While it does take a bit longer than the 30 seconds required for that activity, you can still have this done in way less than 5 minutes and your preschooler can help make it! This ocean themed I Spy Jar is sure to be a hit with your preschooler or toddler.

Materials needed for the Ocean Themed I Spy Jar:

Ocean animal beads

Blue vase filler

Green paper crinkles (you could also substitute blue)

Plastic jar (I found mind for $1 at a craft store)

How to put together the Ocean Themed I Spy Jar:

Open the jar.

Layer each of the materials in the jar and repeat several times. Be sure to push the beads toward the outside of the jar before you add more paper crinkles, otherwise they will be hidden and there will be nothing to spy.

Bummer.

Make sure that the jar is well filled, so that the paper crinkles hold the beads in place. See above reason.

Avoid the bummer.

Once your jar is pretty stuffed, put the lid back on.

That’s it!

You may be asking why we used green paper crinkles if this is supposed to be an Ocean I Spy Jar…

I absolutely… did not think about it…

lol!

Actually it was all I had on hand from a sensory bin that we did (sharing soon!) and we had used it for seaweed in there, so we just decided that the animals were tangled up in the seaweed.

If you don’t want to use your imagination that way….hehe, you can definitely use blue paper crinkles instead.

Either way will work just fine.

We used the jar to talk about colors and animal names with my preschooler. Most of the ocean animal names are still not familiar to her. She much prefers the farm animals. I would guess that’s because farm animals have fun sounds and actions that go along with them. Ocean animals….. not so much.

Planning for an Ocean Theme? We’ve done all the work for you!

We now have interactive thematic lesson plans for toddlers (18-35 months) AND preschoolers (3-5 years)! Get ready for fun and learning with unit lesson plans for your OCEAN THEME. Explore a variety of themed hands-on activities! Easy to follow lesson plans include activity modifications and adaptations to meet the needs of all learners. For more information, click on the graphics below: