Ocean Process Art

When the temperature rises, nothing sounds more inviting than a trip to the beach!  Sadly, not every preschool is blessed with a beachfront view.  To bring the ocean indoors, cool off with this amazing Ocean Process Art activity.  All it takes are a few simple supplies and the classroom gets a refreshing underwater feel!

Supplies Needed:

• Blue and white washable paint
• Silver or blue glitter
• Paintbrushes, cotton swabs, or fingers
• Cups for water
• Paint trays (We love these dollar store appetizer plates!)
• Smocks
• Paper fish cutouts
• Glue or glue sticks

Getting Started

Prepare the students by reading a book about fish, such as Rainbow Fish or Swimmy.

Set up the area by putting gathering the supplies.

Mix the blue and white paints to create different shades of blue – even better yet, the students can help with this fun step!

Add glitter to some of the paints as well, for an extra sparkly touch!

The Motion of the Ocean

Next, give each student a piece of paper (pro tip – label the back FIRST before they start painting!) and let them paint with brushes, cotton swabs, or even their hands!

Encourage the students to try mixing different shades of blue on the paper.

Playing songs such as Laurie Berkner’s “The Goldfish” or some classical music might encourage some students to swirl and swoosh the paint.

If they want a more pastel look, students can dip brushes in the water to thin out the paint.

For a little extra sparkle, add more glitter before the paint dries.

Go Fish!

After the paint has dried, set up a fish area with glue and cutouts of simple fish silhouettes.  (The ones in the picture were cut out with the Silhouette Cameo.)

Students can add schools of fish to their own ocean painting to complete their masterpiece!

The beauty of this type of process art project is – THE STUDENTS DID ALL THE WORK! It took just minutes to set up, and lots of time for the students to complete. The engaged in the process of swirling, mixing, brushing, dabbing, and glittering (is that a word?!).

Then we transformed this masterpiece into something truly “fridge-worthy” by adding the colorful little fish. So, the students got some important gluing practice too! It’s a total win in our book.