Play dough fans rejoice! Kate from Picklebums is joining us today with a fantastic set of printable sea creatures that are perfect for enjoying with some ocean play dough.
Printable sea creatures for ocean play dough
Watch our Playdough Masterclass
Click play on the video above to see our playdough masterclass.
This video gives you everything you ever wanted to know about play dough: how to make homemade playdough with quick and easy recipes; the benefits of playdough for children; and lots of sensory play activities using play dough including playdough math activities, playdough literacy activities, and playdough fine motor skills activities.
Plus find out how to get printable playdough recipe cards and printable play mats. It’s an excellent beginners guide to play dough!
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We have four kids – twin girls aged nine, a five year old boy and a two year old boy – and I am always amazed at how much they all love playdough. Playdough is one of those rare activities where all our kids happily play together.
It is such an open-ended activity that it lends itself to intricate creations made by the nine year olds, as well as basic manipulation from the toddler, and everything in between. It allows for lots of cooperative play, negotiation and social skill development, but it is also just as easy to give each child their own lump if they are not ready to play together right now.
We have commercially made playdough accessories coming out our ears which have all been well loved, but the best playdough accessories are always the ones that we make ourselves, the ones that really spark my kids’ imaginations or follow their interests. Cathy first inspired me to make printable playdough accessories when she had the wonderful idea to use our bunny cup cake toppers with playdough. Genius! Since then we have made some printable playdough garden accessories, and after a recent trip to the beach collecting rocks and shells I knew that sea creatures would be my next playdough set.
My kids waited, not very patiently, for me to finish creating the images and then the girls helped cut them out, laminate them and then cut them out again. Meanwhile the boys and I set about making our favourite microwave playdough – blue of course! Then we all collected some extra bits and pieces – glass pebbles, stones and shells. The rest was up to the kids…
All four kids loved creating under the sea scenes. Elaborate stories were played out, sharks ate fish and a star fish got tangled in an octopus. The playdough became waves, and lagoons, and even a deep sea diver!
Download the sea creatures printable
You can print your own under the sea playdough accessories by downloading the sea creatures printable pdf file below. Then just print, cut, laminate (or cover with self adhesive paper), cut again, and play!
How to download the printable
Hey, are you doing a project on fish, the seaside or the ocean? If you’re looking at this article then I guess you might be. I have some great free printables on a fish theme that I think you’ll love.
NurtureStore has an extensive library of free printables, including a free Number Fish printable, which is great for adding numbers to your play and working on math skills in a hands-on way. I also have a lovely free Ocean Creatures Play Set which you can print and combine with playdough or a water tub for imaginary play.
An early childhood educator and Mum of four, Kate lives on a small property called ‘The Pickle Farm’ in rural Australia. Kate’s blog, picklebums, has articles about gentle parenting, gardening, family food, activities for kids, free printables and anything else that pops up in her crazy life. You can also find Kate on facebook, twitter, and pinterest.
Coloring pages :: snowman printable
I never used to be a fan of coloring pages, preferring to offer lots of paper, pencils and other art materials to encourage the children to create their own art. However along came L, who really loves to colour in and reminded me that there’s fun and benefit in many different kinds of kids activities.
Children’s creativity can be encouraged in many ways – and best of all when you’re starting out with the individual child’s passions in mind. She seems to find colouring in quite meditative and often sings whiles she’s doing it! So, with her in mind, I put together some snowman-themed coloring pages – and I thought you might like them as a printable too.
Coloring pages :: snowman printable
The coloring pages have been put together using PicMonkey. Have you discovered it yet? It’s a photo editing site which I use a lot for photos on the blog, but it’s also a great site to give children a chance to try out some IT skills.
Both B and L like to use PicMonkey to make their own pictures and letters to send to friends. L’s 6-years-old and has found it easy to get the hang of. I set up a blank ‘collage’ and she practises using the mouse to change colours, fonts, do some online writing and use their image bank to make fun pictures. You can use many of the facilities on the site for free or upgrade to get access to everything.
#1 is a simple snowman outline, great for customising with your own hat, scarf and face.
#2 is good for practising scissor skills
#3 is a fun doodle sheet where you can add whatever you can imagine to the winter scene, along with lots of extra snowflakes.
See how glamorous the snowmen – or rather snowladies – are in our house!
( Thanks to PicMonkey for their permission to share the coloring pages with you.)