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Ocean theme for 3 and 4 year olds: a week of activities

A ocean theme lesson plan for 3 and 4 year olds: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (ten to fifteen minutes, with a child holding the book), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for 3 and 4 year oldsThe whole ocean week

A day of the ocean theme with 3 and 4 year olds

  1. Arrival, sign-in, and a job from the helper chart.
  2. Circle (ten to fifteen minutes): calendar, “What lives in the ocean?”, sing “rub-a-dub-dub”, then Chip and the Shell.
  3. Centers, with the craft at one table: paper-plate fish.
  4. Letter O: trace it once, then hunt for O around the room.
  5. Snack: Kiwi Turtles, with children pouring and counting.
  6. Outside: waves and crabs.
  7. Rest, then a longer read-aloud: Under the Sea.

Ocean circle time

  1. Good morning song, then say each name together.
  2. Calendar: the day, the date and the weather.
  3. Ask: “What lives in the ocean?”
  4. Sing: Rub-a-Dub-Dub.
  5. Read: Chip and the Shell (level 2).

Threes and fours: ten to fifteen minutes; let a child hold the book.

Ocean theme books

  • Chip and the Shell (level 2, free on peabody.kids): A crab looking for a shell to live in.
  • Kip and the Crab (level 3, free on peabody.kids): A day at the beach and a crab.
  • Fish in a Dish (level 2, free on peabody.kids): A fish and someone kind.
  • Under the Sea (read aloud, level 4): Under the sea, in a pattern book with whales.

Ocean craft: Paper-plate fish

You need (5): paper plate, paint or crayons, a paper triangle tail, glue stick, a sticker eye.

  1. Color the plate as a fish.
  2. Glue the tail on one side.
  3. Add the eye and give your fish a name.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Ocean song: Rub-a-Dub-Dub

The words

Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub, And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, The candlestick-maker; Turn them out, knaves all three!

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Ocean snack

Kiwi Turtles from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Letter O activities

OoO is for ocean. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Threes and fours: trace O and o once, then find O in the room and in the book.

Outside activity: Waves and crabs

Children are crabs walking sideways; when the grown-up shouts "Wave!" everyone runs to the fence.

Ocean theme for toddlersOcean theme for 2 year oldsOcean theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30