Summer beach crafts are a great way to end a long fun summer with memories of the beach and help you hold onto that carefree feeling just a little longer. Also, look at my page Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook and Seashore Beach Watching Unit Study and Seashore Lapbook.
If you are going to ‘dive’ into an ocean themed unit you will want to include some good books, a video or two, and of course hands on activities.
I am bringing you an ocean inspired seas shell necklace tutorial.
Too, I have 8 more summer beach crafts to inspire a creative side, from candles to edible crafts.
You can add these summer-y crafts to any unit on the ocean or just use them as a fun activity for you and the kids.
I enjoy capping off the summer with a beach trip, crafts, and a little bit of learning.
When choosing shells take a look at a shell guide and learn the name of your inspiration, find one for your particular area.
This necklace tutorial has a really fun surprise.
At first glance it looks like a simple little pearl nestled into the shell but when you step outside into the sun it turns a bright color.
Check out these really cool UV beads I found. They start out like this.
And after just a few seconds in the sun they change to bright colors.
Isn’t that just the coolest for the kids?
Facts About Seashells
- Sea shells have been used by more than just creatures as homes.
- They have been used as currency. Also they are used as tools for scraping out bowls or boats, and as part of weapons.
- A seashell isn’t an animal, rather it is a portable home for a wide variety of animals.
- It was once part of a sea creature’s protective outer layer. The creature dies and the body disappears. Just the shell is left behind. But there is one exception, the hermit crab, which is a crustacean.
- There are two main shell types- The first is a smooth, round design. This design makes it easy for animals living inside to move quickly over the ocean floor to avoid predators. The second type of shell is covered with spikes and irregular surfaces. This type is found in tropical waters and the uninviting design of the shell is the protection.
Next, look at some of these fun books about seashells.
4 Seashells Books for Kids
Add one or two of these books or resources to your unit study about sea shells.
This clear and appealing book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom, is a fascinating exploration of the many creatures that make a home in a shell. This picture book features beautifully accurate illustrations of the many types of shells—inside and out! Young readers will love exploring the fascinating homes of creatures like hermit crabs, scallops, and turtles.
Beautiful photographs of stunning shells from London's Natural History Museum, home to one of the most significant and comprehensive collections in the world.Collected and treasured for their beauty, used in religious rituals, or even traded as currency, shells have fascinated humans for millennia. Ancient and enchanting, dazzling in form and variety, these beautiful objects come from mollusks, one of the most diverse groups in the animal kingdom, including snails, oysters, cuttlefish, and chitons. Soft-bodied, these creatures rely on shells for protection from enemies and their environments, from snowy mountains to arid deserts, in deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the jungles of the tropics, on rocky shores, and in coral reefs.
Ocean beaches capture our attention like few places on Earth—and for good reason. Two vastly different ecosystems merge here, attracting a wide variety of life forms. Become a young oceanographer. Learn all about beaches and the plants and animals found there. East Coast expert Erika Zambello and West Coast naturalist Stephanie Panlasigui present a kids’ introduction to beach life. The children’s book, ideal for early and middle-grade readers, conveys fascinating information for beginners.
Start by learning about beaches and their various habitats, as well as tips on beach safety, collecting etiquette, an
Award-winning marine biologist Helen Scales introduces children to the wonders of shells (from seashells to land snails) through the art of observation. Using a friendly question-and-answer format, she explores, through a richly sensory experience, the incredible diversity of shells around the world and showcases the environments molluscs inhabit. From what a shell's shape, color, or texture can reveal about its inhabitant, to where shells are found (from the deepest seas to jungly treetops), with this book, readers can get up close with nature to observe its wonders.
Also, look at more sea shell crafts.
Sea Shell Science & Crafts
- 22 Hands-on Fun Ocean Sea Shell Activities For Teens
- How to Dissolve a Seashell – Beach Hands-on Fun Activity
- 10 Sea Shell Activities for Kids and Make Crystal Sea Shells
8 Summer Beach Crafts
- Inexpensive and easy to make, this Salt Dough Starfish Craft is a great decor piece anywhere in the house.
- Good clean fun, your kids will definitely have Fun Making Ocean Layers Soap Summer Activities for Middle Schoolers as they learn about each layer of our deep oceans.
- I just love this mermaid inspired Glitter SeaShell Picture Frame.
- Hold onto every drop of summer and create these DIY Underwater Seashell Candles to bring a little bit of the beach home.
- Enhance already beautiful pieces of smooth beach glass and learn How to Grow Borax Crystals on Beach Glass to give it a little more sparkle.
- Make a Craft Stick Beach Craft to give a little seaside flair to doors or anywhere else.
- Adorable DIY Seashell Book–What a fun gift or mini memory book of summer!
- Find 10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass.
How to Make an Ocean-Inspired Seashell Necklace
You can’t tell what color the uv beads will be until the sun has changed them.
So, you can either make your necklace and let it be a surprise or take them outside and change them so you get your choice of color.
You will need:
- UV Beads
- Seashells
- Stretchy jewelry string
- Small tipped screw
- Small hammer
First, choose your shell.
With the concave side facing down, place the screw tip where you would like the hole and tap gently with the hammer.
If your shell is weak it may crack.
But a sturdy shell will give way with gentle taps just where the pressure is applied.
Once there is a small hole, flip the shell back and forth, twisting the screw gently to widen it just until it is big enough for your string to go through.
You can leave your shell plain or add a little bit of gold around the edges to give it a little extra special touch.l
Cut a length of stretchy necklace string longer than you need and knot a uv bead into the center of it.
Run the two open ends of the string through the hole in the shell, nestling the bead in the center.
Now at this point you can either keep it simple with just the shell and single bead or add beads up either side of the string.
Adjust the necklace to the length you like, knot the ends several times and then cut off the excess.
And after just a few seconds in the sun, the surprise is revealed.
