- Younger children may craft simple wooden ocean projects. Purchase two-dimensional wooden sea creatures such as sea horses and fish to be painted and decorated. Use non-toxic tempera paint for young crafters. Younger children can also build a model sailboat using wooden craft sticks. Glue four or five sticks together side by side to create the bottom of the boat. Glue the long edge of a wooden craft stick along each edge to create four short walls for the sailboat. Glue one stick upright in the middle of the hull to make the mast. Cut out a paper or fabric sail to attach to the mast. Have the children sail their boats in a bathtub "ocean."
- Older children may take a trip to the beach to collect driftwood and shells to create wooden ocean crafts. After collecting the materials, they can create a sculpture from the materials. Glue the driftwood together into an animal or an imaginative monster. After it dries, use acrylic paint to add color. Glue seashells to the driftwood or to a base where the sculpture can stand. Another project for older children is to decorate a plain wooden frame purchased from a craft store. Glue the beach findings onto the frame. Use paints and glitter to complete the frames.
- Gifts can be crafted from driftwood found from the beach, like the crafts found on the Beach Decorating Crafts website. Create a mobile with a large piece of driftwood approximately 2 1/2-feet long. Drill holes into the center of smaller pieces of driftwood and string them with wire. String shells and sea glass with the wire, too. Tie the strung driftwood, shells and sea glass to the larger driftwood to make a beach mobile. You can also use a gouge tool to carve out holes in a piece of driftwood to place glass cylinders for a votive candle holder. Gouge out three holes to make a set of three candle holders on the same piece of driftwood.
- Educate students about marine life with a wooden ocean craft. Create a wooden diorama about a coral reef system. Use an old wooden box to start the project. Cut out coral, fish and sea plants out of thin plywood. Paint the interior of the box with blue acrylic paint and paint the cut out wooden objects with the appropriate colors. Use wood glue to place the coral reef at the bottom of the diorama. Glue the sea plants behind the coral reef. Attach the fish to the sides of the interior of the box or use wire to float the fish above the coral reef.