Do your children love mermaids and want to surround themselves with all the magical things under the sea? When you go to the beach do you kids wonder if there are mermaids swimming beneath the waves? Do they watch the ocean waves closely in the hopes of one day spotting a glittering fin or a group of merpeople sunning themselves on the rocks? If so, they will love making these magical mermaid crafts. So grab the glitter and some seashells and let's dive under-the-sea!
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All of these are easy mermaid craft ideas that don't take a lot of time or skill. They are great crafts for mermaid-themed parties or to go along with story time with a great mermaid picture book!
Ocean in a Bottle
Every mermaid needs an ocean for swimming! This ocean in a bottle is easy to make and a fun way to upcycle plastic bottles. Watch the video below to see how to create the mesmerizing waves, and in addition to the tiny sea animals shown in the video, be sure to add these tiny mermaid figures!
Paper Mermaid Crafts
With a few snips or a dab or glue, you can turn paper into a glorious mermaid. Of course, a paper mermaid craft isn't exactly sea-worthy, but it's great for pretend play
Mermaid bookmarks designed exclusively for us as part of our coloring page series. You'll need them when you read these mermaid books.
3D mermaid greeting cards from Mama Pea Pod
Mermaid crowns from Happy Hooligans
Mermaids crafted from paper rolls from Red Ted Art
Catalog cut out mermaids from No Time For Flash Cards
Handprint mermaids from Education.com
The best, free mermaid coloring pages!
Mermaid doll crafts
Printable mermaid paper dolls. These printable mermaid dolls are ready to be cut out and colored for some awesome pretend play.
Mix and Match clothespin mermaids from Reading Confetti
Clothespin mermaids from Red Ted Art
Pipe cleaner mermaids from Hello Wonderful
Even More Mermaid Crafts
Make your own mermaid tail! Easy no-sew instruction.
Storytelling seashells to go with Whatever After Series: Sink or Swim from Educators' Spin on It. See all our recommended mermaid books for tweens!
Fantasy mermaid eggs from Adventure in a Box
Phyllis at All Things Beautiful says
What a great idea! Thank you for the great book list and I think even my boys might like this, if I am creative with the presentation. Thanks!
Erica MomandKiddo says
Yep, boys can like mermaids, too!
Melissa@Julia's Bookbag says
This is FANTASTIC!!!!! My daughter is going to go wild with these! She's read the 1st Emily Windsnap and she loooooooooooooved it; she's about to start #2.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Yay! Happy mermaid reading!
Michelle says
My son loves Ariel, so these crafts are great for me! 🙂
Erica MomandKiddo says
Yay! I'm glad the post is helpful! Happy crafting!
Melanie Hope Greenberg says
Mermaid Love <3 mermel hope greenberg
Sarah says
This is great! I love the book recommendations. We recently watched the animated movie Ponyo on a family night, a film that I am pretty certain is an adaptation of the Little Mermaid story and it was so beautiful and artistic! I know you haven't included movie recommendations but your list brought that film to mind immediately!
Erica MomandKiddo says
I've never seen Ponyo, but I heard it was a good film.
esivy says
This is a great list! To Catch a Mermaid is one of my favorites - it kind of reminds me of Roald Dahl's books - and I've gone on to read more of Selfors books. It was fun to see my book in such great company. 🙂
Julie Grasso says
Oh wow, this is an awesome list, and great crafts to boot. Thanks so much for joining us on the Kid Lit Blog Hop. (Although its winter in my part of the world) little G does love a good mermaid story, so we will be pinning these for future reading when it warms up, he he.
Catherine says
Thanks for putting together this great list. We like The Singing Mermaid by Julia Donaldson.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I'm not familiar with that one. Thanks for the recommendation!
Deceptively Educational says
I used to love paper dolls!! Great book recommendations. Thanks!
Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews says
Great post Erica - I loved your intro, hilarious. I didn't realize that Mary Pope Osborne put together a book about mermaids - I'll have to check it out. My daughter tried reading Emily Windsnap a few years ago but I think she wasn't quite ready for it yet. We'll have to get that one from the library again and have another go. Thanks for joining us in the Kid Lit Blog Hop.
Catherine says
What a great list 🙂
I currently have five Mermaid picture books to give away on my blog.
peaceloveandsmoothies says
I'm a big girl, but I still love mermaid books enough to write my own. I can highly recommend the Emily Windsnap series.
Michele Medlyn says
How can I get my new children's book ("If I Were A Mermaid") on your website?
Julie says
Thank you SO MUCH for these resources! I've already requested several of these books from the library.
Amanda says
I love this list (with the crafts!) I have three girls and they love anything princess or mermaid or cupcake or sparkly. I can see these books opening up some great imaginative play for them too. My oldest goes through books like there's no tomorrow so I appreciate some new ones to give her. Thanks!
Erica says
Happy reading!
Shannon says
Another great mermaid book is Mermaid Sister by Mary Ann Fraser. Thanks for the fun list!