• Use shells, toys and household items to create sea games for kids.sea shells image by Shirley Hirst from Fotolia.com
  
  Whether you're studying the ocean in your elementary school class or organizing activities for a party with a water or mermaid theme, create sea-related games to keep the children entertained. Invite the children to use imagination to turn ordinary craft supplies, toys and household objects into props for ocean-inspired contests that will transport them to the deep blue sea.
  
  

Treasure Hunt

• Organize a group game as an icebreaker if you're using the kids' sea games as party entertainment. Let the children work together to find clues that lead the group through the house or yard to find a plastic "treasure chest" filled with sea-themed goodies. For example, give the children a clue that takes them to a bathtub, where they'll find a diver's mask with the second clue. Let that clue lead to the dining room table, where they'll discover a dried starfish with the third clue. Have the group end up in the backyard to uncover a box filled with sea creature stuffed animals, ocean-themed activity books, fish-shaped squirt guns or books on sea-related topics.
  
  

Feed the Fish

• Enlist the children to help you feed a school of stuffed animal fish with a simple throwing game. Place three to four fish stuffed animals in a large plastic tub, laundry basket or cardboard box. Give the first player 10 ping pong balls as "fish food" to see how many she can toss into the container. Vary the difficulty level of the game by having the player stand closer to or farther away from the container. In the event of a tie, let the players with the highest scores compete to see who can toss the most fish food to the fish in 30 seconds.
  
  

Going Fishing

• Let the children test their skills with a magnetic toy fishing set. Offer a selection of sea-themed prizes such as pencils printed with fish designs, fish-shaped erasers, plastic water bottles with a beach motif or a plastic pail and shovel set. Write the names one type of prize on the bottom of each plastic fish that comes with the toy fishing set. Let each child try to "catch" a fish using the magnetic fishing rod and give him the prize listed on the bottom of the fish.
  
  

Deep Sea Diving

• Allow the children to go "diving" for prizes in a large plastic tub filled with a 6- to 10-inch layer of sand and water. Hide shells, plastic fish figurines, plastic toy boats and assorted sea-themed bath toys in the sand before filling the tub with water. Give each child 10 seconds to "dive" for a prize in the sand by sifting through the sand with her fingertips. If the child unearths multiple prizes, you may need to bury them in the sand again before the next player's turn.