If you’re the parent of a water baby, your summer is likely jam-packed with swimming lessons, pool parties, beach trips, and all kinds of wet and wild adventures for the whole family.
Thankfully, there are ways to keep the summer fun rolling -- and nurture your child’s imagination -- well past the season’s peak. That’s why we’ve partnered with the makers of Orajel™ Bubble Guppies™ Toothbrushes and Anticavity Fluoride Toothpaste to bring you these six adorable ocean-themed crafts to do with your toddler before summer ends.
1. You can use whatever you have around your home to make this ocean-in-a-bottle with your toddler. Mix a few drops of blue food color with water and oil -- vegetable, canola or even baby oil -- in a bottle with a childproof cap, and you’ve put the ocean right into your child’s hands. Try mixing in glitter or plastic underwater animals to bring the experience to life.
Jackie Currie / http://happyhooligans.ca
2. Your little one will love this (literally!) hands-on craft. He/She can customize his/her fish bowl with crayons, markers, paints, stickers, cut-outs and anything else you have on hand. For younger kids, try drawing the outline of a fish bowl instead of cutting and gluing one onto construction paper. 
Natalie Waggenspack / http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com
3. This sensory craft mixes clear hair gel with two to three drops of food color or liquid watercolor paint to resemble the sea. Start with a few tablespoons of sand or glitter, combine the hair gel mixture and toss in a few plastic underwater animals to create an ocean in a bag. Just be sure to securely seal it with duct tape.
Gift of Curiosity / http://www.giftofcuriosity.com
4. For a yummy post-crafting snack, keep the ocean theme going with these quick and simple-to-make fish bowl rice cake snacks. Use a tiny drop of food color to turn flavored yogurt light blue, then spread across the rice cakes. Sprinkle rock candy -- or graham cracker crumbs for a healthier alternative -- to look like the rocky ocean floor and add a few white nonpareils above some goldfish crackers to look like bubbles. 
Crystal Rapinchuk / http://www.survivingateacherssalary.com
5. If you’re looking for a fun, easy and imaginative way to help build your toddler’s fine motor skills, try this fishing craft. All you need are pipe cleaners and a few clear containers or reusable glass jars. Twist a few pipe cleaners into fish shapes and one into a hook, then let your child do the rest. 
Mihaela Vrban / http://besttoys4toddlers.com
6. Let your child craft his own oyster and pearl using a paper plate and pom pom. Start by painting the outside of the plate grey and the inside pink. Once dry, glue a pom pom to the inside of the folded plate. Your child will love being able to open and close the craft, just like a real oyster.
Katey Magill / http://www.havingfunathome.com
Orajel™ is here to make teeth-brushing a little more fun for your water baby with its Bubble Guppies™ line of toothbrushes and toothpaste.