Celebrating World Oceans Day with Playbased Learning

Every year on 8 June , the world comes together to celebrate World Oceans Day , a time to recognise the importance of our oceans and the need to protect them for future generations. For families and educators, it presents a beautiful opportunity to inspire young minds through playbased learning, nurturing both curiosity and a sense of responsibility for our blue planet.

At Tara Treasures , we believe in the power of open-ended play to spark imagination, deepen understanding, and foster compassion. And what better way to explore the wonders of our oceans than through small world play using our ethically handmade felt play mats and sea creature toys?

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It taps into a child’s natural curiosity, allowing them to explore, experiment, and understand the world around them through hands-on experiences.

When we incorporate themes like ocean life into play, we’re not only teaching children about marine ecosystems—we’re also building essential skills such as:

• Language and storytelling

• Critical thinking and problem-solving

• Emotional development and empathy

• Fine motor and sensory skills

Small world play is a form of imaginative play where children use miniature figures, animals, and environments to create their own stories. Our felt ocean play mats at Tara Treasures are designed specifically for this kind of learning.

Handmade by our artisan team in Nepal using 100% New Zealand wool, our ocean-themed felt mats feature vibrant blues, textured reefs, sandy patches, and little coves. Inviting children into an immersive underwater world. Pair them with our felt sea animals like whales, dolphins, sea turtles, crabs, starfish, and octopuses.

• Tara Treasures Sea Rockpool Felt Play Mat

• Felt sea creatures : sea turtle, clownfish, jellyfish, manta ray, seahorse, etc.

• Loose parts: shells, blue gems, driftwood, pebbles

• Natural light or a sensory light table

• A storybook or picture guide about ocean life

1. Lay the Ocean Felt Mat on a flat surface, either indoors or outdoors.

2. Add your felt animals , letting your child place them where they imagine they would live, on coral, near the shore, or in the deep blue.

3. Sprinkle in loose parts to create coral reefs, rock pools, or sandy beaches.

4. Introduce a prompt: “Today we are marine explorers! What do we see under the sea?”

5. Encourage your child to create stories : “The sea turtle is looking for food… what happens next?”

This type of setup offers multi-sensory stimulation while allowing children to practice sequencing, vocabulary, and empathy for marine life.

Create tiny “rubbish” using paper or felt scraps and scatter them around the mat. Use tongs or tweezers to pick them up. This encourages fine motor skills and starts a conversation about plastic pollution and caring for sea creatures.

Group the felt animals into categories: mammals, fish, invertebrates. Discuss the features of each group; fins, gills, shells, and how they move. This supports science and ocean literacy in a hands-on way.

Bring out a finger puppet set (like Tara Treasures’ undersea creatures or mermaid puppets) and invite your child to create an ocean tale. You could prompt with lines like:

• “One sunny day, a seahorse met a lonely octopus…”

• “A crab found something shiny in the sand…”

Pair your play session with ocean wave sounds or classical music inspired by the sea. Add instruments like shakers or rain sticks to mimic underwater ambience.

Small world play isn’t just delightful, it’s deeply impactful. Here’s how it supports children holistically.

• Cognitive: Classification, spatial awareness, sequencing
• Language: Vocabulary building, expressive storytelling
• Emotional: Role-playing empathy, emotional regulation
• Fine Motor: Pincer grasp, hand-eye coordination
• Social: Sharing, turn taking, role playing

By inviting children to “act out” marine life scenarios, they naturally engage in problem-solving and begin to understand the consequences of human actions on the environment.

At Tara Treasures, our mission is to create toys that inspire meaningful play , crafted with purpose and ethics. All our products are:

• Fair Trade certified , supporting women artisans in Nepal

• Made from natural and biodegradable wool

• Hand-felted using azo-free dyes

• Designed in Melbourne with learning and sustainability in mind

When you choose our felt ocean mats and toys, you're not only nurturing your child’s creativity, you are also making a difference in the lives of the makers and our planet.

Want to keep the ocean theme going after World Oceans Day? Try these simple ideas:

• Visit your local aquarium and compare real animals to your felt toys.

• Read books like Tiddler by Julia Donaldson or Somebody Swallowed Stanley by Sarah Roberts.

• Make ocean themed crafts like paper jellyfish, egg carton turtles or salt dough starfish.

• Create a display of your small world scene and let your child explain it to family or friends.

World Oceans Day is a chance to pause and reflect on the deep connection we share with the sea. Through playbased learning and small world play, we can help children appreciate the ocean's wonders and understand their role in protecting it.

Whether you're a parent, teacher, or early childhood educator, a simple felt mat and a handful of sea creatures can become a powerful tool for education, empathy, and environmental stewardship.

So, on 8 June World Oceans Day  and beyond, let’s dive into the magic of the ocean, one small story at a time.