Kids Craft Ideas • Easy Sensory Play Setups • Toddler-Friendly DIY Craft
If you’re looking for a magical homeschool arts and crafts activity that feels summer-sweet, encourages creativity, and keeps little hands busy, this Toilet Paper Roll Mermaid Sand Castle Craft is the perfect project. It blends DIY sensory activities for toddlers, fine motor practice, and pretend play into one dreamy under-the-sea setup.
This craft is simple, inexpensive, and uses household items—and the finished castle pairs beautifully with any of your mermaid sensory play setups from GoodnightFox.
⭐ Materials You’ll Need
🎨 Age Group Learning Objectives
Age 0–6 months
Visual stimulation through soft colors and textures
Tummy-time observation of movement and sound as sand shifts
Age 6–12 months
Sensory exploration with sand placed in a sealed sensory bag
Early fine motor practice with supervised touching of smooth shells
Age 12 months–2 years
Hand-over-hand help gluing sand onto rolls
Strengthening hand muscles by scooping and sprinkling sand
Introducing early pretend play with mermaid characters
Age 3–4 years
Practicing scissor skills by cutting crenels into the towers
Building simple structures (STEM foundations)
Expanding storytelling skills with imaginative mermaid play
Age 4–6 years
Designing a castle layout and planning tower placement
Creating patterns using shells or yarn
Learning basic engineering concepts like stability and symmetry
🏰 Decor & Theme Overview: Under-the-Sea Pastel Castle
This craft uses pastel pinks, peaches, aquas, and lilacs, making the castle feel like it belongs in a picture-book mermaid kingdom. Add seashells, tiny starfish accessories, and a soft felt flag for a gentle, whimsical aesthetic.
Pair it with:
Sensory Bin 1: Mermaid Castle Construction Bin
Materials:
Instructions:
Brush glue onto the rolls.
Invite your child to sprinkle or roll each tower in sand.
Set aside to dry, then stack or glue onto the cardboard base to build the castle.
Add seashells and tiny starfish to decorate the entrance.
Sensory Bin 2: Seashell Treasure Hunt
Materials:
Instructions:
Hide shells in the sand.
Kids use hands or scoops to uncover “mermaid treasures.”
Add the found treasures to the castle for decoration or storytelling.
Sensory Bin 3: Ocean Small World Play
Materials:
Instructions:
Fill a bin with blue rice for easy mess-free sensory play.
Add shells and mermaids to create an ocean scene.
Encourage imaginative play and vocabulary-building stories.
🌊 Benefits of This Mermaid Sand Castle Craft
Fine motor skill development
Sensory play benefits for toddlers (texture, scooping, pouring)
Encourages creativity and storytelling
Introduces basic building + engineering concepts
Uses affordable sensory play materials
Keeps toddlers busy at home with simple, low-prep activities
🗓 Week-Long Mermaid & Pirates Themed Homeschool Lesson Plan
If your little one loved this mermaid sand castle craft, they’ll LOVE the full Homeschool Curriculum. It’s packed with sensory bins, crafts, literacy, math, story time picks, and science invitations—all carefully planned week-by-week so you don’t have to.
🐚 25 Vocabulary Words for the Theme
Mermaid, ocean, tide, castle, shell, treasure, lagoon, pearl, sparkle, sand, tower, wave, coral, fin, swim, deep, reef, current, flag, palace, kingdom, build, scoop, dig, decorate
🐚 Mermaid sensory play products
Treat your little mermaid lover to some of these amazing sensory kits and supplies.
