Ocean LEGO Projects to Build (Sea Turtle, Crab, Otter, and Fish!)

Use the bricks you have to build Ocean LEGO® Projects – Sea Turtle, Fish, Otter, and Crab!

These LEGO ocean animals are fun to build to go with a unit study on ocean life or a visit to an aquarium. They are also just fun for summer break or anytime!

The animals in this post are not part of any particular LEGO set. They are meant to be built with the bricks kids have. If you don’t have the exact pieces shown, feel free to substitute different colors or modify the design.

Hopefully our ideas will provide a springboard for creative LEGO building!

SEA TURTLE

This one is my favorite!  I have always loved turtles, and sea turtles are just amazing creatures.

Our LEGO® turtle does not do a real sea turtle justice by any stretch, but I think it’s pretty cute.

Ready to build a LEGO sea turtle? Follow our instructions below!

If you don’t have the lime green bricks, another option is to use tan. Or use green for the head and flippers and make the shell brown.

Step 1: Gather the bricks shown for building the sea turtle’s head.

Step 2: Put two 1 x 1 bricks with a stud on the side on top of a 1 x 2 green plate with a handle on the side. Attach an eye to each one.

Step 3: Attach the green plate and eyes to a 2 x 3 lime green plate. Then add a 2 x 2 lime green slope and a 2 x 2 lime green curved slope.

Step 4: Build the turtle’s body. Put a 2 x 4 green plate in the center of a 4 x 6 green plate. Then find the bricks shown. You’ll need 4 tap/nozzle pieces. They can be any color. We’ll be using the nozzles to attach the turtle’s flippers.

Step 5: Turn the body upside down and add the bricks as shown. The nozzles fit right in to the underside of the brick!

Step 6: Find two 2 x 2 green plates, a 1 x 2 green plate, and a 1 x 2 green plate with two clips on the side.

Step 7: Stack the plates as shown.

Step 8: Add the green plates to the underside of the body at the front. Then find two 2 x 6 lime green plates. Tan, brown, or yellow would also work well.

Step 9: Attach the 2 x 6 plates to the underside of the body. These will hold everything together.

Step 10: Build the front flippers! Each flipper is a 1 x 3 lime green slope, a 1 x 2 white plate with a clip on the end, and a 1 x 1 lime green slope.

Step 11: Attach the front flippers to the nozzles on the turtle’s body. Then build the back flippers. Each one is a 1 x 2 white plate with a clip on the end, a 1 x 2 lime green curved slope, and a 1 x 1 lime green plate.

Step 12: Attach the back flippers, and your turtle is complete!

CRAB:

Build an adorable little crab!

The only rare pieces in this are the orange 2 x 4 curved slopes. Substitute orange plates or tiles if needed. The black pieces may seem rare… but we’ve certainly accumulated a lot of them from different sets.

Step 1: Grab a 2 x 4 orange plate, a 1 x 2 orange plate, and a 1 x 2 light gray plate with handles on both ends.

The black pieces are 1 x 2 plates, modified with angled bar handles. We’ve gotten these in a lot of different sets over the years.

Step 2: Add the plates to the 2 x 4 orange plate as shown.

Step 3: Place another 2 x 4 orange plate on top. Add two eyes.

Step 4: Then add two 2 x 4 curved slopes. Find two 1 x 1 light gray plates with a clip.

Step 5: Build the claws! Each claw is three 1 x 2 orange plates. Attach the light gray plates with a clip to the body, and then attach the claws to those.

Step 6: Add legs, and your crab is complete! Each leg is a 1 x 2 light gray plate with a clip on the end and a 1 x 2 orange plate.

SHARK:

Build an awesome LEGO shark! This building instructions for the shark are over here.

OTTER:

This adorable otter is pretty easy to figure out from the photos! If you want full instructions for this one, you can find them in our newest LEGO book, The Big Book of Amazing LEGO Creations.

TROPICAL FISH:

There are so many ways to build cool LEGO fish! Use these photos for inspiration.

I am loving these little fish we created! So easy to make with just a few pieces.

My 14 year old built the fish below! SO CUTE!

The open mouth is the bottom of a brick. That row of bricks is secured to the fish with studs on the side.

If your kids are just getting started with LEGO®, I highly recommend the LEGO Classic tubs.  This medium box comes with three sets of eyes (the same ones that we used with these animals) and 484 bricks total.  We used pieces in this post that are not included in this box, but it’s a great starting place if you don’t own a lot of LEGO® bricks!

Have fun building!

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