Well, it’s here…Shark Week. I know it’s so silly, but Shark Week is a fun time to throw in more family food memory-making, especially at the end of summer when you’re trying to get in all that last-minute summer fun. So, here are some fun ideas for Shark Week family dinners and family activities to celebrate shark week with a younger kiddo who is still all in for all the cheesy-themed fun!
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Activities and Crafts for Shark Week
- Family swim day – hit up an aquatic center you’ve been missing, a neighborhood pool or finally tackle the nearby waterpark
- Visit a local aquarium
- Baby shark craft kits from the dollar store
- Soap kit
- Make ocean slime
- Binoculars out of toilet paper rolls – to look for sharks
- Coffee filter suncatchers – paint coffee filter with watercolors. Lay it flat to dry. Cut out ocean animal shapes from dark blue or black paper. Glue them on top of the dry filters. Punch a hole in the top and tie them in a window.
- Ocean sensory bags
- Shark teeth necklace – cut-out shapes from white foam. Punch holes in the top and string them on a piece of yarn.
- Footprint shark – stamp footprints on blue paper with white paint. Use other paint to create an ocean scene. Add a top and bottom fin with more white paint – don’t forget to let them draw on a funny face!
- Ocean Water Sensory Bottle
Snacks for Shark Week
- Go ahead and purchase some shark gummies and or Swedish fish…there will be plenty of ways to use them this week!
- Goldfish
- Whales – like gold fish, but different!
- Blue juice popsicles, freeze with shark gummies inside
- Shark sugar cookies – cut a shape and decorate
- Shark bark – white bark melted, then add shark gummies, lifesaver gummies, sprinkles and fish shapes, mini marshmallows
- Blue pudding cups with berries
- All fish candies / cookies / crackers – are fair game
- Rice Krispies – cut in squares and dip half into blue-colored white bark
- Shark beach Grahams – get graham crackers and let kids spread them with white icing, make graham cracker crumbs for the beach and decorate with gummies and sprinkles
- Sand pudding – banana pudding in cups – layered with or without bananas, don’t forget to add fish gummies or worms
- Shark bait snack mix – puff corn, white bark, mermaid sprinkles, Swedish fish
- Beach mix – chex, goldfish, pretzel fish, cheese balls
- Sand dollar cookies – snickerdoodles with almond slivers on top
- Tuna chunks – watermelon cut into cubes
Family Dinner Ideas for Shark Week
- Shark mock-tails – Hawaiian punch with ginger ale
- Salmon Sheet pan dinner
- Shark-cuterie – gold fish, triangle chips, turkey stick bites, gummies, peach os, Swedish fish, spinach artichoke dip with blue corn chips, tuna salad, shark teeth (bugles), puff corn
- Tuna Salad or Garden Pasta Salad with Tuna added
- Hawaiian punch floats – blue drink over vanilla ice cream or mix Hawaiin punch with ginger ale and top with cool whip – use shark gummies ice cubes
- Have baby shark macaroni and cheese as a side to dinner – with meatloaf scoops like life preservers or
- Goldfish and Shark-a-dillas – cheese quesadillas folded in half and then cut in half to see the angle. Use pepperoni and raisins as eyes or make a big cut in the middle of the tortilla to look like shark teeth.
- Submarine sandwiches and sea-weed dip (spinach artichoke dip)
- Fish tacos
- Smoked tuna dip
Remember, this is another excuse to make fun memories with your family. Watch Jaws or all the shark week shows if your kids are old enough. If not, catch Free Willy or Baby Shark re-runs. It might not be everyone’s favorite food, but they will remember that you made these fun memories together!!
