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Craft Tutorials | Crafts for Kids | Beach Crafts for Kids | Mason Jar Aquarium
Beach Crafts for Kids

Mason Jar Aquarium

Author by Amanda Davis on May 23, 2025 Updated on May 23, 2025

5 from 27 votes
Create a fun miniature under-the-sea world to put on your bedroom shelf, display in the bathroom, or use as a night light!
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plastic jar with aquarium gravel, plastic fish, and plastic plant, in blue water
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Kids can create their own make-believe fish aquarium using a plastic mason jar. These darling mason jar aquariums are great bedroom decorations, and with the addition of submersible lights, make fun night lights too!

mermaid and seashell inside a jar with water and aquarium plant


 

Why this project is a hit


Less mess and maintenance than a real fish tank, these mini mason jar aquariums are fun to make and look awesome.

Kids can pick aquarium plants in their favorite colors and decide on fun fish or even a mermaid. The sky is the limit! If you’d like to skip the water aspect of this project, check out our dinosaur nightlights made in a mason jar.

3 mason jar aquariums with plastic fish

Craft supplies you will need


You can make your aquariums with clear water, or add a few drops of blue food coloring for that deep blue ocean feel!

Also, I do suggest using clear plastic mason jars instead of glass, for safety reasons!

labeled supplies for mason jar aquariums
Get full list of supplies and directions in the printable version at the end of this post.

Helpful Project Information:


  • Age Level: 5 and up – smaller children may need help.
  • Mess Factor: Medium – water spillage
  • Level of Difficulty: Easy
  • Time to Complete: 30 minutes
  • Cost Estimate: Less than $6.50

How to Make a Mason Jar Aquarium


These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this project. Please scroll down to simply print out the instructions!

  1. First, if you want your aquariums to be night lights, attach a submersible light to the inside of the jar lid using E6000 glue. Set aside to dry while you build your aquarium.
  2. Place plastic aquarium plant into the jar.little boy adding plastic aquarium plant to a jar
  3. Use a spoon to add gravel around the bottom of the jar, covering the base of the plant.little boy adding aquarium gravel to a jar with a spoon
  4. Place figurines, fish, seashells and any other items in the jar.little boy adding plastic fish to jaryoung girl adding a seashell to jarmermaid figurine with plastic plant and aquarium gravel in a glass jar
  5. If you would like your water to be blue, add a couple of drops of food coloring to the water first and stir. Slowly pour water into the jar.little boy adding water to a mason jar with aquarium plants and plastic fish
  6. Screw the lid in place.little boy holding jar lid with a submersible LED light attachedyoung girl tightening jar lidthree kids holding up their mason jar aquariums

            To turn on the light, carefully remove the lid, turn on the light, and replace the lid.

            mason jar aquarium night lights all lit up

            Expert Tips & FAQs


            • You can trim the top off the plant with scissors if it’s too tall.
            • If you are just making aquariums and do not plan to use these as night lights, you can glue the lid on to deter young children from opening them up.
            little boy holding mason jar aquarium he made

            Kids will love making these adorable mason jar aquariums! Shopping for the creatures, plants and other additions is one of the best parts of this project!

            Be sure to check out our dinosaur nightlight and our fairy and unicorn nightlights too!

            More Ocean Crafts


            • Mermaid Slime
            • Seashell Creatures
            • Seashell Fish
            • Sand Cast Starfish
            • Paper Plate Aquarium
            • Rainbow Jellyfish

            I love to create and share my projects with you! I know it’s hard to remember to come back and search, so I’ve made it easy for you with my weekly newsletter! You can subscribe for free and I’ll send you fun crafts and delicious recipes every week right to your email.

            plastic jar with aquarium gravel, plastic fish, and plastic plant, in blue water
            Print Project
            5 from 27 votes

            Mason Jar Aquarium

            Create a fun miniature under-the-sea world to put on your bedroom shelf, display in the bathroom, or use as a night light!
            Age Group: Kids Crafts
            Project Type: Crafts

            Supplies

            • 16- ounce plastic mason jar with lid
            • Filtered water tap water works, but may be cloudy
            • Plastic aquarium plants
            • Aquarium gravel
            • Plastic fish and/or figurines like mermaids
            • Seashells starfish, etc
            • Submersible candle lights optional, if you want these to be night lights
            • Blue food coloring optional

            Craft tools

            • E6000 glue
            • Scissors

            Instructions

            • First, if you want your aquariums to be night lights, attach light to the inside of the jar lid using E6000 glue. Set aside to dry while you build your aquarium.
            • Place plastic aquarium plant into the jar.
            • Use a spoon to add gravel around the bottom of the jar, covering the base of the plant.
            • Place figurines, fish, seashells and any other items to the jar.
            • If you would like your water to be blue, add a couple drops of food coloring to the water first and stir. Slowly pour water into the jar.
            • Screw the lid in place.
            • To turn on the light, carefully remove the lid, turn on the light, and replace the lid.

            Expert Tips & FAQs

            • You can trim the top off the plant with scissors if it’s too tall.
            • If you are just making aquariums and do not plan to use these as night lights, you can glue the lid on to deter young children from opening them up.

            This post originally appeared here on June 10, 2020.

            • Author
            • Recent Posts
            Amanda Davis
            Amanda Davis is the crafty, entrepreneurial mother of four children. She loves to bake, cook, make kid's crafts and create decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years.
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            Filed Under: Beach Crafts for Kids, Mason Jar Crafts, Summer Crafts Tagged With: night light, ocean, seashell

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            Comments

            1. Celena says

              September 20, 2024 at 9:18 am

              Hi! I want to do this project with my grandkids and would like to know:
              SITUATION: The jar is inverted & everything settle with the rocks on the bottom, the other items everything buried beneath the rocks.

              QUESTIONS:
              1. Will the floatable items make their way back to the top on their own?

              2. Will it require a little jiggle to get the floatable items to return to the top?

              3. Should the rocks be glued down* so that they remain on the bottom and everything else can float?
              *Glued down by:
              A. Pouring an acrylic mix over the rocks.
              B. Mix the rocks with a waterproof glue** & place in jar to dry. (**Maybe clear silicone caulking?)
              C. Maybe instead of water, a clear gel is used, like those clear candles or soaps?

              HAS ANYONE TRIED:
              1. Gluing down the rocks?
              A. What did you use?
              B. How did it turn out?

              2. Using a clear product other than water?
              A. What did you use?
              B. How did it turn out?

              3. Adding glitter to the water? (I was thinking that glitter would reflect light & make it seem brighter in there.)
              A. What kind of water-resistant, non-tarnish glitter did you use?
              B. How did it turn out?

              4. An alternate way to light up the jar? Like:
              I. Glueing LED lights or strips somewhere on the outside of the jar?
              II. Affixing them in another way, like with zip ties, wire (twisty ties, floral/jewelry wire, etc.), glued/adhesive magnets, etc?
              A. What did you use?
              B. How did it turn out?

              Thanks for your input, suggestions, ideas.. and help!

              Reply
            2. Mary Ann says

              August 17, 2023 at 11:18 am

              Hi I have little fish bowl and I work in a nursing home the thing is I am looking for a way to make fish tank with out real water .my resident have dementia and will drink it but they like the fish on the TV.so I was thinking about having them make little fish tank can u help.ty

              Reply
              • Amanda Formaro says

                August 26, 2023 at 1:23 pm

                I would suggest making this craft and gluing the lids on so that the patients cannot open them.

                Reply
            3. Marsha says

              August 14, 2023 at 10:05 am

              How can I keep the fish from floating to the top of the jar, or keep the fish from floating upside down like they are dead? How can I also make it look like fish are swimming around without tying them down just like a real aquarium? I tried this craft with my son and the fish floated upside down. I even tried clear water beads but they weren’t Invisible so my water looked funny. Can you help me please..

              Reply
              • Amanda Formaro says

                August 16, 2023 at 2:16 pm

                You would need to use fish that are made from solid plastic. If the plastic is hollow, it will float.

                Reply
              • Celena says

                September 20, 2024 at 9:25 am

                Did you ever find something that worked so that the fish weren’t “belly up” in the water? I was thinking maybe I could affix something to the belly to make that side heavier, but not so heavy that it wouldn’t float. Idk, maybe even just adding something that floats to the top (like a thin layer of wax), leaving the belly as it is?

                Reply
            4. Rosemary Millar says

              August 8, 2023 at 2:39 pm

              This is such a fun project – good for children of all ages 4-94 :D

              Reply
            5. Maureen Cook says

              August 8, 2023 at 2:08 pm

              could you use a solar light??

              Reply
              • Amanda Formaro says

                August 16, 2023 at 2:18 pm

                I’m not sure how the sun would get to it to charge it, unless you took it out to charge in the sun.

                Reply
            6. Suzi says

              June 14, 2023 at 12:01 am

              What type of submersible light would you recommend? If a battery operated tea light (waterproof) and it is glued to the lid, how do you access the switch to turn it on/off as I would think you glue the base of the light to the lid.. which would in turn block the switch?

              Reply
              • Amanda Formaro says

                June 28, 2023 at 10:51 am

                We used these https://amzn.to/37j3m9F and you would need to unscrew the lid to turn off the light

                Reply
            7. NotGivingItToYou says

              November 30, 2022 at 10:36 pm

              How completely awful. Do you really NOT KNOW that fish die if kept in such a tiny container? Really?
              Are you the type of person who also buys pedigree pets and lets dogs and cats die at the pound, while you support breeders?

              Just look at what you taught your kids. Selfishness.

              Reply
              • Amanda Formaro says

                December 18, 2022 at 12:23 pm

                They are plastic fish ma’am… it’s stated clearly in the blog post as well.

                Reply
                • alicia stephenson says

                  July 17, 2023 at 2:23 pm

                  I love this idea how thanks Amanda! I work with a group of ladies with disabilities they will just love this!

                  Reply
            8. Terri says

              July 8, 2022 at 8:14 am

              what kind of glue would be used to seal the jar if it is not to be used as a nightlight?

              Reply
            9. Julia J Valdary says

              June 24, 2021 at 9:19 pm

              Thanks for the project idea. I am going to do this project with my kids. Quick question, how do you turn on and off the light once you have glued them to the lid.

              Reply
              • Amanda Formaro says

                July 1, 2021 at 1:21 pm

                You can just unscrew the lid and turn it off :)

                Reply
              • jane says

                May 2, 2022 at 5:34 am

                It says if you’re NOT using it as a night light to glue it down, to stop little kids from spilling it.

                Reply
            10. Carol says

              June 27, 2020 at 7:30 am

              I have had real fish tanks and after a while they start to grow algae, does this do the same?

              Reply
              • Amanda Formaro says

                June 30, 2020 at 8:43 am

                Algae will not grow as it comes from organic waste like fish excrement and uneaten fish food. :)

                Reply
            11. DIANNE LANGER says

              June 11, 2020 at 3:13 pm

              These are SOoo Cute!

              Reply
            5 from 27 votes (24 ratings without comment)

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