The best ocean animal and ship toys for kids: Sharks, whales, pirate ships and boats that float

Every kid has a topic. For our son it has been sea animals for years, with the kind of conviction only a child can bring to marine biology. Whales, orcas and sharks come along on walks and to the water. So it is no surprise that his Christmas list this year has a whole ocean on it: Schleich and Papo sea animals, the Playmobil shark and giant crab, and ships. A recent walk through the toy stores turned that list into exact names, and this guide follows it.

This guide is for parents and grandparents shopping for a child like that. It sorts ocean toys by the way kids actually play with them: the animals themselves, the ships and boats that carry the story, and the building sets that turn a shark into a project. One LEGO set in this guide has been built and rebuilt at our house, and you get our verdict on it. For the rest we stick to the manufacturers’ descriptions and age ratings.

We trust Schleich, Playmobil and LEGO, and we buy from all three regularly. That does not mean every set is right for every child, which is what the rest of this guide is about.

The animals: Schleich sharks, whales and reef animals

Schleich makes the most realistic sea animals in toy form, and in our house they get the same love as the Schleich dinosaurs. The whales, the orca and the sharks are detailed, solid and rated 3+, without batteries or sounds. They are very often outside with us, by the water or simply on a walk, and a Schleich orca can hunt, migrate, rescue or sleep, depending on the story of the day.

1. Schleich 4-piece Ocean Animals Set (77591): The best start

The Schleich 4-piece Ocean Animals Set (77591) is the giants of the sea in one box: a blue whale, a killer whale, a hammerhead shark and a great white shark. For a child who loves big ocean animals, that is the starter collection in one gift.

Four animals is the number where play starts to become a story. The orca hunts, the sharks compete, the blue whale is too big for anyone to bother. And because Schleich keeps these figures in its range for years, the collection can grow one animal at a time. This set, the great white, the orca and the reef set below are all among our son’s favorite Schleich animals, so this part of the guide is not a catalog pick.

2. Single figures: Great white shark and orca

If your child already has a few sea animals, single figures are the better buy and good stocking stuffers. The Schleich Great White Shark (14809) is the classic, and the Killer Whale Orca (14807) is the one many children ask for by name. Schleich also makes a hammerhead shark, a manatee, a sea lion and a North Atlantic right whale, among others.

3. Schleich Sea Animals Discovery Set (42742): The reef

Not every ocean fan is a shark fan. The Schleich 4-piece Sea Animals Discovery Set (42742) brings the small reef animals: a starfish, a clownfish, a seahorse and a crab. It is the set for younger children, and the one that turns a collection of predators into an ocean with something to eat.

4. The rest of his list: Right whale, seal, starfish and penguins

The toy store trip made the Schleich part of the list specific. The Schleich North Atlantic Right Whale (14878) is the big one, and the whale the four-piece set above leaves out. The Schleich Seal (14801) and the color-changing Schleich Starfish (14902) are small single figures and among the cheapest things in this guide, which makes them the stocking stuffers of the ocean world.

The Schleich Penguin Family Fun playset (42661) is the bigger gift. It has 14 pieces: an iceberg landscape, an adult penguin, baby penguins and an egg that hatches. The penguins slide down the ice and wobble on a see-saw, so it plays more like a playset than a figure collection. Schleich rates it 3+.

5. Papo: The sea animals Schleich does not make

Papo is a French figure maker that works in the same realistic, hand-painted style, and for a few ocean animals it is the only choice. Three of them are on our son’s list. The Papo Giant Squid is the deep-sea monster in figure form and the most expensive of the three. The Papo Young Whale Shark is the gentle giant as a youngster.

The Papo Sea Crab is an edible crab, also called a brown crab, with an orange-brown shell and big claws. It is also the easiest answer to the sold-out Playmobil giant crab further down. All three Papo figures are rated 3+. A Papo bull shark was on the list as well, but it was not listed on Amazon in the US when we checked.

The ships: Playmobil pirate ships, submarines and boats

Playmobil is not the brand our son asks for most, but the ships and the sea monsters are the exception. We have quite a lot of Playmobil at home already, much of it older sets, including the Giant Shark with Pirate and an old Playmobil pirate ship. That old ship still floats. This is where Playmobil is strongest: the ships float, the figures sit in them, and the story comes with the set. Most of these sets are rated 4+.

6. Playmobil Pirate Ship (71418): The ship that floats

The Playmobil Pirate Ship (71418) is the one we would buy first. Playmobil lists 101 pieces: a pirate, a pirate queen, an animal, rotating cannons that fire projectiles, a treasure map, a compass and a pirate flag. The ship floats, so it works in the bathtub as well as on the floor.

Playmobil also offers an underwater motor (7350, sold separately) that fits this ship. That turns a bath into a voyage.

7. Playmobil Large Pirate Ship: The big one

If the pirate ship is the main gift, the Playmobil Pirates Large Pirate Ship is the bigger version, with movable sails, rotating and swiveling cannons and a pirate crew. It floats too, and it won a Good Housekeeping 2024 Best Toy Award.

It is the centerpiece gift for a child who already lives in a pirate story. For a first ship, the smaller 71418 is enough.

8. Sea monsters: The giant shark and the giant octopus

The shark and the giant crab were the two sea monsters on our son’s list, and the shark has already arrived. The Playmobil Giant Shark with Pirate is the one we own: a monstrous shark with a pirate holding on to its net, sword drawn. It is rated 4+ and combines with any Playmobil pirate ship.

The giant crab set, Playmobil’s Battle Against the Giant Crab, was out of stock on Amazon in the US when we checked. The closest available set is the Playmobil Pirates Battle with the Giant Octopus: Dark Kraken, half human and half octopus, fights a pirate with the help of a giant octopus that squirts real water from its tentacles. Playmobil lists 44 pieces.

The water feature is what makes this one a bath toy rather than a shelf toy.

9. Playmobil Treasure Hunt with Submarine: Under the surface

The Playmobil Treasure Hunt with Submarine takes the story below the waves: a submarine with robotic arms that open a treasure chest, a diver, a sea-floor plant and a hammerhead shark that also wants the treasure. It is rated 4+.

For a child who loves the deep sea, a submarine is the natural next step after a ship. It also pairs well with the Schleich animals, which are realistic enough to feel like discoveries.

10. Rescue boats: Shark attack and fireboat

Not every ocean story is about pirates. The Playmobil Shark Attack and Rescue Boat has a lifeguard on a personal watercraft, a surfer, a flotation device and a floating shark. Note that Playmobil rates this one 6+.

The Playmobil Fireboat with Aqua Scooter (71464) is the rescue story at sea: a firefighter, a rescue dog, a fireboat with a swiveling outboard motor and a jet ski. Both vehicles float, and Playmobil lists 52 pieces and an age of 4+.

The LEGO version of the same story is on his list too. The LEGO City Fire Rescue Boat (60373) has a fire rescue boat and a speedboat dinghy that both float, a jetpack and three firefighter minifigures. Kids launch LEGO water elements from the boat’s extinguisher to knock out the LEGO flames. LEGO rates it 5+.

The builds: LEGO sea animals and Octonauts

11. LEGO Creator Fierce Shark (31381): The one we tested

The LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Fierce Shark with a Treasure Chest (31381) is the ocean toy we know best, because it was built at our house. It is three sea animals from one box: a posable shark guarding a treasure chest with a crab, a deep-sea anglerfish and a gliding manta ray.

Our sea-animal-mad son built the shark first, played a week of treasure-defense drama with it, then asked to rebuild it as the anglerfish, then the manta ray. Each teardown was his idea, not ours, and that is the best sign a 3-in-1 set works. We gave it 5/5 in our Fierce Shark review. If your child likes to build, this is the ocean gift we would choose first. Our LEGO Creator 3-in-1 gift guide has more sets in the same format.

12. LEGO Creator Iconic Pirate Ship (31387): The big build

The ship on his list that he cannot build alone yet is the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Iconic Pirate Ship (31387). It has 1,074 pieces and LEGO rates it 9+, so at six it is a build with a parent, and a project for a long winter weekend. The same bricks rebuild into a buccaneer’s castle with rooms and a cave, or into two twin ships for battles at sea, and there are five minifigures: four pirates and a skeleton.

13. Octonauts: For the younger ocean fans

For children of three to five, the Octonauts are often the way into the ocean. The Octopod playset with Captain Barnacles and the GUP-A is the toy our Octonauts toy guide recommends first, and we tested the GUP-A for three months in our bathtub for our GUP-A review.

14. For Jurassic World fans: The Mosasaurus boat

Where dinosaurs and the ocean meet, there is the Mosasaurus. The Matchbox Jurassic World Mosasaurus Rescue Action Boat is a 12.5-inch boat with a winch that clips onto the included 13-inch Mosasaurus, two harpoon missiles, a detachable rescue raft and a 1:64 die-cast Jeep. The boat floats and has wheels for land.

If your child is both a dinosaur fan and an ocean fan, our dinosaur toy guide has the Schleich Mosasaurus and Mattel’s Bite N Blast Mosasaurus too.

Which toy for which child?

Your child…	Buy	Why
knows every shark by name	Schleich ocean animals	Realistic, durable, one figure at a time
wants the animals nobody else has	Papo Giant Squid or Young Whale Shark	Sea animals Schleich does not make
plays in the bathtub	Playmobil Pirate Ship (71418)	It floats, and the story comes with it
loves monsters and battles	Playmobil Giant Octopus or Giant Shark	Sea monsters with a water feature
likes to build	LEGO Creator Fierce Shark (31381)	Three animals, three builds, 5/5 in our review
is three to five	Octonauts or the Schleich reef set	Gentle, sized for small hands

The best ocean world combines two of these: animals plus something to carry the people. A pirate ship with a Schleich shark circling it is a better gift than either alone.

Water play: what floats and what doesn’t

Parents ask this before Christmas, and it matters. The Playmobil ships and boats in this guide are described as floating: both pirate ships, the fireboat and jet ski, and the rescue boat. The Matchbox Mosasaurus boat floats too. Our own Playmobil pirate ship is an old one, and it still floats. Schleich and Papo do not market their figures as bath toys, but our Schleich animals come along to the water and the beach all the time. Most LEGO builds are not bath toys; the Fierce Shark lives on a display stand between play sessions. The exception is the LEGO City Fire Rescue Boat (60373), whose two boats are made to float.

Whatever goes in the water, let it dry properly afterwards, especially anything with hollow parts.

Three questions before you buy

Who sails the ship? The Playmobil ships come with figures, but a second set, like the giant shark or the octopus, gives the story an opponent. That second piece is often what makes the first one get played with.

How old is the captain? Most Playmobil sea sets are rated 4+, but the Shark Attack and Rescue Boat is rated 6+, so check the box before you wrap.

What comes next? A child who loves sea animals at five often still loves them at nine, and then a LEGO build or a growing Schleich collection is a better gift than another bath toy.

What are the best ocean animal toys for a 6-year-old?

The Schleich 4-piece Ocean Animals Set is the best start: a blue whale, a killer whale, a hammerhead shark and a great white shark. For a child who builds, the LEGO Creator Fierce Shark (31381) gives three sea animals in one box and is a 5/5 in our review.

Do Playmobil pirate ships float?

Yes. Playmobil describes both the Pirate Ship (71418) and the Large Pirate Ship as floating, so they work in the bathtub or a paddling pool. The smaller ship can be upgraded with the Playmobil underwater motor, sold separately.

Can Schleich sea animals go outside and near water?

Ours do, all the time: they come along to the water, the beach and on walks. Schleich does not market them as bath toys, so for floating play in the tub, add a boat or ship that is designed to float, like the Playmobil pirate ships.

Is the Playmobil giant crab still available?

Playmobil’s Battle Against the Giant Crab was out of stock on Amazon in the US when we checked. The Battle with the Giant Octopus and the Giant Shark with Pirate are the sea monster sets that were available.

What is a good ocean toy for a toddler?

Schleich sea animals are rated 3+, so they suit children from three. For Octonauts fans of three to five, the Octopod playset is the toy our Octonauts guide recommends first.

What is the difference between Schleich and Papo sea animals?

Both make realistic, hand-painted figures rated 3+. Schleich has the bigger ocean range in the US, Papo fills the gaps with animals like the giant squid, the young whale shark and the brown crab.

Is there a LEGO boat that floats?

Yes. In the LEGO City Fire Rescue Boat (60373), both the fire rescue boat and the speedboat dinghy float, according to LEGO. Most other LEGO builds are not made for water.