Sea Life Challenge Kit Activities

Craft Overview

• My Sea Canal
  • This is a fun way to turn any hallway or entranceway into a deep-sea cave.
• Deep Sea Snow Globe
  • This craft will give each of the group members their own piece of the ocean.
• Just Keep Swimming Picture
  • Why draw a picture when you can make one that swims?
• Deep Sea Keychain
  • A fun way to add a splash of fun to your keys or backpack.
• Plate O' Fish
  • Make a pet fish.
• Submarine Colouring Sheet
  • Colour your version of the ocean.

Fun Fact!

The Great Barrier Reef is a coral reef located off the coast of Australia. It is the largest living structure on Earth, stretching about 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). It is so large it can be seen from space. There are more than 4,000 coral reef species. They account for one-quarter of marine life.

Craft: My Sea Canal

Materials

• Blue and green streamers
• Construction paper
• Tin foil (optional)
• Markers
• Scissors
• Tape
• Bubbles (optional)

Instructions

1. As a group, make your very own stretch of the sea. Use a hallway or an entranceway.
2. Choose two or three group members to hang the streamers along the hallway or entryway. Twist the streamers and let them hang loose to imitate waves. Fix them to the walls and roof with tape. Leaders may want to do this for younger groups.
3. While the chosen members hang the streamers, the rest of the group should make some fish to hang on the walls. Use construction paper, tin foil, and markers to make these. Encourage the group to make fish in a variety of shapes, colours, and sizes—fish, clams, squid, sharks, and whales are only a few options for underwater friends. When the fish are finished, hang them along the wall and/or from the roof with string.
4. The last touch is to add teeth to the top of the door frame leading from the sea canal into the meeting area. Make these out of construction paper and tape. If you’d like, add construction paper fins on the side to give it even more of a fishy feel. Once it is finished, you’ll have a fish door, which is used throughout the Marine Mini-Games.
5. Whenever someone has to walk down the hallway, they should make a swimming motion. For a fun twist, blow bubbles while they swim through the other side.

Fun Fact!

The world’s ocean is divided into four regional oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Indian Ocean. Marine biologists have sectioned the ocean into five different ecozones. Each one is unique. You will learn more about these sections later.

Craft: Deep Sea Snow Globe

Materials

• A clean glass with a tight-fitting lid
• Distilled water (boiled and cooled will work as well)
• Blue food colouring
• Silver glitter
• Plasticine in a variety of colours
• Sturdy craft wine
• Super Glue

Instructions

1. Choose a plasticine colour and mould a fish. The size of the fish should be based on the size of the jar; it should take up most of the space inside. Try and model the fish after one of the deep sea fishes outlined in the “Meet the Ocean” information pages.
2. Now it’s time to make the bottom of the sea. Cut a length of craft wire and bend the end into an “O” shape. The length of the wire should be about the length of the jar. Fix the flat part of the wire to the bottom with Super Glue. Younger children will need help with the glue.
3. Choose another colour of Plasticine for the sea floor. Put this in the lid, leaving enough room to close the jar tightly without the Plasticine getting between the tracks. Make sure you give the sea floor some ridges to make it look realistic. Create a tight seal around the wire. If you’d like, add an extra dab of Super Glue around the base of the wire for an extra seal.
4. Bend the other end of the craft wire into a “T” shape and insert it into the fish’s belly. Smooth the Plastercine around the wire. Secure it in place with super glue.
5. Fill the jar 3/4 full of water. Add a few drops of blue food colouring to darken the water. Add a few sparkles into the water as well. Gently put the lid on the jar and seal it as tightly as you can. If you’d like, add glue to the tracks all the way around the jar for a stronger seal.

Fun Fact!

The ocean makes up 97% of the world’s water. That means that only 3% is drinkable. Thanks to its long span and incredible depths, the ocean makes up 99% of the world’s living space. That makes it the largest hospitable area in the known universe. Sea water is salt water. If we could take all of the salt out of the ocean and spread it on land, the whole world would be covered in a layer five feet deep!

Craft: Just Keep Swimming Picture

Materials

• Construction paper
• Sea Life outline 
• Markers
• Glue
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Colour in one of the outlines provided on pages 36 and 37. If you’d like, you can do this project with more than one outline. Once you are finished colouring, cut it out. Cut out the band outline, which is also provided below.
2. Colour a sheet of construction paper to look like the ocean. Add algae, sand, coral, and fish in the distance to give it an authentic feel.
3. Fold the band along the dotted lines. Fix Tab A to the fish and Tab B to the middle of the blank side of the sea creature. Use white glue to fix the tabs on the paper. Hold down firmly until the glue has set.
4. Use scissors or an exact-o-knife to cut a single line in the construction paper ocean. The length of the line should be smaller than the whale cut out and should not touch the sides of the paper. The cut should fit snugly but should still be able to slide back and forth.
5. Fold one side of the band to either side of the cut on the blank side of the construction paper. Do not glue them down.
6. Turn your craft around, and you’ll have a life-like picture of the ocean.

Bands Outline

1. Cut out the band provided on page 38.
2. Cut along the dotted line to create tabs.
3. Fold along the solid line in the center.
4. Glue the tabs to the animal outline. One should face left, and the other should face right for the strongest hold.
5. Slip the remaining paper through the cut in the ocean scene.
6. Fold to hold in place. Do not glue it.

Craft: Plate O' Fish

Materials

• White paper plates (one per child)
• Crayons or markers
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Glitter (optional)
• Stickers (optional)
• Glue

Instructions

1. Cut a wedge out of a paper plate. The wedge should be slightly less than one-quarter of the plate. The open space left when the wedge is removed will be the fish’s mouth.
2. On the end of the plate opposite the mouth, glue the wedge to the plate. Attach the wedge by gluing the pointed end of the triangle to the bottom of the plate, as shown below.
3. Decorate your paper plate fish. Colour it in with crayons or markers. Add stickers or glitter for extra sparkle. Adding googly eyes will complete the fish and its silly look.

Craft: Under The Sea Keychains

Materials

• Beads
• String
• Keyrings

Instructions

1. Use the templates to make an under-the-sea friend for your keys or backpack.

Craft: Submarine Colouring Sheet

Materials

• One printout of Submarine
• Markers or pencil crayons

Instructions

1. Colour in the Submarine Colouring Sheet. Use your imagination and pretend you’re in the submarine. What kind of things do you see? Colour them in.

Recipe Overview

• Turtle Droplets
  • A delicious chocolate treat with nuts and caramel
• Jell-Ocean
  • Create an ocean scene with fruit fish set in Jell-O!
• Tuna Tacos
  • A seafood spin to Southern favourite fixed just the way you like
• Cup-Sea-Cakes
  • Sweet under-the-sea cupcake treats
• Homestyle Fish and Chips
  • A classic taste of the ocean

Fun Fact!

Our planet is mostly made of water. The ocean makes up over 70% of the Earth’s
surface. From coast to coast and from the surface to the bottom of the deepest trench, there are roughly 328,000,000 cubic miles of seawater on Earth.

Recipe: Turtle Droplets

Ingredients

• 1 lb. package of caramels (about 54 candies)
• 2 tbsp. water
• 3/4 cup salted cashew or pecan nuts
• 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Instructions

1. Melt the caramels and water in a double broiler pot, stirring occasionally. If a double boiler pot is unavailable, a regular one will work as well but will require a lower temperature and constant stirring to avoid burning the candy.
2. Grease a baking sheet. Arrange 36 groups of nuts (about 3-4 nuts each) about two inches apart. Use a teaspoon to drop the melted caramel mixture onto each group of nuts. Let cool for about 15 minutes.
3. In a separate pot, melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Using a clean teaspoon, drop the melted chocolate onto the cooled caramel turtles. Carefully spread the chocolate into an even layer with the back of the spoon.
4. Put the chocolates in a fridge for 20 minutes or until the candies have hardened.

Recipe: Jell-Ocean

Ingredients

• 2 packages of blue raspberry Jell-O packets
• A large, clear plastic or glass bowl
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Oranges
• Peaches
• Any other semi-solid
• Paring knives (one per group member)

Instructions

1. Give each group member a paring knife and some fruit. Let them cut out a sea creature from the fruit. Here are a few ideas for your fruity fish:
   1. Strawberry hatchet fish
   2. Apple sharks
   3. Orange jellyfish
   4. Peach blobfish
   5. Apple sea turtles
   6. Strawberry crabs
   7. Peach rattails
2. While the group members are carving, have a leader mix the Jell-O according to the instructions on the box. It should be made in a large, clear bowl and put in a fridge.
3. About 3/4 of the way through the preparation time on the Jello-O package, remove the bowl from the fridge. Push the fruity fish into the half-solidified Jell-O. Put the dish back in the fridge for it to finish setting.
4. Once you’re finished, you’ll see a bowl of the ocean filled with delicious (and nutritious) underwater friends.

Recipe: Tuna Taco

Ingredients

• 2 cans of tuna, drained
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1/3 cup hot water
• Taco shells, any variety
• Shredded cheddar cheese to taste
• Salsa to taste
• Tomatoes, diced, to taste
• Sour cream to taste

Instructions

1. Flake tuna into a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add taco seasoning and hot water. Stir well until heat thoroughly.
2. Once the fish mixture is warm, spoon it directly into the taco shells. If desired, warm the shells beforehand. Add the other ingredients to taste. If making this recipe with a group, place the ingredients in bowls and let the group members serve themselves

Recipe: Cup-Sea-Cakes

Ingredients

• 1 box of cake mix, any flavour
• 1 can vanilla frosting
• Blue food colouring
• 1 large bag Swedish Fish candy
• 1 large bag Blue Whale candy
• Green sugar sprinkles

Instructions

1. Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box. Choose whether you would like to make cupcakes or a cake. Cupcakes are best if you are making this as a group. Bake and cool.
2. While the cake bakes, mix the blue food colouring into the vanilla icing. When the cake has cooled, spread an even layer of icing across the top.
3. Add Swedish Fish and Blue Whales to the top of the cupcakes. When you are finished, sprinkle the green sparkles on top for shimmer.
4. Enjoy your sweet slice of the ocean!

Recipe: Homestyle Fish And Chips

Ingredients For Fish

• 2 lbs. fish fillets without batter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup of cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp. oil

Ingredients For Chips

• 8 large potatoes 
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• dash of pepper

Instructions For Fish

1. Preheat a deep fryer to about 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). If needed, adjust the temperature of the oil to the fish you have chosen.
2. Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Blend until smooth. Use a paper towel to dry the fillets before placing them in the batter.
3. Place the fish into the oil one piece at a time. Don’t overcrowd the basket—the fish should not touch.
4. Cook the fish until the batter is crisp and golden brown. Once ready, use tongs to remove the fillets. Place them on a paper towel to drain. Serve at once.

Instructions For Chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).
2. Scrub the potatoes using a soft-bristle brush and dry them with a towel. Slice each potato lengthwise into eight even pieces.
3. Place the wedges in a large saucepan. Cover with lightly salted water. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat. Once the water is lightly bubbling, reduce the heat to slow and cook for about five minutes. Drain.
4. While waiting for the potatoes to cook, mix the olive oil and seasonings in a small bowl. Set aside.
5. Place the boiled potatoes on a cooking sheet. Brush the oil mixture onto the potatoes.
6. Bake for ten minutes. After ten minutes, turn the broiler on. Broil until crisp, about five minutes. Flip the potatoes and broil the other side until crisp, about five minutes.

Games and Activities Overview

• Swimming In The Dark
  • Can you find a friend in a deep, dark sea?
• Sentence-By-Sentence Story
  • Write a one-of-a-kind story about an under-the-sea adventure
• Fast Fish Races
  • Just keep swimming! Race to see who the fastest swimmer is
• Marine Mini-Games
  • Fish for clues to see what you can find in the sea
• Capture The Fish
  • A greater outdoor game for an energetic group

Game: Swimming In The Dark

Materials

• A blindfold OR Sunglasses
• One blinking light per player

Instructions

1. Fish that live in the Midnight and Abyssal Zone search through the darkness of the ocean for mates and food. This game will give you a chance to learn how difficult that can be. This game should be played in a large room. If you are playing it outside, clearly mark boundaries for the play area. The boundaries help the person who is “It.”
2. Choose a player to be “It” and tie the blindfold over their eyes. Once the blindfold is in place, this player becomes the hunter. The rest of the players are the prey. The goal of the game is for the hunter to find the prey.
3. Most deep sea fish have bioluminescence, which marks their presence in the ocean. In place of this, have the prey players snap their fingers or golf clap every five seconds. Have a leader lead this count to keep the count even.
4. When the hunter finds prey, it is the prey’s turn to be the hunter. Each player should have a chance to wear the blindfold.

OR

1. If you are camping, you can also play the game at night. Play it in a clearing or field.
2. Have all of the players wear dark colours. The person who is it should wear sunglasses with a dark tint, rather than a blindfold. The sunglasses will increase the darkness to make the clearing as dark as the ocean. The prey players should wear blinking lights around their wrists. Blinking lights can often be found at the dollar store.
3. Play the game as usual.

Game: Sentence-By-Sentence Story

Materials

• Strips of paper
• One writing utensil for each person
• A hat or bowl

Instructions

1. Have each person in the group write an ocean or fish-themed sentence on a strip of paper. Put all of the sentences in a bowl or hat. Pull them out one by one and read your silly story out loud.

OR

1. Put each group member’s name in a hat. Pull out the names one by one. Each time a name is pulled, they have to add a sentence to the story.
2. Write down all of the stories you make and vote for your favourite.

Game: Fast Fish Races

Materials

• Stopwatch

Instructions

1. This activity will need to be played in a body of water. This can be done at a pool or a beach.
2. Have races to see which member of the group can swim the fastest. First, determine the length of the race. If you are swimming in a pool, use a number of laps to mark the length. If you are swimming in a lake or other body of water, use a dingy or landmark as a marker.
3. For the first race, have all of the swimmers line up at the starting line. Have a leader announce the start of the race by blowing a whistle or shouting. The same leader should time the race using a stopwatch.
4. Once the race is done, the leader should read out which racer is which fish according to the chart below. Their fish name will determine where they will start the next race.
5. To give the races an extra challenge, each classification of fish has added time. For example, Giant Tube Worms get an extra five seconds before the Bluefin Tuna can leave the start line. Can anyone defend their title as the fastest swimmer?
6. The racers will have a new title and starting place for each race. If possible, record each racer’s time on a sheet of paper so the players can see how their time improved with each lap.

Which Fish Are You?

Game: Marine Mini-Games

Materials

• One large piece of construction paper or cardstock and a marker
• Once copy of Marine Mini-Games cards 
• A stopwatch
• Blindfolds, one for each group
• Balloons
• One large plastic container for each group
• Flags or pylons to use as markers
• Sand
• A bag of rice
• Lollipops
• Goldfish crackers
• Ice cubes
• String
• Tape
• Tape measure 
• Paper and writing utensils
• Calculator (optional)

Instructions

Now that you’ve met some of the fish in the ocean, it’s time to really learn how they live.

1. Divide the group into teams of two. Use a large piece of construction paper or cardstock as a scoreboard. Let the teams make up their own ocean-themed names and write those names at the top of the scoreboard.
2. Cut out the Marine Mini-Games cue cards (attached). The right side will have a picture of the fish that the activity is themed with. The left will describe the mini-game, how many players are needed from each team, and any equipment needed for the game. Fold along the centerline so both sides face out.
3. The team that completes the challenge first wins the point. The team with the most points at the end wins.

Game: Fishing Hole

Materials

• Sticks (one per group)
• String
• Small metal objects
• Magnets
• Enough print out of Fishing Line Catch Outline for each team
• Tarp or a sheet with holes cut into it

Instructions

1. This activity will have your group working together to fish for ocean clues.
2. Before you can play this game, you will need to make some fishing rods.
   1. The group will be divided into teams of four, so plan accordingly.
   2. Use a meter stick for the rod. Tie a length of string to the end of the rod, using a tight knot to secure them together.
   3. Tie a small metal object to the loose end of the string. This object will be the lure.
      1. You can use any object you please for the lure as long as it is magnetic and will add weight to the fishing line.
   4. When you make the fishing rods, it is very important to have distinct markers for each rod. Ribbon is an easy way to distinguish which rod belongs to which team.
3. If they are available, you can also use regular fishing poles with the hooks removed.
4. Once the fishing rods are made, it’s time to make your fishing hole.
   1. Cut holes into a blue tarp or sheet. Use a large cup to measure the size of the holes—just make sure they are large enough for the Fishing Hole Catch fish (below) to fit through easily.
   2. Once the holes are cut, spread the tarp across some tables and chairs. A group leader should be able to comfortably sit beneath the tarp.
   3. You may want to have the lake set up at an angle for younger groups.
5. With the ocean in place, it’s time to make the fish. Print out the Fishing Hole Catch, below. Each team will need four fish. Attach a small magnet to each fish using glue. Fridge magnets should work fine.
6. Now, add the clues to the fish. There are two options for this step. Either you can scramble the fish names and put the letters on the fish or you can use the information from the Teaching Pages to make clues.
   1. If you choose to scramble the letters, the team will have to work together to unscramble the word once they have caught all the fish. 
   2. If you choose to make clues, the team will have to work together to figure out which fish their team reeled in.
7. When you’re ready to play, divide your group into teams of four. Each team will have a fishing rod. Have a leader sit beneath the tarp/sheet and attach the fish to each lure that falls in. This is why colour-coding the fishing rods is so important. This will help the leader know which clues to attach to which rod.
8. Mark a line that players cannot cross while they fish. The players will take turns playing in a relay-like fashion: each player will cast the fishing rod until the lure lands in one of the holes.
9. During gameplay, have a group leader sit beneath the tarp/sheet. Each time a lure falls into a hole, the leader will attach a clue to the lure. Once the fish has been attached to the lure, have the leader tug on the string. This will be a sign to the players that they have caught their fish.
10. If the fish should fall off the rod when a player is bringing it in, the player will have to cast their rod again. They must continue to cast their line until the fish is off of the tarp/sheet. When the fisher brings the fish in, the next player will take the rod. One player from each team will play at once. Every player must catch one fish.

Game: Capture The Fish

Materials

• Bean bag or toy shaped like a fish

Instructions

1. This is a game of Capture the Flag, only instead of capturing flags the teams are looking for fish. It should be played in a large outdoor area, but a large indoor area will work as well. The playing field must have several hiding places as the team must hide their fish flags and their team’s base.
2. The markers can be bean bags or toys. The markers must be colour-coded. You can do this by colour or by an animal.
   1. For example, choose plastic toys of a great white shark and a tuna or use blue and green beanbags. If you are using bean bags, just wrap an elastic long the bottom to give it a fishlike shape.
   2. Choose the number of markers based on the number of players in the group. We recommend playing with one marker for every three players on the team. All of the markers should be about the same size.
3. Divide the group into two teams. Give each team a name of a fish and their markers.
4. Set a time for five minutes. Allow the teams to find a base, and decide who will guard their base and who will look for the other team’s fish. Each team can have one home base for each fish. Once five minutes have passed, have a leader blow a whistle to signify that the teams can leave their base. Until the whistle is blown, the players cannot leave their base.
5. The goal of the game is to capture the other team’s fish and return it back to your home base. The first team to have all of the other team’s fish wins the game.
6. Once a player has found the other team’s fish, they can pick it up and run back to their home base. The fish must remain in open view—it cannot be hidden in a player’s pockets or otherwise hidden on their person.
7. Players can be tagged at any point in time. Once a player has been tagged, he/she must sit down and wait until a player from their team pats them on the head. Until that point, they are frozen and out of play. If a player is tagged while holding a fish, they must place it on the ground before they sit.
8. Once the fish is dropped, it becomes fair play. Players from either team can bring it back to their home base once it has been picked up. This means that a team can either score a point or bring their fish back to its home base.
9. Players can carry one fish in each hand, but no more. If they find the opposite team’s home, they can choose up to fish, regardless of the team colour, to carry back to their home base.
10. To win the game, all of the flags must be moved to one location. The team that owns that base wins the game. If this method takes too long, count the flags. The teams will earn one point of every captured fish at a home base. Fish that are in play when the game ends should not be counted toward the overall score.

Earn Our Sea Life Badge

Once you have finished this challenge kit, use code ECK018 for 20% off the Sea Life Patch!