Explore the Sea With a Paper Plate Aquarium

By Priyanka Lamichhane

May 23, 2022

30 min activity

The Kratt Brothers love to explore our planet, and some of the most fascinating places they visit are Earth’s oceans. Full of awesome animals and hidden habitats, there is always so much to discover! Why? The ocean is home to thousands of species, and the Kratt Brothers have met some of these cool creatures on their wild adventures. They have swum with seahorses, dolphins, turtles, even blowfish! They’ve swum through colorful coral reefs, too! Spreading their message of conservation, it’s always fun to go on a creature adventure with Chris and Martin!

Exploring the ocean with your child through art is a great way to engage and entertain them about the amazing life that exists under the sea. With simple items such as paper plates, scissors, crayons, stickers, and glue sticks, your child can use their imagination to create an aquarium full of the marine creatures they love. At the same time, you and your child can talk about why Earth’s oceans are such an important part of our planet.

Materials

Directions

Cut out the center of one plate. Younger children might need help from an adult for this step.

With crayons or markers, have your child color the top 2/3 of the other plate blue and the bottom 1/3 a sand color.

Have your child draw or use stickers or construction paper to add fish and other sea life to the paper plate. They can place animals on both the “water” and the “sand” depending on where the animal would naturally be found.

After your child is happy with their decorations, ask them to run the glue stick around the edge of the decorated bottom plate and attach the cut-out top plate.

Enjoy your awesome aquarium!

Explore Further

Discussing ocean animals with your child is a great way to start a conversation about Earth’s oceans! To explore more, talk with your child about where the oceans are located. You can start with a map or globe and point out each ocean. Ask your child which ocean is closest to where you live. Then, ask them where they think the water is cold and where the water might be warm. From here, you can discuss some of the oceans’ unique habitats and the animals that live in them. Coral reefs and tide pools are a great place to start!