Make an Ocean Mobile

Teach your child to reuse and recycle – and to protect ocean life – with this DIY ocean mobile craft.

When Nature Cat and his friends set out to help Hal rescue his favorite chew toy from the ocean, they find that a lot of trash has floated into the water and is creating problems for the creatures who float along its current. They help clean up the trash and free sea turtles who get trapped in plastic netting.

Help your child understand what a remarkable place the ocean is. Ask your child if they can name some animals or creatures that live in the ocean. Explain to them why it’s important to keep our oceans clean and healthy. Then, ask if they can think of ways to help keep the oceans and the creatures who live there. For example, recycling and reusing items, such as the ones in the mobile you’ll make, play a part in keeping trash out of the ocean.

Break an old egg carton into sections or take a plastic bottle and cut the bottom off. Have your child paint the recyclable whatever color they want the whale to be. When it’s dry, make a face, tail, and two fins from things in the recycle bin. Construction paper and cardboard work well, for example. Help your child attach them to the whale’s body with tape or glue. For the water spout, bend a piece of ribbon in half and tie the bottom to make a loop. Create three loops. Cut a small hole in the top of the body. Pull the loops through halfway and tape the loop bottoms to the bottom of the body to hold them in place. Tie a long piece of string through the water spout and securely attach your whale to your mobile.

Ask your child to draw their favorite sea creatures on a coffee filter. Using paint or markers, have your child color the coffee filter using a dark color, so it will show through both sides. This creates a silhouette effect. Add sea life and other decorations around the sea creature. Punch a hole at the top of the decorated coffee filter and hang it on the mobile with string. Your child can also draw their favorite sea creatures on newspaper or recycled paper, then cut them out and hang them from their mobile.

Use an empty toilet paper roll or paper towel roll to create an octopus body. Have your child paint the roll the color of her choice. Once it’s dry, use safety scissors and cut slits around the bottom of the roll to make tentacles. They should be at least one inch long. Bend the ends of the tentacles to help shape them. Let your child add a face using a marker and decorate with paint. Punch a hole in the top and pull a piece of string through. Tie it securely to your mobile so it hangs down.

Tell your child that seaweed comes in many different shapes and sizes. It may have branches or free-floating strands. Ask them to guess what color seaweed is. Explain that it can be green, red, or brown. Use a cardboard box or other recyclable materials (crinkled-up newspaper, paper streamers, ribbons, or plastic strips) to make seaweed. Help your child trace some squiggly seaweed on the cardboard, cut it out, and paint it any color on both sides. When it’s dry, punch a hole in the top and pull a piece of string through. Tie it securely to the mobile so it hangs down.

Explain to your child that in order for the mobile to be balanced, their sea life creations should be hung on all four sides. One or two marine species can hang from each side. (It’s fine if the mobile isn't perfectly balanced, neither is a healthy ocean ecosystem!) Hang it outside or in a window. Observe with your child as the mobile turns in the wind and brings the motion of the ocean into your home. Ask them what their favorite sea creature is and why. Then, tell them your favorite!

Want more Nature Cat activities? Check out this wild bee hotel craft or this bug box project to continue the fun!

Photography by Nikki Brooks.