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Under the sea crafts to perk you and the kids up in February
Christmas and New Year has been and gone and while we’re all feeling the come down from the excitement, there are things we can do to turn that feeling around. It can be difficult for children to go from the delirium of Christmas to being back at school in January, just as much as it can be tough for you to pick your spirits up when the decorations are down and the weather is still gloomy. It’s why the third Monday of January is typically dubbed ‘Blue Monday’ - the most depressing day of the year.
The whole first month of the year can be tough to tackle but with the help of some therapeutic craft activities we can help you and your children beat the January blues. Crafting isn’t just about making things that look nice, it can really boost your mood and be super stimulating and educational for children so this is the perfect January activity.
If you want to fill your spare evenings and weekends with fun craft projects with your children you’ll need to gather a supply of materials first. There’s a wonderful range to choose from at Homecrafts to get your adventure started!
Under the sea
The wonders of the ocean captures the imagination of many children and, with the inspiration of animated films, there’s loads for us to work with here.
Tip - you can even make a day of it and create a fun atmosphere by grabbing all of the ocean adventure films you can think of play them while you’re crafting - it will even produce fresh ideas of things to make and prompt your little ones to ask questions and learn.
Here’s a list of our five favourite ocean films to give you a head start:
1. Finding Nemo
2. The Little Mermaid
3. Shark Tale
4. Finding Dory
5. A Turtle’s Tale
Now for the crafts - we’ve put together a collection of some ideas to get your creative juices flowing!
Make sealife bunting
If you’ve got your hands on craft card in a variety of vibrant colours this is a fabulous start for sealife bunting. Teach your children about each new sea animal and where they come from as you’re making them - pick the most colourful creatures you can think of to inject extra fun! When you’ve made a collection of animals, string them all up in a line to make a beautifully bright piece of bunting to hang up in your living room.
Make games
The idea of all of this is to ultimately have fun and perk up the whole family - so why not create your very own game to play together? ‘Pin the tail on’ games have always been popular - you could create your very own pin the tail on the whale or even pin the tentacle on the octopus! The options here are varied but another idea you could try is find a disused cardboard box, paint it with an underwater scene and cut out holes to throw balls or bean bags through. Whatever you choose, making something you know you’ll all get enjoyment from will make the act of crafting all the more enjoyable.
Get out the paints
Grab some paint in all different colours, plus sponges, brushes or even hands if the paint washes off! Put down a wipeable protection sheet underneath whatever you’re painting on (paper, card, paper plates, shells found at the beach etc!) and gather around.
Sponge painted ocean scenes look great as the sponge creates a totally different effect to painting with a brush. If you use a brush you can get more of an even coating and paint things in more detail. Or if you want to get stuck in and use hands you could make scenes with fish out of thumb or finger prints or even octopuses with whole hands - add three extra tentacles at the end, of course!
Tip - add in extra textures and dimensions by sticking on scrunched up green tissue paper to create seaweed or use pipe cleaners for tentacles - get creative and utilise your new found stash of craft materials.
Don’t throw away egg boxes
Your children could have their very own under the sea environment to play with and learn from - all from an egg box! Paint it blue and get your little ones to make their own tiny sea animals, collect little shells, stones and even sand from the beach to live inside the box. This will be lots of fun for them to make and they’ll also be able to adapt and develop their box by adding in new animals they discover as time goes on.
Whatever you choose to craft, the vibrancy of the ocean will ensure everything you create is brightly coloured! Stimulate your children as you brighten January up in your household with the help of our favourite under the sea craft ideas.