Create Craft
Ocean Zones Upcycled Craft Activity for Kids
We’ve got a great craft that upcycles a recycled container into an intriguing work of undersea art that can hold treasures that will help kids learn about the ocean zones.
There are only a few items needed for this, and chances are strong that you already have them at home. To make it more environmentally friendly, look for items you can recycle or reuse (such as an oatmeal jar or container for cleaning wipes).
It will be a sweet addition to a child’s room with our free marine animal printable utilising our hand-painted drawings from our children’s books!
When complete, the project would make a wonderful piggy bank or container for art materials like coloured pencils. There are so many options!
We have a craft for you, but we also have some additional websites to check out and a new infographic we made that allows for greater research of ocean zones.
Go-Along Story
To go along with this activity, we highly suggest one of our picture books, Zale’s Tales: The Ocean Seeker (ages 4–10), which takes you on a thrilling hide-and-seek adventure throughout the ocean!
From the poles to kelp forests, coral reefs, the deep sea, and even shallow mangrove forests, the story takes you all over the ocean. It reveals a vast range of ocean environments and the creatures that live there.
It is a delightful experience that is ideal for discovering maritime regions! (Click here to visit our shop here to find it.)
For Ocean-Loving Littles
You might also be interested in our ocean-loving eco-friendly children’s clothing! Made from fabrics including bamboo viscose, recycled polyester, and organic cotton
Ocean Zones Downloadable Poster:
Many people have asked for an instant copy of our infographics so they may be reproduced at their neighbourhood print shop:
Ocean Zones Info
Based on how much sunlight gets to them, these zones were created.
It’s incredible how dark the water really is!
Since plants cannot grow without sufficient sunlight, the majority of animals and ALL vegetation are found in the sunlight zone. Most other air-breathing animals, like dolphins and sea turtles, require this area to survive.
It’s quite dark and there isn’t enough sunlight to support plant growth in the twilight zone. However, there are still animals present, and they either feed on one another or consume floating debris that sinks from the zone of sunshine. Because of a phenomenon known as bioluminescence, some animals in this area can glow, enabling them to see their prey or attract it. While some whales can dive into this area, most of the creatures can breathe by obtaining oxygen from the surrounding water.
It’s pitch black in the midnight zone! The only source of light is produced by animals and is known as bioluminescence. Brrr, it’s cold here too, and there’s a lot of water pressure. This zone extends all the way to the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, which is the deepest point and measures 6.8 miles (11 km) in length.
(For more information about exploring the ocean zone, see the links and video at the bottom of this post.)
Ocean Zones Craft
In this craft, you’ll make a model of the ocean zones and place animal cutouts in the different zones. The only ones that have a “right” zone are:
- kelp (plants) – goes in the Sunlight Zone
- sea turtle & dolphin – go in the Sunlight Zone
- anglerfish (fish with light dangling from its nose) – goes in the deeper zones
- whale – upper two zones
You’ll need:
- tall empty vessel
- Note: If you use a container with a label that won’t come off, you’ll want to either paint it or glue on white paper first (we haven’t tried it), since the tissue paper will show what’s underneath. We used a sanitising or disinfecting wipes container, but an oatmeal or coffee canister, a protein powder container or a plastic milk jug or juice bottle would work great too. Alternately, you may use construction paper.
- a half to full sheet of construction paper or tissue paper in each of the three tones of blue
- You could use black paper for the midnight zone to make a more accurate representation!
- Paintbrush, Mod Podge, or white glue, scissors, free printable ocean animals
How to Make It
1. Remove the container’s label before using it. (If you use tissue paper, part of what’s underneath will be visible.) Stripe the tissue paper (or other paper) by tearing or cutting it.
Although we used three different colours of blue, a more accurate model would include black for the midnight zone.
2. Apply glue or mod podge on the container with the paintbrush, then cover the adhesive with tissue paper strips.
Use the darkest colour at the bottom to illustrate how sunlight diminishes in deeper waters (it was simpler to paint the bottom of the container upside down).
Continue to glue and layer tissue paper, changing to lighter shades as you move higher.
For those who want to create a more accurate model, it should be noted that the ocean is primarily composed of the midnight and twilight zones, with just a very small portion being made up of the sunshine zone. For a more realistic representation of the midnight zone, use black tissue paper.
3. Cover the tissue paper with extra adhesive and let it dry.
4. Print the Ocean Zones Animal Cutouts page (which is free) and cut out the creatures while the adhesive is drying.
5. Glue the cutouts to the zones when the “ocean” has dried. Only the following have a “right” zone:
- Sea turtles and dolphins can be found in the Sunlight Zone. Anglerfish, a fish with a light swinging from its nose, can be found in either of the deeper zones.
- upper two zones of whales
Want more exploration into ocean zones? Check out:
How Far Does Light Travel in the Ocean? from NOAA
Ocean Zones in a Jar from PBS Kids
Sci Show for Kids – Ocean Zone Video:
Disclaimer: All actions taken while using this blog should be done under adult supervision. When using scissors, small objects that could cause choking, water activities that could result in drowning, introducing new foods or ingredients to children with allergies, and other potentially hazardous materials, appropriate and reasonable caution should be exercised. Always exercise caution and safety. Involvement in any of these activities on this site may result in damage, accident, or injury, which the author and blog expressly disclaim liability for.