Sea Animal Mobile

Did you know that about 70% of the whole earth is covered by the ocean? The ocean is a big and magical place that provides a home to thousands and thousands of creatures! This activity is a creative way that will remind kids about the beauty of the ocean and all of the interesting things there are to learn about it. Follow the steps to make a fun and easy sea animal mobile that is made out of everyday items! Best fit for school-aged children, or younger with the help of an adult, this activity will keep kids engaged, curious, and provides a creative way to master fine motor skills.

Supplies:

-three pieces of construction paper (any color)

-chopsticks

-scissors

-sharpie

-pencil

-markers (optional)

-five balloons (any color)

-string

-super glue

-streamer (any color)

Instructions:

Welcome everyone, let’s make a sea animal mobile! Gather all the necessary supplies and pull up a chair to a table or hard surface of your choice.

Step 1: For the first step, we are going to make a “cross” shape using the chopsticks. Take one chopstick and lay it on the table. Next, take the second chopstick and lay it over top, directly in the middle, but laying the opposite way.

Step 2: Next, using the super glue, glue the two chopsticks together! Press and hold for a few seconds. Set aside to let it dry.

Now, we are going to start working on our sea creatures! For these next few steps we will be drawing lots of shapes on the construction paper. If you have any questions, take a look at the photo of all the drawings or ask an adult!

Step 3: First, let’s begin by drawing parts for the sea turtle. Take out one sheet of construction paper that you would like to use to make the sea turtle’s feet! In this example, we used green. To make the feet, take your pencil and draw four long “oval” shapes.

Step 4: Next, grab the sheet of paper you would like to use to draw the fins of the fish. For this example, we used the color yellow. Take out your pencil again and begin by drawing the “top” fin. Start by drawing two angled “mountain” shapes, side by side. Then, draw a line straight across that is directly underneath to close the shape.

Step 5: For the “tail” fin, start by drawing a short line going straight down. Place your pencil at the bottom of the line you just drew. From there, draw a long line, angled slightly downward. Next, place your pencil at the top of the first small line you drew. Now, draw another long line that is angled slightly upward. Lastly, we need to close the shape. Connect the two lines by drawing a “V” shape towards the middle. Great work!

Step 6: The last fin we need to draw is the “bottom” fin. Start by drawing a horizontal line across your paper. From the beginning of that line, draw a curved line that is angled downward (think of a half rainbow). Now, close the shape by drawing a diagonal line across that connects the other two lines!

Step 7: Next, we are going to draw features to make the shark! Take out your third piece of construction paper that you would like to use to make the fins. For this example, we used the color purple. To begin, we are going to make the first “top” fin by drawing a big, curved triangle (this is the fin you might see sticking out of the water, so make it big and tall).

Step 8: For the second “top” fin, draw a small, skinny triangle with pointed ends that come in and meet in the middle (similar to what you did in step 5, but a smaller size!).

Step 9: For the first “bottom” fin, start by drawing a horizontal line across your paper. From the end of that line, draw a curved line that is angled downward (think of a half rainbow). Now, close the shape by drawing a diagonal line across that connects the other two lines.

Step 10: For the second “bottom” fin, draw a small, skinny triangle. The long, skinny point should be aiming down to the ground.

Step 11: Last but not least, it is time for the shark’s tail fin! Just like you did for the fish’s tail fin on step 5, start by drawing a short line going straight down. Place your pencil at the bottom of the line you just drew. From there, draw a long line, angled slightly downward. Next, place your pencil at the top of the first small line you drew. Now, draw another long line that is angled slightly upward. Lastly, we need to close the shape. Connect the two lines by drawing a “V” shape towards the middle.

Step 12: Great work everyone! Now it is time to cut out all of the shapes you drew. Once cut out, pretend your fish, turtle, and shark are right in front of you on the table. Now, arrange the fins on the table in their correct place, or as they would be on the animal, to help keep you organized! Once you have finished, set your drawings to the side and take out your balloons.

Step 13: We are going to start with the turtle! Our turtle will be made up of two balloons that we will then glue together. First, choose a color that you would like the turtle shell to be. For this example, we used orange. Blow up the balloon to a medium size and tie it off.

To tie a balloon, first squeeze your pointer finger and your middle finger together. Wrap the long, stretchy part of the balloon that you just blew in to, around your two fingers. Once you have wrapped it around the two fingers one time, tie it off by sliding the long, stretchy part between your two finders and pull through! Once pulled through, take out your fingers and pull the end so it tightens.

Step 14: Now, choose a color that you would like the turtle’s head to be. For this example, we used green. Blow up the balloon just a little bit so it is a small size.

Step 15: Next, we are going to glue those two balloons together! Using your super glue, glue the smaller balloon to the side of the big balloon. Press the balloons together and set aside once it is dry.

Make sure that before you glue the head on to the shell, that the balloon you used for the shell is pointing upwards. Or in other words, point the part of the balloon that you just tied towards the ceiling. This is important because for all the balloons, we will use these ends to tie onto the mobile.

Step 16: Now, we are going to transition into making our fish come to life! Pick out a balloon that you would like the body of the fish to be. For this example, we used yellow. Blow up the balloon to a large size and tie it off.

Step 17: Make sure the end of the balloon is facing the ceiling before we start this next step. Using a sharpie or markers, draw on some eyes and a big smile!

Step 18: Now it’s time to attach the fins! Starting with the “top” fin, make a small fold on the bottom of the fin (the side you will be gluing down to the balloon). Take the glue and place a few dots of glue on the bottom of the small fold you just made. Place the fin on the top of the fish-balloon and press down. Now, we are going to do the same with the two other fins! For the “tail” fin, make a small fold on the bottom of the fin (the short, flat side). Take the glue and place a few dots on the bottom of the small fold. Place the fin on the backside of the balloon and press down. Lastly, do the same for the “bottom” fin; make a small fold on the short, flat side and glue it to the belly of the fish!

Step 19: Now you have a little fish! Set it aside so it can dry completely. Next, we are going to finish our sea turtle.

Step 20: First, take out the turtle balloon and draw on some eyes, a nose, and mouth! For the shell (with the balloon tie facing the ceiling), starting at the top, draw half-circles, or little rainbow-shaped lines, with the sharpie all around the shell.

Step 21: Now, it is time to glue on the turtle’s feet. Unlike the fish, you will not need to make those small folds on the ends. For all four feet, place a line of super glue on the end, or flat side, and glue two feet on one side of the turtle and the other two feet on the opposite side!

Step 22: Awesome job, you just made your very own sea turtle balloon! Next, set it aside so it can dry completely while you work on the shark.

Step 23: Pick out a balloon that you would like the color of the shark’s body to be. For this example, we used white. Blow up the balloon to a large size and tie it off.

Step 24: Now, let’s draw some features on the shark! With a sharpie or markers, draw on some eyes, gills, and a mouth with some sharp teeth. It’s looking fantastic, keep it up!

Step 25: The next step is to attach the shark fins to the balloon. For each fin, like you did with the fish fins, make a small fold on the end (the side you will glue to the balloon) of the fin. First, glue on the two “top” fins on the shark’s back (with the balloon tie facing the ceiling!). Next, glue the two “bottom” fins on the shark’s belly. Lastly, glue on the “tail” fin on the end of the shark’s body. Set aside and let it dry.

Step 26: Now, let’s make a jelly fish! Using your roll of streamers, cut out 6 pieces. They can either be all the same length or be different lengths!

Step 27: Pick out a balloon that you would like color of the jelly fish to be. For this example, we used red. Blow up the balloon to a medium size and tie it off.

Step 28: Now, it’s time to draw on some features! Using a sharpie or markers, give your jelly fish some eyes and a mouth.

Step 29: Next, we are going to glue on the streamers. Place on drop of super glue on the end of each streamer and glue each one around the bottom of the balloon.

Step 30: Now it is time to put everything together! First, cut out a small piece of string to use to make a handle for the mobile. Tie a knot with the string on either side of one of the chopsticks.

Step 31: Now, it is time to attach the balloons to your chopsticks. Take the string and cut off four pieces, all of different lengths. The pieces can be as long or short as you would like!

Step 32: Now, tie one end of a piece of string to one of the balloon ties on a sea animal. Tie the other end of the string to one of the four sides of the chopstick “cross”. Do the same for the rest of your three sea animals and string cut-outs.

Ta-da!

Hang up the mobile and

watch your sea animal friends swim and play!