Craft Time {Aquarium In A Bag}

The wee Kelleys…aka really Harper…have been asking me for craft time like crazy.  We usually just do a little something I have all the supplies for on hand.  I decided to do some supply shopping the other day and remembered one of my most favorite crafts I did in my kindergarten class…the aquariums in a bag.  This is so much fun you guys…so much fun.  Ridiculously rad and my kids loved it.

Here’s what you need:  Plastic bags (we used quart sized), packing tape, cheap blue hair gel, foam fish/sea stickers, foam sheet, aquarium rocks, “seaweed” clippings from plants or Easter grass and glitter.

Step 1:  Stick your foam stickers to the inside of your plastic bag.  I let the kids go wild.  Let them own their projects.  Let them create like their little minds want to.  This is sometimes hard for an OCD mom like me.

Those fish aren’t even straight.  I had to reign in my urge to fix them.  Oh geez.

Step 2:  Add your aquarium rocks.  I got this big bag for $1.98 at Walmart.  Super cheap and fun and colorful.

Step 3:  Add the amazingly stellar cheap blue hair gel…and lots of it.  When I taught they made it in more of an aqua color, but this blue worked too.  $1.94 at Walmart for way too much cheap blue hair gel.  Style your hair with the leftovers…no wait…don’t.

Step 4:  Zip the bag closed and squish the gel all around the bag and add more gel if needed.  I kind of like lots of gel.

Step 5:  Re-open your bag and add some glitter.  Close and re-squish.  Us Kelleys like glitter, except for Josh Kelley…he seriously loathes glitter…like glitter would be a level in hell for him.  I say, the more glitter the better.

Step 6:  Add your seaweed and any extra free floating foam fish.  When I taught I always used Easter grass for the seaweed, but Easter grass isn’t exactly out in stores right now, so I just clipped some pieces from a bush in our front yard.  Boom.  I also bought one sheet of orange foam and cut out a few extra fish that could be moved around in the bag instead of stuck in place.  The kids like to move these fish around when the project is all done.

  Step 7:  After everyone gets their aquarium all situated like they want it, tape the bag shut with some packing tape.  You don’t want this jazz getting out.

And there you have it…aquariums in a bag.  I kind of feel resourceful when I break out my old tricks from my teaching days.  Makes me feel creative and useful and like that time was not lost.  So go get crafty with your kids today.  Let them go wild and make a mess…it can always be cleaned up.  I’ll try to post more of our craft projects over the next few weeks.

Happy Wednesday.