Ocean in a Bag!

This is a fun and easy project that your kids will love!  They will create a tactile ocean with favorite ocean life inside.  First you will need a strong quart size zip top plastic bag.  Freezer bags work well.

You will also need some craft foam.  We used scraps from other projects.  Kids can cut out shapes of  fish, sea stars, eels and other ocean animals.  I also have some pre-cut foam in sea weed shapes.

You might even be able to find foam fish like these...

I also had these cute little shells in my classroom.  They are tiny!  They make a really cute addition to the foam shapes.   Once you start looking for cute little items to add, you will find lots of great ocean themed items out in the dollar stores and party stores that are perfect for this project!

You can add all those little items into the bag first.  Then spoon in a few heaping tablespoons of this stuff.  It is blue colored hair gel.  It has a great texture and the color is perfect.  I found this at my local drugstore.  Beware though,  it had VERY strong fragrance and if you are at all sensitive to fragrance, it may be hard to take.

After you have a good amount of gel in the bag, then sprinkle in a little glitter and make your ocean sparkle!

After all the ingredients are added to the bag, zip it closed while carefully trying to get most of the air out.  I also used packing tape to seal the top as an extra measure.  It is fun to gently squeeze the bag and move the items around.  The kids will love the squishy feel to fingertips!  I hope you enjoy this fun ocean themed project with your class!
Happy Teaching!