CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY BOOKLET! This activity booklet contains lots of puzzles, colouring sheets and craft ideas. We have also provided some information on how you can help the ocean by having a wasteless Christmas this year! 1
A Christmas Gift! Christmas can be a fun time of year for many people, but often results in us throwing a way a lot of food, plastic packaging and wrapping paper. Did you know we bin over two hundred thousand miles of Christmas wrapping paper every year? That is enough to go around the world more than nine times! Frequently waste can end up in our oceans, often swept into the sea from landfills. Much of this is plastic, which can take hundreds of years to degrade. Luckily, there is a lot we can do to help! Just by reducing the amount of waste we produce at Christmas time can make a big difference. Can you think of one gift you can wish for which won t result in lots of waste? Write or draw it on the Christmas list below! 2
Design your own Wrapping Paper! Wrapping paper often contains coloured shapes, glitter and plastics which cannot be recycled. Why not try wrapping your presents in brown, recyclable paper instead? You can decorate it yourself with felt tips to make it look extra special! Why not make it ocean themed like the example? You could use patterns of animals for inspiration. Get scribbling! Top tip: When wrapping your presents, try to use as little sellotape as possible so that the paper is easier to recycle. 3
Messy Maze! This crab has lost her way and is trying to find her cave. Can you help her find the way? Make sure you avoid the rubbish that has ended up in the sea! Congratulations! She is now safe and happy in her cave. Remember, we can prevent waste from entering the sea in lots of ways. We can help by reducing the amount of plastic we use, reusing plastic as much as possible and recycling whenever we can. Read on to find out more about how we can reduce the amount of waste in our homes this Christmas! 4
Can you colour in this picture of Max the Octopus decorating his Christmas Tree worm? He has made some great decorations out of shells he has found! Perhaps you can make some decorations at home using objects from the natural world? Sticks, pine cones and leaves are great materials to use and will make your tree look amazing! Fun fact! Christmas Tree worms live in tropical waters. They have spiralling plumes which can come in a variety of colours including red, orange and blue! Their plumes are also covered in sticky mucus so they can easily catch passing prey. 5
Christmas Cards! Why not make cards for your friends and family this year instead of buying them? You can follow the instructions below or come up with your own design! Materials: A4 coloured card Scissors Colouring pencils or paints String Tissue paper, cotton wool, glitter any materials ideal for decorating! 1. Fold the card in half (your card will need to be landscape). 2. Draw an ocean animal of your choice onto a separate piece of card. Cut out your animal and decorate it in whatever way you like. 3. Place your animal onto the front of the card, and use it as a guide to draw around it. Make sure your drawing is bigger than your cut out and that it s a similar shape! 4. Cut out your drawing on the folded card. It does not matter if you cut through the middle, as it is only the outline on the card that you need. 5. Make a pencil sized hole in the top of your animal and a hole at the top of the outline on the card. 6. Thread a piece string through the top of the animal, and tie to the card using the hole at the top of the outline. 7. Decorate the rest of your card in whatever way you wish! Why not cut out and stick on some of the Christmas themed ocean animals on the following page? Top tip: You could also cut up old Christmas cards from last year to decorate your card! 6
Festive Match Up! Can you match the Christmas themed ocean creature to their correct name and fill in the missing letters? Why not cut them out afterwards and use them to decorate your card! P_NE_ON_ F_S_ CH_C A C_I_ S_AR_IS H S_M W_R_ T E A_NG_L S_AR_ S_OW_L_K_ M A_ E 7
Wasteless Wordsearch! Can you find the highlighted words below in the word search? S B A E L C Y C E R Z E R E C Y M D E l R E C O E S R U N L M C C U W M T I S A B A R N N N S T G V H P K M E C P N R A F D N I Q I B A K I N G N A N U R J P J C O l O U G S E N E Y V O U C H E R P O R S H L R E C R N X S R E P A P S W E N E If you are giving a gift to a family member, why not try baking them something tasty or making them a present? Maybe you could even buy them a voucher or a gift experience. Charity shops also have some great second hand gifts. Another way you can reduce waste is to avoid buying wrapping paper. Instead, try newspaper or recyclable brown paper. Why not decorate it with felt tips to make it look beautiful! Once gifts are opened, make sure you recycle packaging as much as possible and advise friends and family to do the same! 8
Christmas Cork Craft! If your parents/carers have any wine corks left over from Christmas, you can make your own ocean themed Christmas tree decorations! Just follow the instructions below. Materials: Wine corks Grey and white card Scissors Colouring pencils/pens/paint String Glue 1. Paint your cork blue and set aside to dry. 2. On your grey card draw a dorsal fin (found on the back of sharks), two pectoral fins (found on the side of sharks) and a tail fin. Don t forget to leave a flap on the end of each one like in the picture below. Then you can cut out your fins 3. Once your cork is dry, make deep slits with the scissors where you would like your fins to be. They need to be the same length as the flaps. This can be a little fiddly so make sure you get an adult to help you! 4. Insert your fins into the shark. 5. Draw some eyes onto your white card, cut them out and stick them onto the front of your shark. 6. Use your white card to cut out some shark teeth and stick them below the eyes. Why not get a felt tip pen and draw on some gills at the side of your shark too? 7. Using a pencil, make a small hole at the top of the dorsal fin and thread through some string. Tie a knot and then you can hang it on the tree! Once you re done, why not use your imagination and see how many different types of ocean creatures you can make? 9
Festive Beach Clean! Visiting the beach at Christmas time is always a great way to spend time with family and friends. The people in this picture are making their trip extra special by doing a beach clean! There are some natural items on the beach but also many that don t belong. Can you circle any items that they could put in their rubbish bags? Colour in the picture afterwards. 10
Can you draw your favourite ocean animal in the heart? Can you think of ONE change you will make this Christmas to reduce waste? This will help your animal have a clean home to live in! Why not continue the fun by doing the following? Tell your friends and family what you have learned. Research more ways you can have a wasteless Christmas! Visit us at the Aquarium to learn loads more fun facts! Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter 11