Every summer is all about going to the beach and swimming in the ocean, so KiwiCo couldn’t miss the chance to design the box that would teach about marine creatures and ocean discovery. Today I will tell about Ocean Discovery Box by KiwiCo that my son received two days ago. He invited his friend to come over and they carried out the projects with great enthusiasm. Doing the projects together is more fun and turns into a small party with creative play and small gifts.

This box comes with supplies for three projects: Puffer Fish Backpack, Octopus Game and Marine Porthole, along with Imagine! Magazine.

Puffer Fish Backpack

We started with the first project Puffer Fish Backpack. This project is messy as kids are supposed to paint the backpack, so make sure you cover the table surface with scrap paper to keep it clean. Let’s get started. Spread the blue backpack onto the table with slits facing up and prepare the paint.

Kids took turns to paint the circle with white and orange colors by dabbing the paint inside the circle. Then we took the backpack aside to try and continued with the second project. The paint dried slowly, so we proceeded with this project after finishing two other ones.

When the paint got dry children added fins and made the face. It takes a couple of hours to get the paint dry, so make sure you have the time to get the project completed. The backpack is something a child can use every day, when going to the beach to pack the necessary beach supplies.

Octopus Game

To play the Octopus Game you need to prepare the octopus arms first. Kids enjoyed decorating the arms with stickers and then attached the suction cups to them.

To play the game kids should stick the octopus head to the window and then stick an octopus arm to the glass with their eyes closed. Then they can open their eyes to see how close the arm is to the head on the window. It’s fun to play the game with a friend, so they could take turns sticking the arms to the window. The one whose arm gets the closest to the window wins.

Marine Porthole

This was my son’s favorite craft because he loves working with clay.

First you need to make two fish using the colorful clay and paper fins. Then you should stick the fish into the holes in the foam shape and add pipe cleaners to make seaweed.

Pushing the ends into the foam was the hardest job and children didn’t cope with it without my assistance. So, parents must be ready to help in case their kids have difficulty in pushing the cleaners which bend easily and just won’t get into the hole. Once the seaweed is ready kids can place the marine scene in the center of the porthole background and cover it by a transparent dome.

Get the dome fixed with the porthole ring with the sticky surface. As a result, kids will get a colorful marina display to showcase on the shelf or just hang it on the wall as a room décor.

All three DIY projects by KiwiCo are beautiful and bright. Children enjoyed making them as well as reading Imagine! Magazine. There they learnt about ocean explorations, played “find the differences” game and discovered how various sea life creatures move in the water.

In fact, I didn’t know myself that sea stars, sand dollars and urchins actually move under the water, but they do is so slowly that it becomes unnoticed.

I recommend Ocean Discovery Box by KiwiCo as an excellent educational tool and a fun way to teach children about marine life. The box has plenty of resources that help develop fine motor skills, imagination and creativity.