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Activity 11: Corrugated Aquarium


As some of you may have read in my previous activity, I’m trying to reduce wastage around the house. So when I bought a new electronic device last week, I decided to use the cardboard box it came in for this task. I found a few strips of corrugated paper inside some store-bought cookie boxes as well. So we used all of these to make an underwater scene in the form of an aquarium. This also gave us a chance to learn new vocabulary like corals, tadpoles, sea-horse, reeds etc.

Materials required:
cardboard box
corrugated paper
paints
chunky paint brush
scissors
glue
newspaper

Activity:
1. Spread newspaper over the table you will be working on, to prepare for paint spills, scissor marks and other unforeseen calamities.

2. Cut out a rectangular shape from one of the longer sides of the cardboard box so that the inside of the box becomes visible.
3. Allow the child to paint the inside of the box in shades of blue and green to represent water and the bottom of the sea/aquarium.
4. Allow the child to paint the outside of the box in brown or any colours of the child’s choice. This will give you 20 to 30 minutes of free time which you could judiciously use to do a variety of more exciting activities for yourself, from taking a shower to having an uninterrupted cup of tea.
5. Cut out shapes from the corrugated paper to form fish, octopus, sea-horses, star fish or any other sea animal that you can easily trace.
6. Also cut out shapes to resemble reeds and corals.
7. Stick these various shapes inside the box, as shown in the picture.
8. You can use this activity to talk about animals that live underwater, or even about how much work goes into maintaining a real aquarium, so as to help the child reconsider their demand for one.  
9. Consider placing string lights in blue and green hues inside your cardboard aquarium and placing it in the child’s bedroom. The lights will add a calming and dreamy effect to your bedtime routines, and will help children who do not like sleeping in the dark.

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