StArt – Mister Seahorse

This weekend we have visited Monterey Bay Aquarium. One of the famous exhibits in this aquarium is seahorses. What I like about Monterey Aquarium is that it cleverly mixes live exhibits and hi-tech displays with a lot of chances for kids to touch and hear, not only to see. Despite her specific request to see seahorses, Anna was only moderately interested in the seahorses themselves (it’s been our almost last stop on the long visit), but she really enjoyed the video game where kids were supposed to camouflage their seahorses to save them from the hungry predator. When we came home, we reread the famous Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle. It’s a lovely book even though it appears from the visit to Monterey that it’s not entirely true to the facts, so to speak. Seahorse males really get pregnant and hatch their young. Anyway, this time Anna was really interested in the details of illustrations, so I decided to try out a relatively involved art project with her.

Step 1. Draw an outline of the seahorse on the coffee filter (due to my total lack of artistic talent, I traced the seahorse from here. Color with markers and make it “colorful”

Step 2. Use the dropper and watch the colors spread. Anna did this step so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to grab my camera.

Step 3. Paint the ocean with watercolors. Enjoy flicking the brush to make bubbles.

 Step 4. Give “shots” to your plastic animals while mama cuts the seahorses

Step 5. Arrange and enjoy. Don’t forget google eyes!