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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!

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A Christmas Gift!

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!

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! Fre-

quently waste can end up in our oceans, often swept into the sea from land-

fills. Much of this is plastic, which can take hundreds of years to degrade.

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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 deco-

rate 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.

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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!

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Ca

n y

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th

is p

ictu

re o

f M

ax

the

Octo

pu

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stm

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ree

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rm?

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de

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rati

on

s o

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of

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as f

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ap

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ake

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co

rati

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s a

t h

om

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sin

g o

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cts

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m t

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ls t

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ill m

ake

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n f

act!

Ch

ristm

as T

ree

wo

rms liv

e in

tro

pic

al w

ate

rs. Th

ey

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ve s

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lum

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me

in

a v

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ety

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! Th

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mu

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o t

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y ca

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asily

ca

tch

pa

ssin

g p

rey.

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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 an-

imal 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 out-

line 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!

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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!

Festive Match Up!

S_OW_L_K_ M_ _A_ E_ _

P_NE_ON_ F_S_

A_NG_L S_AR_

CH_C_ _A_ _

C_I_ S_AR_IS_

_H_ _S_M_ _ T_ _ E

W_R_

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‘Wasteless’ Wordsearch!

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

Can you find the highlighted words below in the word search?

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. An-

other 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!

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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

Once you’re done, why not use your imagination and see how many different types

of ocean creatures you can make?

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!

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Fes

tive

Bea

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! V

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g t

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each a

t C

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as t

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lwa

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ith

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his

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rip

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Colo

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Can you draw your favour-

ite 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!