A Little Sea in a Bottle

One year at camp my mom created a miniature world with the campers.  Isn’t there something fascinating about making teeny, tiny things?

Materials

• Shrink Art sheets (you can purchase these at craft stores)
• Cookie tray (and an oven mitt too!)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Pencil crayons
• Sand paper
• Small containers (You could re-use items from your recycle, but the kids were excited to use these little glass bottles)

• Little items to create the ocean such as gravel, sand, small beads, plastic gems, rocks etc.

Directions

• We used these water creatures as an inspiration.

• You could plan out your work on a sheet of paper if you like.

• Scuff your shrink art paper with sand paper.

• Slip your plan under your shrink art sheet and trace around it with a black pencil crayon.  You could tape down the pieces to hold them steady or have an adult hold it for you.

• Colour in your work with your pencil crayons.

• Trim the edges, leaving a border.

• Lay your work on a cookie sheet and follow the product directions as to cooking.

• Once cool, insert your little creature into a bottle or container, along with little items to create a background such as sand, gravel, plastic gems and a little bit of water if you like.

• Then the kids then created all sorts of little animals!  Here’s their favourites:

Purpose

•  Sketching items based on real objects, animals etc.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Follow the product directions with an adult and use safety gear (e.g., oven mitts)
• Small items can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.