Recycle an empty oatmeal container into an adorable pretend fish tank!
Materials needed:
- empty oatmeal container (we used a 42oz size) with plastic lid
- piece of cardboard
- white thread
- paints in various colors
- green pipe cleaners (aka chenille stem)
- seashells
- sand (optional)
- clear plastic wrap
- paintbrush
- scissors and box cutter
- tape
- toothpick
- glue
What to do:
- Cut out a front section of the oatmeal container using a box cutter to make the “window”.
- Paint the inside of the container using blue paint to resemble water. Allow to dry.
- You may choose to paint the outside of the box as well, or cover with colored paper. We did not.
- Cut a green pipe cleaner into three 1-2 inch pieces, each a slightly different length. Poke 2-3 holes close together through the bottom of the container and push the pipe cleaners through from the bottom. Shape the pipe cleaners to resemble seaweed. We made 2 clumps of three seaweed using two different colored green pipe cleaners.
- Glue seashells to the bottom in random places.If you have beach sand, you can sprinkle some sand at the bottom of the tank if you wish.
- Draw and cut a fish shape 2-3 inches long out of heavy cardboard. Color or paint the fish as you like.
- Make a small hole in the top middle of the fish’s back. Attach a piece of thread to the fish using the hole. Make a small hole in the center of the oatmeal container’s plastic lid. Run the other end of the thread through this hole and tie to the middle of a toothpick (as shown). The string should be long enough so that the fish hangs about 2-3 inches from the bottom of the container.
Cover the cut-out front of the container with clear plastic wrap cut to fit and attach with tape. This is the “glass” of the fish tank.- Put on the container’s plastic lid with the fish hanging down. The fish can swim around the tank by moving the toothpick on the top.
