Sebastian adores sea creatures and being Merlin Pass Holders we head down to our local SEA LIFE Centre in Weymouth at least once a month.
Between 14th May and 12th June SEA LIFE Centres all over the country are hosting Mister Maker Creature Makes where the kids can learn how to create their favourite sea creatures in the interactive craft zone, and on your journey through SEA LIFE, collect the materials you need to make their very own crab at home.
We had to book our session, which are themed based on children’s ages, where TV arts and crafts sensation Mister Maker will be on hand through fun videos, filmed exclusively for SEA LIFE, to guide you in making each creature.
We booked our session for midday so got to explore the SEA LIFE Centre first and found our first material to build our crab in the Harbourside exhibit.
Weymouth SEA LIFE has undergone lots of work in recent months, replacing the bridge and building a sensory garden that Sebastian enjoyed – especially the musical instruments.
We found some more of the materials we needed to make the crab as we continued on our journey, stopping to look at the various sea creatures as we went.
One of Sebastian’s favourite parts of the SEA LIFE Centre is the Ocean Tunnel where you can see Black Tipped Sharks, Green Sea Turtles a huge Nurse Shark as well as lots of smaller fish.
Next up were the Seals but as we walked to see them we saw something new – the New Ideas Zone. As we walked in we saw an impressive light sculpture made from seven hundred waste drinking bottles which draw attention to plastic pollution in the world’s rivers and oceans. Each bottle holds an environmental message from the schoolchildren, in an effort to inspire us all to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic items and to protect the world’s oceans for generations to come.
The New Ideas Zone’s three displays include:
A tidal 4D rockpool experience – built to resemble the Giant’s Causeway; with sensory features such wind, rain and tides, home to temperate creatures including starfish, crabs and sea urchins.
Electricity – a series of new 3D interactive features which displays the sparks and flicks of static electricity, given off by creatures such as electric eels.
Glow – a colourful exhibit which showcases homegrown luminescent corals, sea fans and anemones.
It really was a brilliant exhibit and each area was covered by a really knowledgable member of staff who were happy to answer questions and show Sebby the animals inside the rockpools. I do think that the Penguins at the end were his favourite though as when he put his hand on them they spoke to him.
We hurried around the seal enclosure, saw the crocodiles and otters before heading back to the Marquee to do our Mister Maker craft.
The craft was perfect for Sebby and he is a dab hand with a stick of glue, although I had to help him out with cutting the triangles to make the fins. As you can see he was very proud of his creation!
That was not the end of adventures though…………part two coming soon!
Sea Life centres are great for exploring and I think Grace’s favourite part is the ocean tunnels. I love that they are doing crafts as well now x
I love Sea Life, there is always so much cool stuff to see. I can’t wait to take Marianna for the first time. 🙂
I think the penguins are my favourite too! Thanks for sharing xx
I love a trip to an aquarium, Sebby looks fascinated, I love those bubbles you can poke your head up through.
Oh this looks like so much fun! It’s a shame it isn’t on for longer as we are down that way in July! We love the SeaLife centre though, the Ocean Tunnel is our favourite here too!
Wow that looks fab, my husband and children visited the one in Birmingham last weekend whilst I was at Blogcamp, they had a fantastic time and got to see and learn so much.
I love the Sea Life Centres, we visit our local one at least once a year, but next week we are taking part in the Mister Maker crafts at Blackpool Sea Life. We can’t wait, I’m even more excited after reading this.
Lovely photos. I can’t wait to read part 2.
This looks just absolutely fantastic, I am a huge fan of sealife centres and can spend hours just watching marine life drift by x
We haven’t been to one in years as there isn’t one near us. Shame really as I love the huge tanks with all the colourful fishes in plus I love sharks!
What a fantastic trip out! Phil took Toby to the Birmingham Sea Life Centre last week while I was at BlogCamp and I was actually pretty envious of them!xx
Oh that looks great – I love that they have an outdoor garden area as well!
Due to my children being obsessed with Finding Nemo, the Sealife centre is one of our favourite days out, especially on a rainy day!!! I love the penguins too! x
This looks like such a fun day out, having crafts available is just an added bonus too!
The tidal rock pool exhibit and the glow one sound and look awesome!
We love the sea life centers, a few we have been to of late were a little run down but this one looks brilliant and so informative but in a way the kids will enjoy.
Craft activity looked lots of fun too.
Gem.x
We’re hoping to get to a Sealife centre this summer. The girls have been but I never have and I’d love to go.
What a great trip out , always live a sea life centre
Always love a sea life centre
I always enjoy the sealife centre. Looks like Weymouth has a lovely one x
Wow, there’s so much to see at this Sea Life centre. I love the sea tunnels and I think that collaborating with Mister Maker is brilliant as most kids love him don’t they
So much to see here Kara, what a great day out. We’ve been to the SEA LIFE in Great Yarmouth as it’s not too far from the inlaws but need to check out this one and London of course. POD loves animals and she touched a ray when we went to NAUSICAA in France last year!