Make an aquarium

Get busy and creative – have a fun afternoon turning a cardboard box into a beautiful fish tank that'll never need cleaning! You can also use two paper plates.

YOU'LL NEED . . . A cardboard box or two paper plates. Water-based paints and paint brushes. Scissors. Stiff cardboard (for your sea creatures). Cotton or nylon thread. PVA glue (or a glue stick) and sticky tape. Crafting materials such as wool and fabric scraps, coloured tissue paper, rickrack, sequins, pipe cleaners, felt-tip pens, beads and glitter. Googly eyes of various sizes (optional). Any ocean-themed objects you may like to include in your scene, such as plastic sea creatures, beach sand and shells.

FOLLOW THESE EASY STEPS

CARDBOARD BOX Remove the top flaps then paint the rest of the box your favourite shade of blue. PAPER PLATES Cut the centre out of one plate. Paint both the whole paper plate and the back of the cutout frame blue.

Spread glue evenly along the "seabed", adding pebbles, shells and even a treasure chest if you have one.

Using some of the stiff cardboard, cut out seaweed shapes and paint or decorate them. Green rickrack makes great seaweed shapes! Glue them onto the back of your aquarium.

Cut out fish and other sea creature shapes and decorate them as you like – let your imagination run riot! Googly eyes, sequins and glitter add the finishing touch to any underwater look.

CARDBOARD BOX Cut various lengths of thread or nylon, stick one end on the back of your creatures and one to the "roof" of your aquarium so they can be hung up. PAPER PLATES Glue your creatures to the back plate, then glue the cutout frame on the top. Tape a loop of thread at the back of your aquarium to hang it up if you like.