Ocean Life!
Dip your toe into the massive wonderland that is the ocean. There's some real wacky stuff in there.
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”
—Jacques Cousteau
“Ocean Life” is such an enormous topic - the ocean covers more than 70% of planet Earth, and humans have only explored 5% of it. We know more about the surface of Mars and the moon than we know about Earth's ocean floor! Well, this guide is an attempt to distill something as enormous as the ocean into tiny sips of inspiration. I can’t tell you how many times I said “whoa” to myself as I was researching and putting these materials together. Whether or not you live near the ocean, the Ocean Life guide has plenty to get you and your child started on a journey of ocean discovery.
What you’ll find in the Ocean Life Guide:
Beautiful Ocean Life Books, Silly, Serious, Fiction and Non-Fiction
Snack Time: Under the Sea Snack Mix
Invitation to Play: Pipe Cleaner Sea Anemones
Invitation to Play: Saltwater Painting
Plus songs, poems, games, and more ways to play. Download the guide to dive in!
Guides are available to all subscribers for 1 month after they come out, and then they’ll go into the archive which is available to paid subscribers.
12 ocean books to read with your kids.
Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
Yoshi, Sea Turtle Genius by Lynne Cox, illustrated by Richard Jones
Chirri & Chirra Under the Sea by Kaya Doi
Creature Features: Ocean by Natasha Durley
Jellies: The Life of a Jellyfish by Twig C. George
Alba and the Ocean Cleanup by Lara Hawthorne
Shark Lady by Jess Keating, illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns
Freaky, Funky Fish by Debra Kempf Shumaker, illustrated by Claire Powell
The Fisherman and the Whale by Jessica Lanan
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
Otis and Will Discover the Deep by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Katherine Roy
Crab Cake by Andrea Tsurumi
I’ve linked to Amazon for the sake of convenience, but Bookshop.org, AbeBooks, ThriftBooks, and eBay are all great places to shop. And as always, nothing beats borrowing from your local public library.
🐋🦑🦀🐡🐠🦈
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7 ocean videos plus a movie to watch with your kids.
While you’re waiting for those books to arrive, share these fascinating ocean life videos with your child - I have no doubt this will flip the switch of enchantment for both of you.
🐋 Octopus Dreaming (Nature on PBS, 2 minutes)
🦑 The Midnight Zone (MBARI, 4 minutes)
🐠 The Sarcastic Fringehead (BBC Earth, 4 minutes)
🐡 The Pygmy Seahorse (The Departures Channel, 2 minutes)
🦀 Adorable Sea Slug (PBS Digital Studios, 4 minutes)
🦈 The Fantastic Fur of Sea Otters (Deep Look, 3 minutes)
🪸 Finding Dory (Disney Pixar) Too obvious? But I didn’t want you to forget about it! In case you need something for your next family movie night.
The Octopus
Tell me, O Octopus, I begs,
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus
If I were thou, I’d call me Us.
by Ogden NashThat is so interesting!
You know the best way to keep your kids interested in the world around them? Model wonder and curiosity for them! Let these links spark your grown-up curiosity and let your kids see you being amazed.
➵ Read: Why the Mantis Shrimp is My New Favorite Animal (The Oatmeal) “Being a creature who perceives and presents such beauty, one would expect the mantis shrimp to be some kind of undersea holy man, gracefully floating along the sea floor, high-fiving lobsters and blessing babies.”
➵ Read: The Sea Women of South Korea (Kyoto Journal) “The Haenyeo are a community of female free-divers living and working on Jeju. Due to younger women opting for different career paths, today they are mostly older women, many well into their golden years. They dive as deep as 10 meters below the surface without the help of air tanks or modern diving equipment, with little insulation from the cold South China Sea.”
➵ Watch: Diving Below the Antarctic Ice Sheet (BBC Earth) Once in awhile I see something like this and think, this is someone’s JOB. Scuba diving under 10 feet of ice in order to capture it on film. Incredible!
➵ Look: Blaschka Glass Models (Amgueddfa Cymru) “During the late 19th century, Leopola Blaschka and his son Rudolf produced beautifully detailed glass models of bizarre sea creatures for natural history museums and aquaria all over the world.”
➵ Watch: My Octopus Teacher (Netflix) This film won the 2021 Oscar for Best Documentary - it’s beautiful and poignant and who knew I could fall in love with an octopus.
➵ Read: The Squid Hunter (The New Yorker) “Though the giant squid is no myth, the species, designated in scientific literature as Architeuthis, is so little understood that it sometimes seems like one. A fully grown giant squid is classified as the largest invertebrate on Earth, with tentacles sometimes as long as a city bus and eyes about the size of human heads. Yet no scientist has ever examined a live specimen—or seen one swimming in the sea.”
➵ Read: How the Traditional Japanese Art of Fish Printing Inspired a Modern Art Form (Atlas Obscura) “First used as a handy way to document the size and shape of a fish, gyotaku has since evolved into a genre of scientific illustration, an educational tool, and a modern art form. According to Hayashi, there are three key steps in traditional gyotaku: catch it, print it, and eat it. But the history of the form is a little more obscure.”
➵ Watch: How to Make Plastic From Seaweed (Business Insider) “A California startup makes compostable replacements for thin-film plastic out of seaweed. The company sources raw materials from seaweed farms, which can provide habitat for sea life, combat ocean acidification, and create jobs.”
➵ Watch: The Paper Nautilus, An Octopus in Disguise (Em Gems) I came across this photo, which sent me on a hunt to learn more and I geeked out when I found this video. Also, I love the Latin name for these creatures: Argonauta Argo.
“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface the whole time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent.” —Dave Berry
I hope you loved the Ocean Life guide! For more Discovery & Play Guides, click this green button here for the full archive.
Hug and kiss, jellyfish!
Love, Kathryn