A couple of weeks ago I posted all about our visit to the Save Our Seas Shark Center… and we had to go back for a little bit more!!!
Well last week we went to make some Kelp Horns or Vuvuzelas as they are known in South Africa. Wander down this post to find out how to make your own.
Spring low tide on Friday and we were back and rock pooling. The morning after a torrential storm we arrived in the freezing cold to look and learn all about kelp.
It was crisp, it was cold and it was beautiful!!!
A wild and stormy night had left everything clean and washed and ready for discovery…
Once again we went exploring:
Poking around, peering, wondering…
Learning about Kelp as we went and tidal zones and beasties…
And a couple were even brave enough to try some sea-lettuce, the consensus was not great!!!
More discoveries, more exploring and treasure hunting…
Once again we were transported to the world of rock pools:
And there were heaps of these – where have I been, why have I never seen a chiton before:
And here are some finds:
And then down came the rain again…
And a dash for shelter…
So back to the shark center to make Kelp Horns:
Step 1: Choose a piece of dry kelp… and it needs to have been dried well in advance.
Step 2: Cut and trim it to get the length you are after…
Step 3: Paint, paint, paint.
Don’t use water based paints. We used acrylics and keep your paint “dry” when you are painting, no splodgy thick painting for this painting. You really want to keep your kelp dry.
Really paint (make sure that days later you are still smothered in paint):
Step 4: Leave them out to dry well enough to take home.
Step 5: Watch a movie while you wait for them to dry.
Step 6: Gather them up and take them home to dry some more.
Step 7: Play, Play, Play…
If you want to know about Kelp Vuvuzela’s then pop over to the K.E.L.P. (Kelp Environmental Learning Project) Website. And if you want to make your own and visit the Shark Center yourselves then go ahead and contact them.
Here are a couple of kelp lesson links:
- Kelp Forest Treasures, from Jean Michael Cousteau Ocean Adventures and PBS, click on the PDF it’s great..
- Lots of links and lesson ideas from Teachers Zone at scu,edu.au.
- Lots of Lesson Plans… from Lesson Corner.
- This is a nice (PDF) Kelp Forest Tour Tutorial from Uoregon.edu.
- Kelp Forest lessons from PROJECT Oceanography.
- These are just lovely and we will have to pop them into our journals. Report Pages from Akidsheart.com.
- Stunning Kelp Garden Photographs from National Geographic.
- A super fabulous website: Oceans for Youth.
- Some great Kelp Forest Links from Yahoo.com.
That’s us. Thanks to the Save Our Seas Shark Center for another brilliant outing.
Wow! What a wonderful and exciting outing. Considering the state of the water in our seas it is encouraging to see how many creatures are still managing to live in those rock pools. The vuvuzelas are beautiful, and the orchestra looks extremely professional. Keep going,
What great fun you all had. So many lovely and really interesting finds. I couldn’t help smiling at all the paint. Its amazing how it seems to cover everything as soon as you look away! Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing.
Hay Granny Ant… I was also amazed at the number of wonderful creatures and the variety, not just starfish but many different kinds of starfish!!! It really is amazing. As for the Vuvuzela’s … just be glad you don’t live next door to us!!!
Hi Cheryl… You are so right it was a brilliant outing!!! And the paint was fine – I have no worries with paint!!! It seems to have dried in place and I can live with a multicolored child!!! Hope you have a great week!!!
Wasn’t it great. Including getting drenched! People have admiring our kelp vuvus the whole weekend. Well worth it.
Hay J – It was the funnest outing!!! Our Vuvuzelas are definitely heirlooms and will be treasured for ever and ever!!! And I am so glad we don’t have any nearby neighbors. Lots of love!!!