Seaside Bedroom + Free Activity Printables

February 05, 2021

Well, this is a very popular theme with you guys! Especially my felt seaweed that I feature in all my under the sea styled rooms... you'll be pleased to hear, I've finally had the time to put a blog together to talk you through what I use in my seaside bedrooms.... including FREE printables for you... keep reading for the seaweed DIY instructions. First up, it's the instructions on the Ocean Rescue Activity:

OCEAN RESCUE ACTIVITY

I know how much homeschooling is getting to parents - it's bad enough trying to keep children occupied on a rainy day, let alone the months you've endured thanks to Covid. If you're running out of ideas, hopefully my simple free downloads and this activity to teach them about how to care for our beaches / marine wildlife, will keep them occupied for a few hours.

Aim of the activity

A game for all the budding marine biologists out there, bored in lockdown. Follow the instructions below and once you're all set, the kids can spend hours rescuing the animals, cleaning the seaweed off, taking care of them with the doctors kit, clearing the beach of rubbish / recycling it, and, eventually, making sure all the animals get back to the clean ocean safely. 

  1. Get them to build a hut on a pretend beach - use blankets, rugs, anything that can represent the sand and sea. Then print out the free "Ocean Rescue" sign below and stick it to the hut
  2. Dig out any sea creature toys they have - or if they don't have sea themed animals, any stuffed toys will do!
  3. Throw them in the sea and cover them with the felt seaweed (see instructions below on how to make)
  4. Wrap some of the animals in rope or string - whatever you can find
  5. Throw some pretend rubbish on the beach - and put out a recycling tub for them to put it back into (obviously I have to say keep it safe - especially if they’ll be left to play alone)
  6. Get a doctors kit ready so they can save the animals - the one I've used is listed further in the blog below
  7. I've used a wheel barrow, but anything fun they can throw the toys into to rescue them and run them back to the rescue hut works well - try a crate or any basket you have to hand

Here are the free printables you may want to use:

For details of everything else used, keep scrolling...

FELT SEAWEED

So, first things first, the felt seaweed! This was something I created aaaages ago on a bit of a whim. I had a load of green felt lying around and I started cutting seaweed shapes out of it. I then popped it in a couple of my photoshoots and you guys went mad for it! Kids love it because it's tactile, messy and sparks their imagination.

Ok, so - here's what you need and how to make it:

- FELT - I used the "heathered" felt from Paper & String, but you can use any felt you like. My only recommendation is to not go too cheap, else the fibres tend to fall/pull apart too easily and it won't last. A good quality felt should feel thick and strong. If you can’t get hold of felt, coloured paper or painted paper works just as well! 

- CUTTING - Either a rotary cutter or standard pair of scissors. If you use a rotary cutter, you'll want a thick board underneath to stop you damaging any surfaces you're cutting on. A chopping board will work nicely if you don't have a self healing craft board like I have.

1. I found cutting it freehand with a rotary cutter worked best. This method is incredibly quick and it also offered the most organic looking seaweed. You can watch the video below of how I went about cutting mine.

2. If the freehand method isn't your bag, then I have made a couple of handy templates for you to use. These are free to download, you can then print, cut out and draw around. A standard pair of scissors will work fine for this method, it just takes a little longer.

.....failing that, just cut wiggly strips! They look just as good and the kids won't notice, promise ;)

PLAYHOUSE

I LOVE these play houses by Kids Concept - I bought this one from Scandiborn - it's lightweight easy to put up and take down / doesn't take up much room to store. They have two versions of it - this wendy-house style play tent and a pavilion style, which is great if you have a bit more space to play with. I get asked this a lot, so I'll pop the answer here - no it's not big enough for a full sized mattress - the length is shorter than even a junior sized mattress. They make great day beds / afternoon nap houses though ;)

ACCESSORIES & TOYS

ART

The art is doodled by me, Rachael and you can buy it right here along with your free printables - see the full collection here. The art shown in all images is framed in our natural wood frame - a firm favourite with my customers!

    PAINT

    The paint in the Ocean Rescue image is "Green 02" by Lick Paints - it's a beautiful sage green, which seems to go well with many room themes, including this one. If I had to pick a favourite colour for under the sea bedrooms though, it would be "Light Blue" by Farrow & Ball - it's the most beautiful shade of blue/grey! Not only does it create a restful feel to the room, but it's very diverse, so if you wanted to change the theme up after a while, it would cope with pretty much anything that you throw at it. I like to think it's a sophisticated blue, not too babyish. You can see Light Blue in the image below (the one with the lobster toy on the cabinet).

    SCALLOPED RADIATOR COVER

    The coloured half paint wall at the back, with the scalloped edge, is in fact a radiator cover. If you'd like to know how to make it, pop along to the blog here.

    SCALLOPED IKEA CABINET

    Another element you may like to add to your room is, this simple Ikea hack. I took a grey £30 Ikea Lixhult cabinet and transformed it into a cute bedside cabinet with a scalloped edge. Read the full blog here - complete with free printable template for the scallops.

    That's it for the moment on all things marine life and ocean themed, but if you have any questions, please pop along to my Instagram page where you may find the answer, or you can contact me directly to ask questions - @prettyinprintart

    TAG ME in your creations - I love to see what you do with ideas from my blogs!

    ENJOY! xxx

      

     

    Written by Rachael Toogood