The Home Aquarium

There were 2 places that Alexander wanted to go and visit during Covid. He wanted to go to the Reptile Park (which we did upstairs) and the other place was to go to the Aquarium. He repeatedly said he wanted to go there so I decided that I would try and make the Aquarium upstairs for the kids. It turned out to be a bit more work than the Reptile Park, but it was worth it.

Here is a video of the kids showing you the Aquarium.

And here is the tour minus the guides.

I printed off the map of the Aquarium to set up as a guide for what I would try and include. Daniel especially loved using the map.

I painted a shark for the entrance where the kids would pause for their photo like you do at the entrance the the Aquarium.

The first stop was Jurassic Seas. The kids' snakes were the closest thing that I had to the hagfish and lungfish that the kids love to watch.

Next up was the Conservation Station. There was a Baby Shark tank, and there was a pile of rubbish which the kids needed to sort into groups - compost, rubbish, recycling.

Next up was Sydney Harbour. Fish, starfish, seahorses, crabs. I didn't have many things to include in this one.

Next up was Dugong Island with Pig. I made some lettuce leaves for him to be fed by the kids.

After Dugong Island the kids needed to crawl through the tunnel (at the aquarium you walked through the tunnel looking up at the dugong and the sharks).

They then went into Shark Valley to look around. There were sharks and stingrays above and on the sides. Alexander told me that there should have been more sharks.

Next up was my favourite part, the penguin boat ride. I made Alexander's blown up bed the boat. We pulled it along beside the penguins.

The kids then got to touch different sea creatures and objects in the Discovery Rockpool. I made some shark eggs out of egg cartons, got Larry the cucumber to be sea cucumbers, shells and sea stars.

We then went to the Great Barrier Reef with turtles, schools of fish, Nemo and bright coral.

And I made a gift shop for at the end.

For lunch I gave the kids a clue about what they were going to do after. Daniel worked it out! (the others guessed the beach.)

We took the kids for a 'train' trip down the hallway to the kitchen. Then entered the Aquarium to be greeted by the photographer. The kids were told to do their best scared face for the camera. They then wanted a photo each.

After getting their map they visited the Jurassic Seas.

And then they did an awesome job at sorting their rubbish into the correct jobs.

The looked under Sydney Harbour and Eliza loved seeing the fish dangling from up above.

Dugong Island was a hit! The kids loved seeing Pig and learning about him. They enjoyed feeding him some more lettuce.

Then they went through the tunnel and into Shark Valley. They were excited to see that sharks were up above their heads in the tent. Although Alexander did later comment that it wasn't the same because there needed to be lots and lots of sharks, stingrays and fish. I explained that I wasn't going to use that much ink and paper to print off heaps, that you got the gist. Tough critic!

They had to line up to go on the boat ride. But they were quite patient which was good.

Many giggles were had on the boats. I'm glad that it wasn't a 'look at what you want, when you want' place because James and I would have gotten very tired doing the penguin boat ride over and over again!

Next up the kids were able to touch and feel some things from under the see in the Discovery Rock Pool. Larry the cucumber was our sea cucumbers, sea stars (or starfish), home made shark eggs and shells in the kids paddle pool.

Sea cucumbers

Daniel was impressed with my shark eggs, made out of painted egg cartons

Sea stars

The shark egg up close

Daniel loved looking at the map to see what was coming next.

Next we headed over the the Great Barrier Reef section. I had mostly used up all the sea creatures so it wasn't the most amazing Great Barrier Reef but I used what I had. I printed off a sheet of coral and stuck that onto a box, and then made a school of fish, a couple of turtles (I couldn't find Eliza's turtle that would have been perfect!), and a few of the fish mobile pieces that had already fallen off. I also put in our Nemo clown fish too. The kids were still impressed.

The kids had fun making the clown fish 'swim' by pulling the chord to make the tail move.

And then the kids headed over the gift shop and were allowed to choose one toy or game that they wanted to take home.

We headed downstairs and watched a few of the Aquarium live links off facebook. The kids enjoyed reading a story with Pig the Dugong and watching him be cheeky in the water, they liked watching the shark and stingrays be fed and they liked watching a video of divers dancing under water. The also loved watching the penguins being fed. Then the kids got to just play in the Aquarium. They surprised me that they tended to stick to the circuit, like the real aquarium.

They did some diving with Pig our dugong.

I loved watching how Daniel would take a big breath before diving 'under the water' and how his cheeks would stay puffed. Imaginative play at its best.

And then they went and did penguin feeding. Daniel just put the fish infront of Pingu his penguin so we spoke about how the penguins ate on the video we watched. He then changed it to holding Pingu's head up and feeding him that way. Alexander copied Daniel and Eliza wanted to feed one of the smaller penguins.

Then it was cafe time. The kids again had $1.50 to spend at the Boardwalk Cafe. I had baked scones that morning so that was on the menu. We had water bottles from dinner the night before so they got those and they also had chupachups to enjoy. James was working on the back wall so I didn't offer babychinos this time. The kids were ok with that.

They then headed back upstairs. I have loved through making these 'outings' how the kids have taken the idea and added to it. This time they went and got Daniel's racing car onesie to wear as a scubadiving outfit, they found their goggles too so that they could all go diving at the aquarium. They loved it! They were so occupied!

Alexander went diving with Pig the dugong.

Eliza went diving in the freezing cold water with the penguins.

And Daniel went diving to feed the sharks and stingrays (again, notice how he has his puffed cheeks, because he's diving).

Daniel then went diving in the Great Barrier Reef and was swimming with the fish.

I loved watching them be so creative, I loved their joy at being at the aquarium. I loved listening to their conversations with each other - sometimes one being a guide, sometimes working together to do a task, sometimes brainstorming a new idea at a location. It was just really cool to watch.

But what I loved even more was that it didn't just last one day. The next day, the kids were up and asking to head back to the aquarium. Sure! The creativity, joy and fun continued for another day. Alexander especially loved playing in the aquarium again. Today they added wearing gloves to protect their hands with the animals.

Alexander needed to get his tools because the penguin boat ride was broken.

Alexander just loved it! Today he was mostly my tour guide.

He went diving to feed Pig again.

He fed the sharks again. I love his breathing when he came out of the water.

And he loved playing with the penguins. The bonus of being a keeper at the aquarium.

So it was again well worth the time to set it up, it was great to see them enjoy it and be creative with it. It was fun to make it work. Another winner!

I asked the kids what their favourite parts of the Aquarium were. Their responses were:

Alexander said he liked that they got to be divers and that they got to see the dugong on the TV.

Daniel said that he liked that they got to be divers, getting to see the sharks and pretend to be divers in there and also getting to read a story with Pig and seeing him be cheeky.

Eliza said that she liked the dugong, the coral reef, the eels and having a photo with the shark going 'AHHHHHHH'.