DIVE DEEPER!
OCEAN ACTIVITY BOOK RESOURCE CENTER
Welcome to the Ocean Activity Book Resource Center
Washed Ashore has partnered with Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom to provide adults using this book with their children, whether in a classroom or at a grandparent’s house, resources to enrich and extend the learning experience. This online hub expands the Dive Deeper! section of the book found on pages 51-52 with corresponding questions, activities, and videos. All of which are aligned with the book’s learning outcomes found here.
Thank you for joining us in educating and inspiring the next generation.
Wild Kingdom and Washed Ashore are also providing ocean conservation resources for preschool and early elementary students. The “Washed Ashore – Art to Save the Sea Ocean Activity Book” will be distributed to 7,000 children alongside sculpture exhibits from Oregon’s coast to New York City, and Green Bay, Wisconsin to Galveston Island’s shores.
Watch Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Co-hosts, Peter Gros and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant and discover their love of the ocean and support for Washed Ashore and the Ocean Activity Book.
How to use this page
A message from the activity book author and illustrator, Jennifer Bahmeier Henderson. Find her on Instagram @jennywren_makes
OCEAN ACTIVITY BOOK RESOURCES
Wild Kingdom and Washed Ashore are also providing ocean conservation resources for preschoool and early elementary students. The “Washed Ashore – Art to Save the Sea Ocean Activity Book” will be distributed to 7,000 children alongside sculpture exhibits.
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Octavia needs many suckers on her arms.
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Octavia is a Giant Pacific octopus, she has about 2,240 suckers on her 8 tentacles that help her grasp, investigate, and even taste!
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Steve needs many colorful stripes and spots.
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Steve is a Weedy sea dragon, a type of fish closely related to sea horses. They have colorful patterns that vary depending on where they live. Their appearance may also be affected by food availability.
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This is busy coral reef – use every crayon to color the reef and fill it with animals.
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The coral reef is one type of tropical marine biome. Coral is made up of thousands of tiny soft bodied animals called polyps. They secrete a hard outer skeleton of limestone which attaches to rock.
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Priscilla is hungry – draw her some coral to eat.
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Parrotfish use their strong teeth to break off pieces of coral to eat. They crunch through the hard limestone skeleton and eat the soft polyps inside.
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Cleo helps her anemome by cleaning up left over food – draw and color more pieces.
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Cleo is an Ocellaris clownfish. She and her anonome help each other. Clownfish eat leftovers from animals the anemone eats, and this keeps the anemone clean.
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Grace blows a bubbles to catch fish – draw more bubbles to help her make a net.
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Grace is a Humpback whale. She will hunt fish by blowing bubbles in a circular pattern, making a net. As the fish swim together a group of whales can swallow large amounts of fish all at once.
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Leo and Marigold need long arms to catch their food.
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Leo and Marigold are sea jellies. Their tentacles sting animals as they float by, then the sea jelly digests the animal inside their bell shaped body.
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Chompers doesn’t have a favorite food – draw him an animal to eat.
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Chompers is a Tiger shark. He is a non-selective feeder, meaning he will eat just about any animal in the ocean.
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Chompers needs many triangle-shaped teeth to eat meat.
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Sharks have only sharp, triangle-shaped teeth that help them eat meat. Â If they lose a tooth another one is right behind it, ready to replace it.
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Lidia wants to eat, rest, play and see her friends – show her the way.
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Seals spend time in and out of the water. Often they can be seen resting on buoys, docks or the shoreline.
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Octavia feels safe in the kelp forest – fill the stems with leaves so she can hide.
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Giant Pacific Octopus will hunt and rest in kelp forests. This ecosystem can be found in nutrient rich temperate oceans near coastlines around the world. Kelp is an algae, not a plant. The leaf like structures are called blades. Bulbs of air at the base of the blades help the kelp float.
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.Cleo feels safe in her anenome friend – draw more soft arms around her.
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Sea anemones are not plants, but a predatory animal related to sea jellies and coral. Clownfish live within the arms of the anemone in a mutually beneficial relationship. The fish is safe because they are unharmed by the anemone sting, but other animals cannot come close because they will be harmed by the sting. The anemone benefits from the increased nutrients in the waste of the clownfish, as well as being kept clean as the fish eats leftover pieces of food.
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Grace doesn’t hide, she stays safe by being a big.
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Adult Humpback whales rarely need to worry about natural predators due to their size, as large as 1 1/2 school buses. However, orca and large sharks will prey upon young or injured whales.
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Octavia keeps her new family safe hanging in a line – draw her as many eggs as you can.
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Giant Pacific octopus lay thousands of translucent, raindrop shaped eggs. The female attaches them together in a strand and will protect them for 6-7 months, usually never leaving them. She blows nutrient rich water over her eggs and protects them from predators until they hatch and float away.
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Zorabelle is listening for her baby’s call – help her find her baby.
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When Rockhopper penguins return from feeding in the ocean, they find their babies by listening for their unique calls.
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Steve’s friend gave him eggs and put them under his tail – draw more of their eggs.
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Weedy Sea Dragons swim close together when they are ready to lay eggs. The female lays them and places them under the male sea dragon’s tail. He carries the eggs until they hatch about 6 weeks later.
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Draw and color patterns on all the fish.
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Patterns and colors help tropical fish identify members of their own species. This helps them stay safe from predators and find mates.
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Draw Grace’s new baby – they are always close together.
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Humpback mothers spend a year of their life nursing their baby. They teach them all that they need to know including where to find food and how to increase their ability to hold their breath. They stay in close contact when awake and when sleeping.
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When you leave the ocean take your toys home – draw your toys in the bag.
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When families leave toys on the beach thinking that another child can play with them, they often wash into the ocean when the tide rises. Taking toys home helps to keep plastic out of the ocean.
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Toys and shoes can float into the ocean – draw them by your towel and draw yourself too.
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Beach toys and shoes commonly wash into the ocean when people leave them near the water. Keeping these items away from the shoreline near towels or other belongings keeps the ocean clean.
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Nothing washed into their home – show how Lidia and her family feel.
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Unless removed, plastic items remain in the ocean indefinitely as plastic doesn’t decompose. As plastic is tossed around in the currents and hits up against rocks and coral, it can break into small pieces called micro-plastics. Plastic can harm animals when eaten. These small pieces of plastic can also be eaten by people when we eat fish.
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Plastic bags can look like Edward’s favorite food – circle the sea jellies so he knows what to eat.
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A floating plastic bag looks very similar to a sea jelly, the leatherback turtle’s favorite food. Sometimes turtles will eat a bag accidentally thinking it is food, this can harm the turtle. Disposing of all trash and recycling in bins covered bins helps to keep animals safe.
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Natasha likes laying eggs in a hole on a clean beach – draw as many in her nest as you can.
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Natasha is a Hawksbill sea turtle. She comes ashore to lay about 140 eggs in a hole that she digs with her back feet. Then she covers her eggs and leaves them to develop under the warm sand.Â
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Draw recycled items and trash where they go.
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Look for covered trash cans and recycling bins when disposing of items as they keep the shoreline and ocean clean. This helps the animals stay healthy.
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Natasha’s babies hatched – draw more crawling to the ocean – there is no trash to get in their way.
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After about two months, Leatherback sea turtle eggs will hatch all together and the babies dig their way out of the nest. They all crawl towards the ocean at the same time. This mass hatching helps more babies survive. Â
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Draw yourself and your new friends.
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All of the animal friends in this book are sculptures in the Washed Ashore exhibit. These sculptures are created from plastic pollution and other debris collected from the ocean and waterways. To learn more, visit:
DIVE INTO DISCOVERY
Inspire wonder. Spark curiosity. Build ocean empathy.Â
The Ocean Activity Book by Washed Ashore is more than a coloring book. It is a gateway to learning and imagination for young children. Created especially for kids aged 3 to 5, this vibrant activity book connects little learners to the fascinating world beneath the waves through playful comparisons, engaging illustrations, and fun facts tailored to their stage of development.
- Empowering early connections to ocean life
- Encouraging creativity through art and storytelling
- Featuring Dive Deeper content to help adults guide meaningful conversations
With extra learning tools, videos, and activities, available through Washed Ashore’s expanded Education Hub, supported by Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, grown-ups can help children explore sea creatures in ways that feel personal, playful, and accessible.
Perfect for classrooms, camps, libraries, or cozy corners at home. Get in touch to order your copy today and help nurture the next generation of ocean lovers.
Learn More with Washed Ashore!
The Ocean Activity book is designed to pair with our children’s picture book Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic by Kelly Crull.