Make a bubble wrap print fish mobile for a fun, sea-side themed craft this summer! 
Printing with everyday materials is so exciting as the results can be really unusual and beautiful. Bubble wrap printing is a firm favourite and classic craft, and in the past we have made this little underwater seascape art using it, along with the kids’ handprints too.
I set up an Invitation to Create for the girls with some simple, DIY bubble wrap mits to stick their hands inside and dip straight into the tray of paint. (Incidentally, we ended up scraping off about half of the paint you see here as it was clogging up the bubble wrap and preventing it form making clear prints. A small amount of paint is plant, and often the second prints are the best.)
They then used these to dip in, rock from side to side, then print straight onto plain white sheets of paper. They layered other colours on top and overlapping, to cover up the whole space. They did a few each then we left them to dry.
Once dry I drew some simple fish shapes and cut out two sheets of print at a time, with the back side of the paper facing inwards. Then we stapled around the outside almost the whole way, leaving an opening as you would when doing a sewing project. We chopped up some large pieces of plastic bags and stuffed them inside until the fish were 3 dimensional, then stapled the opening closed. You could use all sorts of other recycled materials for stuffing with too.
Together we drew on eyes and faces using a black marker, then added some thread to start hanging the happy fish!
I tied the threads to a stick and hung each one at different lengths so they wouldn’t clash too much.
They look very happy and colourful in the window and would also look gorgeous hanging in a baby or child’s bedroom, or in a classroom art area!
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Love the fish …they will go well with my under the water theme …have you any ideas how to make a cardboard suitcase for play.?
I love this! The texture and concept remind me of the book Swimmy which is one of my favorites. I can’t wait to try these with my son.
I made these with my son and niece yesterday afternoon. They had fun and it kept them entertained for about a half an hour. I got stuck cutting out the fish and stringing them up but they both have them hanging in their rooms now. Thanks!