Top tips for visiting SEA LIFE with your little ones

Reading, discovering and learning about the ocean is a fin-tastic way to spark curiosity in babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers. You can create a tuff tray or baby sensory box full of different textures and colours, get messy with chia seeds - a simple but slimy way to create an ocean world, or create a moment of calm with ocean inspired sensory bottles, the activity ideas are limitless.

But maybe the ultimate family fun adventure is to take a paddle (arm bands not necessary) beneath the waves at your local SEA LIFE aquarium. Here are some ideas for how to get the most out of a visit to SEA LIFE with your little one!

• Before you arrive, generate excitement by reminding your little one that they’re going to meet some of their favourite creatures, from fish and sharks to turtles and jellyfish!
• Give your child a heads-up about what to expect. For example, the aquarium is dark and cool in some areas, because this helps to keep the sea creatures happy.
• Let your child lead the way! Many of our windows are low to the ground, the perfect height for little ones to peer inside.
• Play a game of Underwater I Spy! Take turns being the spier (“I spy with my little eye a yellow fish!”) and the finder (“There it is!”).
• Encourage your little one to see the differences between the creatures in the tanks and themselves. For example a fish has fins, but we don’t. Why could that be?
• Don’t forget to stop and enjoy the sensory experience! Not only will your child meet lots of sea creatures, but there will be several opportunities to enjoy the different colours, textures and sounds in the aquarium.

• Bring your child to our touch pool so that they can interact with some of the creatures with gentle hands. Encourage your child to talk about what they experience: “Does the starfish feel bumpy?” “Is the crab’s shell hard?”
• Check the touch pool hours when you first arrive – they’re not necessarily open the whole time the aquarium is.
• If your child seems overstimulated, look out for some of our calmer spaces, where there is less sensory input, to let your child relax and recharge.
• Bring lots of snacks or stop at our various snack-stops to refuel.
• A toddler might have had their fill after half an hour, so be sure to plan ahead and make sure you leave time for some of our interactive activities, like live feedings.
• Have an exit strategy! Sometimes it’s hard getting your little one to leave, but maybe they can be tempted by a calm storytime in the buggy and a restorative nap.
• Back at home, grab a copy That’s not my Shark… to help your little one drift off into an ocean themed sleep – we wonder which creatures will play a starring role as their dream state continues the adventure!

The fun doesn’t have to stop with your a-ray-zing family day out, continue to play and learn about sharks and ocean creatures with our Five Days of Play Planner. Take your pick from the different Play Cards to enjoy whenever you choose!