Sea kelp is beneficial because it is a natural antibiotic and an emollient. As a result, it can be incorporated into natural, handmade soaps. To make sea kelp soap, purchase manufactured soap base from an Internet source or craft store. Melt the base down as directed in the instructions. Have students crumble dried sea kelp into small pieces and add to the base. Pour into molds or one large mold to be cut into bars once cooled. Allow students to decorated and make their own soap wrappers out of strips of card stock. Place a wrapper around each bar and wrap with plastic wrap.
Teach students about the texture of sea kelp by soaking it in water first to rehydrate it. Press excess water from sea kelp stalks and have students touch and use it as a "brush" to paint with. Students can also use natural sea sponges and add sand to wet paint to make pictures about the different textures found in the sea.
Have students make miniature dioramas, or 3-D displays of the sea. Each student needs a shoebox and markers or paint to decorate the inside of the box. Have students add interest to the dioramas by gluing dried seaweed, fish stickers, sea shells and sand to the boxes to make ocean scenes.
Teach students about both recycling and the ocean at the same time. Purchase a handmade paper or paper recycling kit from a craft store. Before following kit instructions, have students prepare paper add-ins. Have students crush sea shells with a rolling pin and crumble dried sea kelp into a bowl. Mix 1 T sand, 1/2 T crushed sea shells and 1 T dried sea kelp into the paper pulp for each piece of paper the kit yields. As per kit instructions, allow the recycled paper pulp to dry on the included screen; the result is a piece of paper with incorporated sea elements. Students can decorate the dried paper with painted fish, or the natural paper can be cut into frames for smaller handmade seascape pictures.