Giant Squid Learning and Craft [Sponsored by Crystal Entertainment + Giveaway]

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Crystal Entertainment. Please see my disclosure policy.

This post is contributed by JJ of Learning and Growing the Piwi Way.

Learn About Giant Squid with a Fun Ocean Game!

Fall may be on the way but your kids can still visit the Ocean on your favorite smartphone or tablet! The amazing graphics in a new iPad/iPhone/iPod App by Crystal Entertainment will make them feel like they are under the sea…

Meet Alphie the Giant Squid

Meet Alphie the Squid. He is a cute little Cephalopod who suddenly finds himself alone in the world. Only you can help him by teaching him to catch food and stay safe from less than friendly sea creatures.

Game play is fairly simple, use your finger to guide Alphie through beautiful Reefs, dark Caverns and open water. When you interact with a new species it is added to your Ocean exploration Gallery. Kids can visit the Gallery during the game to check their progress and learn more about each species.

We were very impressed with the detail that has gone into the App. All the characters have a lot of personality. Alphie even expresses his emotions by changing color. It can be played by younger children but some guidance might be needed if they are a bit nervous about Sharks and Eels. The introduction is a little sad too so you may want to watch that with them. My third grader became ‘hooked’ pretty fast and has declared the App to be ‘sooo cute!’

Fun Facts About Giant Squid

Some fun facts we learned about the Giant Squid this week:

• They can grow to be the length of a School bus

• The largest Squids have eyes the size of Basketballs

• They may be large but they can be very hard to find.

• They have eyesight as good as a human

• They can snatch prey from 30 ft. away using there tentacles

Making a Giant Squid Stuffed Animal

We were inspired by Alphie to make an Giant Squid Stuffed Animal Decoration from a re-purposed T-shirt. To make own your lil’ Giant Squid you will need:

• Giant Squid Template

• An Old T-shirt (or fabric of your choice)

• Fabric paints or Markers

• Lengths of Ribbons, Lace or Strips of Fabric

• Polyester stuffing or fabric offcuts.

1. Position the template on your fabric and cut out 2 face pieces and 2 ‘hat’ pieces for each squid.

2. Decorate the fabric pieces. We used fabric markers. If you are using paint you may want to make the Squids up first and decorate them later.

3. I used a sewing machine to stitch around the pieces. If you prefer you can hand stitch them or use fabric glue to adhere the pieces together.

4. Lightly stuff each piece.

5. Join the ‘face’ to the ‘Hat’. I hand stitched them together because I had a spare 10 minutes while the kids were cutting the ribbons but Fabric glue will work just as well.

6. I let the kids decide how they wanted to decorate the face. They chose to cut eyes from adhesive felt.

Alternative ideas…

Use paper instead of Fabric, staple the pieces together and lightly stuff it with offcut paper or polyester filling

Make a one sided flat Squid by cutting out only one of each template piece from construction paper. Add buttons and sequins ‘suckers’ to the tentacles.

Win a Promo Code to Download Alphie the Squid!

Alphie the Squid is available for $2.99 at iTunes and Google Play. A trial version (up to Level 4) is available for free on Amazon. The full version can be unlocked with an in-App purchase.  But if you want to try the full version for free, just use the rafflecopter form below to enter to win one of 10 promo codes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more Alphie news and promotions you can follow the Squid on Facebook, Twitter and Google +

JJ (Piwi mama) is a proud wife and mama of two girls. She spends most of her time Homeschooling her kids so they can travel with her Husband’s work. When everyone is asleep, JJ blogs about their portable learning, hands on learning and kids literature. You can read about their travels at Learning and Growing the Piwi way.

I love that you can learn so much about ocean life and sea creatures from a fun game.  And JJ’s spin off craft is just brilliant!  Thanks, JJ!  

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