Make popping candy
21 February 2026
Make your edible space dust We’re going to make our own version of space dust! Whaaaaat?! Surely you need a
Have you even been scuba diving? I haven’t, but those amazing scenes of Sir David Attenborough exploring the Great Barrier Reef in that little yellow Triton submarine (pages 14-15 of the Undersea Explorer issue) had me feeling inspired, so I decided to try and recreate the experience through the medium of craft. This is a really fun and playful make. You can make your coral reef as crazily colourful and creative as you like.
A shoebox
Acrylic paints
Shredded paper
PVA glue
Coloured tissue paper
Pom poms
Fluffy paint
Bright-coloured papers
Neon pipe-cleaners
Thin yellow card/card painted yellow
A photo of you
Scissors
Cotton thread
Needle
Take the shoebox and paint the insides with blue stripes in varying shades. Start with light blue at the top and finish with a dark blue colour at the bottom.
Paint the outside black and leave to dry.
Messy bit coming up!
Put a couple of handfuls of shredded paper into a large plastic bowl. Add a lot of strong PVA glue and a dribble of water.
With your hands, place the shredded paper mixture into the base of the box and mould to form an uneven, messy coral surface.
Leave it to dry completely – this could take 24 hours, depending on how wet your mixture was. Be patient.
When your coral base is completely dry, paint it black or dark green.
Now you’re free to construct your coral reef. We used twisted strips of coloured tissue paper, pom poms, coloured papers cut into shapes, fluffy paint and pipe-cleaners. For the best results layer them all together to make one completely crazy and over-the-top coral reef.
Make some little fish using coloured card and paint.
Cut out some shapes for your submersible and decorate.
Cut out and stick on a picture of you. We used a school portrait because we had loads left over.
Thread up all your fish (we used some cheap toy fish too) and suspend them from the top of your diorama.
You can suspend the sub in the same way, or glue it to the back of the box. It’s up to you!
If you enjoyed this fun make, then why not think about a subscription to AQUILA magazine!
Written by the AQUILA team
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