Bringing the Ocean to the Classroom: Marine Education Outreach in Kilifi County.

At Ocean Sole, we believe that protecting the ocean begins with understanding it. That’s why our Marine Education Outreach Program is transforming how children across Kilifi County learn about the ocean, conservation, and sustainability.

Our interactive program runs for three months in each school, and so far we have reached over five private and public primary schools and orphanages located near the coastline. Our goal is to empower learners with knowledge, creativity and practical skills that make marine conservation both engaging and meaningful.

We bring the ocean to life through games, storytelling, art and hands-on experiments. We want children to understand why conservation matters and to feel that they have an important role to play.

From Trash to Turtle: Students create sea turtle collages using collected plastic waste — learning how art and conservation go hand in hand.

We cover a wide range of marine and environmental topics to give learners a solid foundation in ocean knowledge. These include:

1. Ocean Layers and Zones -Exploring the different parts of the ocean and the creatures that live in each.

2. Marine Animals and Survival Mechanisms - Understanding how fish, turtles, and other creatures adapt to their environment.

3. Food Chains and Webs - Learning how all marine life is interconnected.

4. Coral Reefs- Discovering their role as marine habitats and their vulnerability to human activity.

5. Mangroves- Understanding how these coastal ecosystems support biodiversity and protect shorelines.

6. Plastic Pollution- Tracing the journey of waste from land to sea and its impact on marine life.

7. Climate Change and Ocean Health -Examining how warming seas, rising sea levels and acidification affect ecosystems.

8. Ocean Plants- Learning about seagrass, algae, and their importance in oxygen production and marine shelter.

9. Debates-We incorporate debates around marine conservation, which makes learning more engaging, and helps us assess if students understood topics.

To deepen understanding we take students outside the classroom and into the environment they are learning about.

1. Beach Cleanups- Students help collect, sort, and weigh marine debris, learning how pollution affects ecosystems and what can be recycled or reused.

Small Hands, Big Impact: Young learners take part in a beach clean-up, sorting and weighing waste while learning about ocean health and pollution.

2. Mangrove Restoration- Kids plant mangroves, learning about their critical role.

Planting the Future: Students proudly pose after planting mangrove seedlings, helping to restore one of Kenya’s most vital coastal ecosystems.

3. Lagoon Exploration Trip - We organize fun, educational field visits to local lagoons where learners can observe marine life, biodiversity and human impact.

A Window Into the Reef: Kids from local orphanages explore coral life up close during a lagoon field trip — turning knowledge into connection.

4. Recycling and Upcycling workshop -Students turn collected waste into creative art and useful items, promoting innovation and sustainability thinking.

Building Smarter: Students prepare to make eco-bricks from plastic waste — learning how recycling can fuel real-world solutions.

Our outreach focuses on schools near beaches, lagoons and mangrove ecosystems areas where children grow up with the ocean as a constant presence. Many of these students come from fishing families.

Tools for Impact: Tomas uses Ocean Sole’s marine education resources in class — bringing ocean science to life for young minds.

We also collaborate with teachers and NGOs aligned with our mission, offering materials and support to sustain environmental education. Our educational toolkit for example has been adopted by CAST under the ECOS Project for use by teachers in their classrooms.

We envision a future where every child in Kilifi County understands and values the ocean. A future where waste is repurposed not discarded and where children lead their communities in protecting our planet.

Help us keep the ocean in the classroom.

Donate now to support marine education in coastal Kenya →

With your support, we can reach more schools, train more teachers, and empower the next generation of ocean protectors.