Play Magic Reef turns a simple coloring activity into a live virtual aquarium. Kids color sea creatures on paper or tablet, scan them with a phone, and watch them swim instantly on a TV, laptop, projector, or phone. It’s built for family activities, birthday parties, classrooms, and kids’ corners.

Hello 👋 Last year, I visited an aquarium with my niece and saw an experience where kids could color a fish and watch it appear in a digital tank. She loved it — and afterward said she wished she could do something like that at home. When I looked online, I couldn’t find a polished version that families, teachers, or small events could use easily. Larger interactive aquarium installations also seemed to cost thousands of dollars to rent or install. So I started building Play Magic Reef, originally just for my nieces. Kids color a sea creature on paper or a tablet, scan it with a phone, and watch it swim inside a live virtual aquarium on a TV, laptop, projector, or phone. This project was solely designed and developed by me for a fun side project, so would love feedbacks !

The scanned drawings came to life really fast and my niece was completely hooked watching her own clownfish swim across the TV. Wish the color capture was a bit more forgiving on crayon shading, but overall a clever, simple idea for playdates.

Colored a quick clownfish on my phone and watched it dart around the TV a few seconds later, which genuinely caught me off guard in the best way. The setup felt easy enough that my nephew could run it solo.

Play Magic Reef

Color sea creatures and watch them swim on any screen

Color sea creatures and watch them swim on any screen