The ideas below were taken from the teacher net mailringsSea Urchins:
Use hardening clay and toothpicks. Dye the
toothpicks purple or a dark blue. Also color the dough.
Break the toothpicks in half and stick the broken ends into
the clay. Cover the top and sides with toothpicks. Leave on
a plate to dry.
Rainbow Fish:
Read the book and then have the children paint fish
shaped papers. When the paint is dry glue on a foil scale.
Underwater Collages:
Have the children layer different tissue paper on a
construction paper background with liquid starch. When dry,
draw on underwater shapes and add stickers.
Stuffed Fish:
Cut a large fish pattern from two pieces of colored
cellophane and punch holes around the edge. Stuff with small
pieces of shiny paper and sew around the edges. You can do
the same with paper patterns.
Triangle Fish:
Cut a 9 x 12 piece of construction paper from corner
to corner, you now have two triangles to make 2 fish. Cut a
muffin liner into quarters. Glue one quarter to the tail,
one to the top near the right angle and one to the middle of
the bottom for fins. Add eyes and decorate anyway you wish.
Paper Bag Fish:
Lay a plain paper bag down flat. Leave the bottom
folded up and fold in the corners of the bottom of the bag
and staple in place to form the fishes snout. Loosely stuff
the sack with scrap paper and close the end with a rubber
band. Slide it up a couple of inches and spread out the end
to make the tail. Let the children paint their fish any way
they want.
Go Fish:
Cut out fish shapes and number or whatever. Attach a
paper clip or twist tie to the mouth. Tie a magnet onto a
piece of string to use as a fishing pole. Extension: Make
red, black, white, blue and newspaper fish. Put them on some
newspaper spread on the floor; give them 10 seconds to catch
as many fish as they can with their hands. Which ones are
caught most often? Least often? Why do you think that is?
Whales In Water:
Take an empty 2 liter bottle and fill 1/3 with
water. Take a small blue balloon and as it is held in the
neck of the bottle blow it up and knot it. Add a couple
drops of blue coloring. Turn the bottle on its side and
there you have a whale floating on the waves.
Crab Walk:
Have your children sit on the floor and lean back on
their hands. Have them move their feet flat on the floor.
Ten have them lift their bottoms off the floor and try moving
sideways like a crab.
Paper Plate Octopus:
Cut a paper plate in half. Draw eyes on the plate,
and then glue on eight pieces of crepe paper as arms. When
dry hang in a window to see the octopus swim.
Paper Plate Fish:
Draw a triangle mouth shape on a paper plate. Have
your child cut out the triangle and have them glue it on the
fish as a tail. Let the child decorate the fish.
Ocean Sensory:
Fill the sensory table with water, add green Easter
grass and small plastic sea life. The Easter grass feels
like seaweed. Add sand and shells if desired. Add sheets of
dried seaweed from an Asian grocery and the whole area will
really smell like the ocean.
Jellyfish Windsock:
Take two clear kitchen trash bags, crumple one of the
bags into a ball and stuff it into the corner of the other
bag. Tape around the bottom of the ball to form a neck. Cut
part of the trash bag hanging down into long strips to make
tentacles. Push a string through the neck of the jellyfish
and tie the two ends together to make a hanger for the
windsock. To make fish to get caught in the tentacles cut
two identical shapes from cleat contact paper. Peel the
backing off one shape and decorate with colored tissue paper
and sequins. Cut out an eye and add a pupil. Cover the
decorated fish with the other piece on contact paper. Staple
the fish to the tentacles.
Sea Turtles:
Paint the outside of a paper bowl to resemble a
turtle shell. Glue on construction paper legs, tail, and
head.
Aquarium Crayon Resists:
Draw a picture with crayons, pressing hard. Cover
the picture with a wash of blue watercolor.
Fish Prints:
Order a fancy fish from the grocery store or pick one
up at an Asian market. Paint the fish with paints, from head
to tail so as not to disturb the scales and then press on a
large piece of paper. Use acrylic paint to print on fabric.
Minnows:
Purchase minnows from a bait store to put in your
sensory table with cold water. Stress the importance of
being gentle and following directions. Wash hands after this
activity.
Field Trip:
Visit a local pet store, bait shop, or fish hatchery.
Compound Words:
Create simple flap books to show the combination of
smaller words with in the compound word, for example:
clownfish, batfish, angelfish, dogfish, catfish, hammerhead,
needlefish, seahorse, swordfish, lionfish, starfish,
paddlefish, mudskipper, rockfish, roosterfish, sunfish,
triggerfish, seashell, etc. Also have the children draw
pictures of the fish.
Sink the Boat:
Students can practice estimation by constructing foil
boats and using pennies to see how many the boat will hold.
Salt of the Sea:
Using 2 clear cups, fill each ¾ with water. In one
cup, stir in 3 T. of salt. Label the cups A and B. Ask
students to predict what will happen when you place an egg in
cup A. Place the egg in carefully. Next ask the students
what will happen when you put it in cup B. Ask why? Salt
adds density to the water so objects float.
How is Sand Made?
Put sugar cubes in a clear jar. Have students take
turns shaking the jar then observe what happened to the
cube. Explain that is what happens when rocks get tumbled
together in rivers or waterfalls, or by the wind.
Saltwater Painting:
Mix ¼ C. warm water with 6-t. salt and 3 drops of
food coloring in each jar. Paint pictures with the mixture.
The water will evaporate leaving the colored sand.
Seaweed Soup:
4 quarts ocean (water)
6 oz. seaweed (spinach or string pasta)
6 oz. snails (pasta shells)
smelly stuff (onions, garlic powder, pepper)
pinch of sand (salt)
Goldfish crackers (optional)
In a large pot, bring the ocean to a boil.
Toss in the seaweed and snails. Add the smelly stuff, cook
uncovered for 6-8 minutes, stir frequently. Rinse in hot
water and drain. Add cheese and goldfish crackers.
Sand Cups:
2 C. milk
1 small package of vanilla pudding mix
8-oz. tub of whipped topping
1 box vanilla wafers
Pour 2 C. milk into a large bowl. Add
pudding mix and beat until blended. Let stand 5 minutes.
Stir in whipped topping and half a package of crushed vanilla
wafers. Place 1 T. of crushed cookies into each clear
plastic cup. Fill cups ¾ full with pudding mixture. Top
with remaining crushed wafers. Refrigerate for 1 hour.OCEAN LITERATURE
by Jerry Pallotta by Megan McDonald by Bernard Most by Paul Lopez
by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld by Patricia Lauber by Joanna Cole by Leo
Lionni by Sue Vyner by Lucy Kincaid by Ron HirschiACTIVITY BOOKLET
This is a great idea for any unit, but I can only TELL you about in instead of
PROVIDE it for you because most of the pages are from copyright sources.
Photocopy all the (ocean) worksheets from your myraid of sources, add some
picture story printing paper for Don't forget the Hidden Picture pages from
Highlights magazine and pages from activity books that haveto do with your theme. Put all the pages inside a folded 12x18 paper and staple on
the side to make a booklet. The students may (1) work on certain pages at their
leisure, (2) do some pages at specified centers, or (3) complete some pages with
the whole class during a lesson. Photocopy a few choices of (ocean) coloring
pages from which the students may choose, color, cut, and glue to decorate the
cover of their booklet. If you teach two sessions of kindergarten, make the a.m.
and p.m. covers different colors to save your sanity.
Many of these art projects are begun by tracing a pattern (which you must
make ahead of time), but they are embellished with different mediums.
Click on the link "Ocean Art"to see examples.
Mermaid/Merman
Provide a fish tail pattern that will fit on a 12x18 paper12x18 red, blue, purple, green (fishtail) 4x6 fleshtone (chest) 4x6
fleshtone folded in half 2x6 (arms and hands) 6x6 fleshtone (head) 9x9
grey (merman's hair and beard) 2 3x9 and 1 3x6 hair colors (mermaid's
hair) assorted colors (seashell top for mermaid, and crown for merman)
Round-off the top two corners of the chest to make shoulders. Glue the
circle head on the top of the chest, and the fishtail on the bottom of the
chest. Cut arms and hands and glue onto the shoulders. For the merman's
hair and beard--cut the gray square into a wavy circle. Cut a smaller circle
out of the middle, glue the gray "doughnut" on the flesh colored head and
draw facial features on the flesh colored center. Make a crown and glue it
on his head. For the mermaid's hair--cut wavy rectangles from the hair
pieces. Glue the two longer ones on the side of her head, and the shorter
one across the top for 'bangs'. Fold a paper and cut a seashell, thus creating
two. Glue them on the mermaid's top. The students are to draw the
fishscales on the tail. I then embellish them with glue and glitter.Seahorse
Provide a seahorse pattern that will fit on a 9x6 paperFruit Loops Colored glue
Trace and cut the seahorse pattern. Use a Fruit Loop for the eye, and
decorate the rest with an assortment of colored glue.Starfish
Provide a starfish pattern that will fit on a 6x6 paper Fruit Loops
Trace and cut the starfish pattern. Decorate the starfish with 2 wiggly or
drawn eyes and with Fruit Loops.Crab
1/2 a 6 inch paper plate--painted red (then we cover ours with a mixture of
red sand and red glitter) A photocopy of crab legs and claws.
Paint or color the crab legs and claws red. When everything is dry, cut and
assemble the pieces to create a crab.Octopus
Assorted colors of 9x6 paper flourescent paints Q-Tips
Students trace around four of their fingers, then move them over and trace
around them again thus making the eight tenacles. Hook the right and left
sides together with a high rainbow, creating the head of the octopus.
Decorate with flourescent paints dabbed on with a Q-Tip. You can add
wiggly eyes or draw them.Jellyfish
Two sheets of waxed paper for each student Colored glue
Squirt colored glue on one sheet of waxed paper and stir the colors
together gently with a craft stick. Don't mix them too much or they will
mix into gray! Place the other sheet of waxed paper on top. Put the
student's name on a small piece of masking tape and stick it on the waxed
paper. When the glue has dried, the students may cut the glued waxed
papers into a large "U" shape. Turn the "U" upside down and cut tenacles
from the bottom to half way up. These look great hanging from the ceiling
or near a window.OCEAN CRAFTS
SHELL COLLECTION: Allow the students to bring their private
collection of shells, but make the rule that the collection must be made
into a "display". That means that the collections must be arranged on a
tray, a plate, inside a box, however the student chooses, and his/her name
must be on a placecard on the display. This allows the students to share a
variety of shells and yet keep them separate.
FISH PIN: Make a dough from 2c. flour, 1c. salt, and 1c. warm water. Use
a mini fish cookie cutter purchased from a craft store to cut a fish for each
student. Use acrylic craft paint to paint the fish. When it is dry, the
students can glue on a tiny wiggly eye, and add detail lines with colored
glue applied with a toothpick. When the fish is dry, glue on a pin backing,
and wear with pride!
OCEAN NECKLACE: Purchase aquatic beads from a craft store
(Wal-Mart), along with white, gold, or colored beads, and elastic silver
cord. Cut a necklace length of cord for each student. Tape one end to the
work table. Display a pictorial which tells the student how many of each
bead he may use and in what order. The student follows the guide
matching the number and sequence of beads. Tie off the ends, wear, and
look 'swimmingly good'!
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