Ocean Week at Preschool

Ocean Week at Preschool

A few years ago I got some shells from San Diego when we were there on Vacation. I always plan an Ocean Week because of them. I love pulling them out and the kids love looking at them and exploring them. 

I like to have out flashlights and magnifying glasses as well

We rolled out a piece of butcher paper and traced the items we had and the kids had to match the object to the traced image. 

Catching Letter Fish. 

The kids had to throw them back if they didn't know the letter (but they could ask for help). 

We did an Experiment with Salty Water vs. Fresh Water and learned which is easier to float in. 

We made sharks and played a letter game as each child got to pretend to be a shark. 

The kids painted an ocean on paper and added a few fish..

The kids made an Ocean in a Bottle. They learned how the waves moved, how to make the color blue by adding 2 different colors, and how some liquids don't mix. 

Then we had a little fun and talked about pretend things in the ocean and made Mermaid Tails. 

In the past we've made a Jellyfish and an Octopus Counting Craft. 

Shark Letter Review - Ocean Theme at Preschool

Shark Letter Review

As I was planning for our Ocean Theme at preschool, I saw the idea of making a shark out of cardboard. I got one of our large boxes and drew the outline of the shark and used a knife to cut out the mouth. I cut out triangles for the teeth and the kids did the rest. 

They loved the making of it just as much as the playing with it. Some colored the shark and some put the teeth on. Because the box was large enough, we made 2 sharks so we could have more kids play with it. 

The kids each took turns being the shark and then being the ones to feed the shark. 

The kids feeding the shark had to say the letter fish before the shark would eat it. The sharks had to check the fish to see if they got the letter right. 

 We kept this out for a while because the kids enjoyed being sharks. 

Ocean in a Bottle

 Ocean in a Bottle

We had Ocean Week at Preschool and I saw the idea of making Ocean in a Bottle. It was a great way to teach the way waves move in the ocean as well as teaching that some liquids don't combine. Water and Oil separate and don't stay mixed together. We also had to figure out what 2 colors make Blue Water. This is just an overall great Science Lesson. 

You can use larger bottles or just what you have on hand, which for me was water bottles. My kids put in beads that we had as well. You can add sand or sea shells for an awesome effect. 

You fill the bottle about a 1/3 of the way with oil, such as canola, and then add in 2/3 water and blue food coloring. I added super glue to the top of the lid to help keep it closed. I would hate for that to spill on something. 

Ocean Egg Float Experiment

Ocean Egg Float Experiment

We had Ocean Week at Preschool where we learned about the many different types of life that lives in the Ocean. We learned that the water there is different than in lakes and what we drink. It is quite salty! I saw the idea here. We started out with 2 Mason Jars and filled one with salt. Then we asked the kids their predictions. Some kids thought the egg would turn different colors (Easter) and others thought nothing would happen. A few guessed right. 

I used some of our Real Salt (aff link)  because it has the natural minerals that help this experiment. I didn't want to use too much of it though because it is more expensive than Table Salt. Then I filled the rest with the table salt. Note in the picture above, that was not enough salt! The egg sank so we had to add maybe double that. We used raw eggs. Note: The salt water was quite cloudy for a while before it cleared up and the salt sank to the bottom. 

The conclusion: Things float easier in salty water vs. fresh water. 

My older kids enjoyed seeing this when they got home from school

Mermaid Tails

Mermaid Tails

I was planning our Ocean Theme at Preschool and I came across this idea for making Mermaid Tails. I have a group of girls very into this so I decided we had to do this! I picked up some diabetic socks at the dollar store, (ha, they worked the best) and I cut out cardboard in the shape of Mermaid Tails. 

The kids decorated them how they wanted and we added glitter to make them sparkly. 

I used rolled up duct tape on the back of the cardboard to attach it to the socks and it held on good. 

The girls had so much fun doing this. My son ended up making Dinosaur Fins instead of Mermaid Tails.