Under the Sea--Jellyfish

We're coming to the end of our under the sea posts.  In fact, this might be the last one--depends on if I can interest Roger in one last fishy project before we move on to the next theme.  But for now, you're here because you want to hear about jellyfish.

First we read Discovering Jellyfish by Lorijo Metz.

This non-fiction book was a little too in-depth for my 4 year olds, so I kind of skimmed it, pointing out a few pertinent facts about jellyfish per page.
Next, we made jellyfish.  I traced a bowl onto the paper backing of clear contact paper and cut it out, then cut it in half so I had 2 semicircles.  The kids stuck sparkly things to the sticky side of one semicircle, and we added lace oral arms and ribbon tentacles along the flat edge.  I placed the remaining semicircle of clear contact paper on top to sandwich the sparklies and tentacles.

It was very easy with no mess and turned out pretty cute.

I also made some sensory bags for the kids using hair gel in Ziploc bags.

I just added about 1 c. of hair gel to a quart size bag, plus one drop of food coloring.  Next I added some sequins and glitter.  The kids loved them. 

I thought they looked very jellyfishish, and was trying to figure out how to get them into a more jellyfish-esque shape...but I never quite got there.  I got this idea from here (and there are better pictures there of what I'm talking about).

We also did this: a jellyfish in a bottle.

Source: bhoomplay.wordpress.com via Scarlet on Pinterest

But I did not get any good pictures of ours.

So I know you're probably all sad to be seeing the end of the under the sea theme (or not--maybe you're a little tired of it), so here's a little teaser for what's coming up next:

See you soon!

Under the Sea--Stingray

Last week, we continued with our under the sea theme by learning about stingrays.

By now, you know the drill: first we read these books to learn a little bit about stingrays:

Stingrays by Martha E.H. Rustad

Stingrays by Deborah Coldiron

Then we made this craft:

I got the idea from here.

All you do is color with water soluble markers on coffee filters that have been cut in thirds, then sprinkle them with water (we used a medicine dropper) to make the colors run.  When they're dry, pleat the filters and glue to your background.  We used pipe cleaners, cut in half, for the rays' tails.  We forgot to add the eyes, but you could certainly do that (and eyes would make them look more like animals and less like flowers!)

For the background, the kids tore pieces of blue paper into strips and glued them onto a white background.  We used green construction paper to make seaweed.

Cute and simple :)

I couldn't find any fiction children's books featuring stingrays--if you know of any, let me know!

Under the Sea--Crabs

Yesterday we continued our Under the Sea theme with a study of crabs, beginning with reading Crab by Lloyd G. Douglas.

This very short and simple book is perfect for preschoolers.  The text is simple enough that I would recommend it for kindergartners or 1st graders who are learning to read, as well.  We learned that most crabs live in water, but that some live on land near water, that crabs have 10 legs, and they use their claws to protect themselves and to eat.

We also learned that crabs walk sideways.  So the kids spent a little time walking like crabs, and we decided that what most people call a crab walk is not how crabs walk at all!  We also discovered that crab walking on my new mommy's day gift* is kind of...difficult...

{Image Source}
This is not how crabs really walk!

It was sure fun to try out different crab walk methods, though!

Next, the kids made crabs using the crab template found here.  We used small paper plates instead of the circle from the template, and googly eyes instead of the template eyes, and Roger decided to use pipe cleaners for legs rather than the template legs (so, yes, what I'm telling you is, all Roger used from the template was the claws--why did we even bother with the template?  Not sure).

The kids chose to color their crabs with markers rather than paint. I would highly suggest, if you do this yourself, to not give an option--just have them paint. The kids' hands got very tired with all that coloring, and by the time they got to the body, they were ready to be done and did a less than thorough job. Or you could print the template on red or orange paper and have your kids decorate with markers or sequins or whatever.

We finished our study of crabs by reading Clumsy Crab by Ruth Galloway. This is the story of Nipper the crab who hates his claws because they are always in the way. Until one day, when Nipper's claws save the day!

True story: after all of our fun and crabby exploration yesterday, MC was instructed to crab walk at karate last night...I almost bust out laughing, because that's not how crabs walk :)

(but I guess you had to be there...)

*Pic of my new mommy's day gift coming soon...

Under the Sea--Octopus

This week is week 2 of our under the sea theme at Camp Scarlet.  We started off reading I Am an Octopus: The Life of a Common Octopus by Trisha Speed Shaskan, illustrated by Todd Ouren.

This non-fiction book is full of interesting facts about octopuses, and is engaging for preschoolers or elementary age children.  Did you know that an octopus can change colors depending on its mood?  And did you know that an octopus doesn't have any bones and can squeeze through a crack the size of its eye?

Next, the kids each made an octopus.  I used the octopus from here, enlarged as big as I could get it on an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper.  The kids sponge-painted the octopuses, and when they were dry I cut them out and glued them to a blue background. 

Next, I printed out the numbers 1 through 8, plus the corresponding number words, from this website.  We cut the numbers apart and glued one by each of the octopus' arms.  The kids traced each number, then placed that number of "suckers" (we used paper reinforcers) to the arm.

Next we read Tickly Octopus by Ruth Galloway.

While reading this fun fiction book, we enjoyed picking out true facts about the tickly octopus that we learned from our non-fiction book.

For lunch we enjoyed octo-dogs on a bed of seaweed (you can tint the noodles green or blue and add mustard eyes to your octo-dogs if you think your kids will still eat them).

 Finally, we demonstrated octopus propulsion using a water-filled balloon and a glue bottle top, from Awesome Ocean Science by Cindy A. Littlefield, as described by Almost Unschoolers.

So much fun!  We actually did this when Pal's sisters (who are 9 and 7) were visiting one morning, and they were so impressed and entertained...although G thought our octopus looked more like a duck!

Under the Sea--week 1

Last week we continued our under the sea theme at Camp Scarlet with a field trip to see the IMAX film Under the Sea.

The film is set among coral reefs, so we decided to learn a little more about coral by reading Coral from the Underwater World series, by Deborah Coldiron.

We learned all sorts of interesting things that we hadn't known before, like that coral is an animal, not a plant, coral is related to jellyfish, and coral eats plankton.

Our next project was to grow some coral.  But growing real coral seemed too complicated, so I decided we should try making a salt crystal garden (which we thought looked a bit like coral), using table salt, water, and Mrs. Stewart's Bluing (click here for instructions).

Apparently, growing fake coral is too complicated, too, because nothing's happening.

This is actually attempt #2, after our gloppy first attempt ended with salt crystals forming everywhere but where they were supposed to be, and certainly not looking anything like coral...I'll let you know if anything grows.

Next we made an underwater scene.  The kids each fingerpainted a piece of white construction paper, covering it completely with 2 shades of blue paint.

Next, the kids sponge-painted (using a real sea sponge) coral along the bottom of the ocean (and a little bit floating around, as well :).

The next step was to tear some green construction paper into seaweed-ish (not Swedish) shapes, and glue it on.  The kids finished by applying cute sea-creature stickers to complete their underwater scenes.  As they were working, we discussed where in the ocean one might find each of the creatures.

And in case you were wondering, the children wore me down--we added water to their under the sea sensory bin last week.

Under the Sea

If you've been checking out my boards on , you may have guessed what our next theme here at Camp Scarlet will be.  That's right, the board that contains the pin that started it all is the focus of our next few weeks: Under the Sea.

We're starting off pretty low key, since Pal just got back from a family vacation and we've got a birthday this week, but yesterday I set out an Under the Sea sensory bin for the kids to play with.

 I started with a 5 lb bag of blue aquarium gravel, then added some sea-glass type "gems" from the dollar store.  Next I searched the house for ocean-y looking things, and found some blue and white pom poms, some ball-pit balls, and a couple of bouncy balls.  I added some shells leftover from a project years ago (I remember buying them in Fairfax--that's how long ago), and some sea creature toys and bath toys.  I also buried some plastic coin treasure and added a submarine.  I love that we've got so many different shapes and textures in there.

I placed the bin on fishy beach towels on top of a bedsheet drop cloth (to hopefully contain the gravel so I'm not picking it up with the vacuum for the next several weeks), and added some fun tools: a net for scooping, tongs, ladles, spoons, bowls, a muffin tin.

We've been playing dry, but the kids have been asking to add water, which we will definitely do when the weather warms up and we can play with the bin outside.

The kids have so much fun playing with this bin--yesterday I overheard Pal saying, "I'm so glad your mom made this for us," to Roger.  They don't even realize that they're getting some great fine motor practice and sensory input.