Ocean Week Recap

 

 

This is my first attempt at combining all the activities of a particular unit into one post!!!!

 

Kiddos: Princess, Age: 2.5 ( Actually almost 3)

Son, Age:16 months

 

We try to incorporate as much Montessori style learning as we can.

 

 

PRACTICAL LIFE:

 

Sand pouring.

 

 I purchased the colored sand and jars from Hobby Lobby.

The sand was $3.00 and so were the jars, but you can use any small container to pour.

 

 

We also did the operating a dropper activity. I purchased this set from Montessori Services, but all it is a few shot glasses and a dropper. We used food coloring to make blue water!

 

 

 

MATH:

 

I printed and laminated a worksheet from HERE. Then I just offered a few small shells in a dish for Princess to place in each circle, so we can begin to understand quantity.

 

QUANTITY AND SENSORY:

I laminated a bunch of number cards and placed them in a bin with water beads and hidden fish!!! Water beads can be purchased at the floral section of the craft store and need to be soaked for several hours in order to become full size....and they are worth the wait. SO FUN!!!

When we found the fish, the kids took them out of the bin and placed them on the cards. This also works on understanding quantity.

 

 

After they were done playing with the water beads, Princess practiced her scooping!!!

 

MATCHING:

I offered a basket of different seashells and Princess had to place them on a mat that contained their photos. I made the mat by taking a photo of each shell, printing the photos, and then cutting them out and glueing them to the mat. Last, I laminated it for reuse. She tried hard to match the shells perfectly to their photos:

 

I also took photos of sea animals that we had and Princess matched them to each other. We practiced the name of each animal too!!!

 

Son also did this activity, but I only gave him 3 animals and 3 photos. He had a bit of a hard time, but was able to match one for sure:

 

 

 

I bought a basket of colored starfish from Hobby Lobby and Princess matched them. The tray was dusty from sand pouring earlier:

 

 

FINE MOTOR:

 

Son LOVED the Melissa and Doug Fishing Game Puzzle found HERE. He can get the pieces out with the fishing pole, but is unable to put them back in yet:

 

 

 

LITERACY:

 

I got out our Melissa and Doug See and Spell Puzzle found HERE and chose cards that had to do with the ocean. I placed the letters in a basket and then Princess did the puzzle:

 

FIELD TRIP:

 

We went to the beach, of course and picked shells!

 

CRAFT:

 

We glued shells together to creat fish.

 

Then we added some google-y eyes and a little rope and...TA-DA... we have Christmas ornaments!

 

(The kids used Elmer's glue for this, but I had to finish it off with my hot glue gun).

I found some ocean themed stickers, so Princess made an ocean scene with them on blue cardstock:

 

 

SENSORY BIN:

 

First, I made some rainbow colored rice.

 

Recipe:

 

Put 6 cups of rice in a ziploc bag.

Add 1/2 cup of vinegar

Add as many food coloring drops that you need to create the color you like

Shake the bag or stir with a spoon.

Repeat for each color.

Then I placed sea animals in the bin to match each color:

 

We pulled out each sea animal and identified it my name and color...and then the kids just had fun playing in the bin and making a mess:

 

TREASURE BASKET:

 

I made an ocean treasure basket for Son (16 months). It included various shells, fan coral, a kaleidoscope found HERE, a sea sponge, sand dollar, a snail shell, and starfish:

 

 

 

 

CLASSROOM:

 

Son's shelves for this unit:

 

 

Princess's shelves for this unit:

 

 

Our bible verse for this unit was "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

 

Our bulletin board for this unit: