We started an Ocean Unit this week. Here are some of the books we read and some of the fun activities we did!
Books:
Curious George
Chasing Waves by Alessandra Preziosi
My Octopus Arms by
Keith Baker
Mister Seahorse
by Eric Carle
Tuesday
Today went pretty swimmingly if I must say. (Slight pun
intended for the ocean unit we started today)! We ate breakfast and got dressed
BY OURSELVES which deserves a round of applause. Then we updated our calendar
and talked about the month of June and the summer season. We had some free play
time inside and then headed outside for some sandbox time. Some days that
sandbox is not big enough for the two of them, so after three chances to get
along better, we moved back indoors. We had some cups, took a few deep breaths,
and got ready for snack. While the kiddos ate, I read My Octopus Arms by Keith Baker. We talked about all the things we
do with our arms every day. It was very cute to watch them think about how they
use their arms. We also counted our arms and compared them to the eight arms an
octopus has. Then we started our TP Roll octopi by painting them purple. I am
not sure why I always associate purple with octopi but both crafts I have
pertaining to them are being done with purple supplies. We listened to some
octopus and ocean related songs like Octopus Garden by the Beatles. After we
cleaned up our trays and hands, we watched some Bubble Guppies and brainstormed
what other animals live under the sea. I was shocked and proud of how many they
came up with that I did not think of first and I only had to give a few hints
out for the ones I was thinking of!
During nap time, I printed out a fun new game for us to
try. I copy and pasted pictures of different sea creatures and under each one
put an action that we all had to do. Most were things the creatures actually
do, but I took some liberties, i.e. “Gallop like a seahorse!” I colored them
and backed them with construction paper, and knowing how not so gentle a two
year old playing a game can be, I used my Scotch Thermal Laminator to seal the
deal, so to speak. I absolutely love this laminator. It was an impulse Target
buy for myself and I am so glad I did. You use laminate pockets that you can
buy refills of, and it is perfect for small stuff, like the projects I want to
be able to hold on to for a while. After lunch and nap, we completed our octopi
by gluing some googly eyes on them and then I asked if they wanted to play a
game. I placed the cards faced down on the ottoman and they took turns flipping
one over at a time after all three of us completed the action. It was so much
fun that we played three times! My personal favorite on round 3 was “Lay like a
star fish!” Hopefully this can be a game we can use for this unit, and I can
add to it for other units as well as just for a fun extra game when we’re all a
little bored!
Wednesday
Whew we had a non-stop morning! I wanted to make oceans
in bottles as our science investigation yesterday, but I did not have enough
vegetable oil for us. After we ate breakfast today, the kiddos helped me funnel
our ingredients into their tiny water bottles. I sealed the cap with a layer of
Elmer’s glue followed by a layer of glue gun glue. We let those dry while we
got dressed and had some free play time and updated the calendar. Then we
started on our second project of the day which was gluing suction cups
(Cheerios) onto our octopus drawings! Lily kept breaking her Cheerios so she
could eat them and Tristan’s strategy was to stare at me until I turned my
head, then would pop one in his mouth real fast. They came out cute and we
practiced our counting by first counting the arms, then our suction cups. Once
we were finished eating our leftovers, we got our bathing suits on and headed
outside. I had filled some water balloons for something new to do, and they
could not wait to try. We had a water balloon toss briefly that turned into
chucking the balloon at the opponent’s feet so it would explode. There were no
tears or tantrums when the balloons were gone, which I was very thankful for,
so we had a nice snack of popsicles, then headed inside to get changed and warm
up. We played a quick round of our Animal Creature Action game, watched a
little bit of TV, then read My Octopus Arms and got ready for nap. After nap
and lunch, I painted their piggies for a little Father’s Day project I am
working on.
Thursday
It has been a gray and rainy day around these parts and
we’ve all been sluggish because of it. I am pretty sure the clock stopped a few
times too. Lily even slept in until 8:30 which is pretty rare nowadays during
the week. Usually she’s up once Tristan gets here. We ate breakfast in shifts,
then got ready to do our calendar. It’s the perfect day for some free play and
some TV time so I let them pick out what toys they wanted and what show they
wanted to watch. Usually I use this time to run around and get things done, but
today, I sat with them and finished a cup of coffee before 9AM, which is also a
rare occurrence. I spread some poster paper on the floor and we drew an ocean
scene on it until we started fighting over the crayons. We did manage to talk
about what lived in the ocean vs what does not live in the ocean (like cows,
monkeys, bears, etc). We cleaned up and at some snack and then while the kiddos
played with some play dough, I put the finishing touches on our Father’s Day
projects. We played a few rounds of our Ocean Creature Action game (not sure
what to call that thing) before picking books out to read before nap. Hopefully
tomorrow is nicer and it motivates me to get my butt moving!
Friday
Every week should be a four day week! This morning had its
ups and downs. We ate breakfast and got dressed, then stripped down to our
undies and smocks to paint in yet another new way…with water guns! I used
powered tempera paint mixed with water to fill little water guns and they aimed
at their targets—seahorses cut from paper plates. I used a trifold project
board (from the Dollar Store) as a back drop and they had a blast! The purple
was very vibrant, whereas the green was a little faint, but they both still had
fun. I need to find more of this stuff to use for painting. We came inside and
put our bathing suits on and then headed back out to play in the pool and water
the flowers. After we had our popsicle snack, we came inside and read Mr. Seahorse and settled down for our naps. We might venture to the library after nap to pick up some books I put
on hold for next week’s lessons. But we’ll see how motivated we are after nap!
Today’s naptime agenda includes putting the final touches on our Father’s Day
presents (you can read about them here) and maybe sneaking in a chapter or two
of my book.
Enjoy the weekend! And Happy Father’s
Day out there to all those dads, granddads, goddads, moms who play the role of dads...etc!
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