This is such a fun theme when you turn it into a Beach Party. Just add some beach balls, beach towels and a Beach Boys CD along with these fun art activities and stories.
Art Activities
Books
Songs/Fingerplays
Center/Misc Ideas
Rainbow Fish
Glue sequence on a rainbow fish pattern after its colored.
Paper Plate Fish
Paint stripes on a paper plate and add fins and a tail to make a fish.
Or cut out a wedge of a paper plate to use as a tail and then attach a gummy worm just about to be eaten.
See The Ocean
Hello Ocean
3 Rainbow Fish
Tune: 3 Blind Mice
Three rainbow fish.
Three rainbow fish.
See how they swim.
See how they swim.
Their tails go left,
And their tails go right.
Their gills breath in,
And their gills breath out.
Did you ever see such a colorful sight,
As three rainbow fish?
CATCH A FISH
Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Catch, catch, catch a fish,
Hook it on your line.
Reel, reel, reel it in.
This one will be mine.
Fishbowl With Beta or Aquarium
Depending on how much time and money you want to put into it, children always love to watch fish swim and feeding one makes a great distraction during separation from parents in the morning.
Paper Plate Jelly Fish
Cut a paper plate in half and paint both undersides with mixture of corn syrup and paint. Have the children cut purple or irredescent cellephane and tape it inside before stapling the two halves together.
Ocean Life
Grover's Adventure Under The Sea
THE FISH IN THE SEA GOES SWIM SWIM SWIM
Tune: The Wheels On The Bus
The fish in the sea goes swim, swim swim
Swim, swim swim, swim, swim swim.
The fish in the sea goes swim, swim swim!
All through the sea.
Verses: The whale....squirt
The sea horse....rocks back and forth
The sharks....chomp
The jellyfish ...bloop
The clam ...open and shut
Wave Container
Fill a plastic soda bottle half way with blue died water. Next fill the remainder of the bottle with oil Now your children can make waves by tilting the bottle.
Handprint Crabs
Make redish orange handprints with thumbs down, fingers out and overlapping some at the palms. Glue pincers to the thumbs and just add eyes on them to make cute crabs.
Paper Plate Crabs
Fold a paper plate in half and add legs and pinchers to make a crab.
Shell Painting
Roll different shells in paint and on to paper to make a fun creative picture.
What Lives In A Shell
Seashells By The Seashore
I'M A LITTLE FISHY
Tune: I'm A Little Teapot
I'm a little fishy, watch me swim.
Here is my tail, and here is my fin.
When I want to see the ocean so deep,
I dive below right after this leap
Shells And Sand In The Discovery Table
Put a bunch of shells in a bunch of sand in the discovery table.
Sea Turtle
Cut a slit to the middle of a paper plate and slide the edge around to make it into a turtle shell. Staple it in place and paint it and use a sponge in a different tint to give it texture. Add feet, tail and draw a face on the head to finish it.
Handprint Octopus
Cut out two handprints and then cut off both thumbs. Glue them back to back slightly curling some of the fingers to make octopus legs.
Into The Sea
The Seashore Book
DOWN BY THE SHORE
Tune: Down By The Bay
Down by the shore,
In the sand and the sun,
I like to dive and splash and run.
And as the waves,
Roll and crash and roar,
I'll get warm in the sun,
And have lots of fun,
Down by the shore.
Beach Party
Blow up some beach balls and lay out some beach towels and throw around some soft frisbees. You can also decorate the ceiling with some hanging net with some fish hanging from it. Just add some Beach Boys music for a week of fun.
Memory Cards
Match up laminated pictures of different ocean creatures and shells.
Paper Plate Whales
Paint the paper plate blueish grey and the fins and tail and then fold the paper plate in half and staple the fins and tail on.
Ocean Animals
Whales And Dolphins
I SAW A FISH GO SWIMMING BY
Tune: Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
I saw a fish go swimming by, go swimming by, go swimming by.
I saw a fish go swimming by so early in the morning.
Verses: I saw a whale go spouting by
I saw a crab go crawling by
I saw a ray go gliding by
Measure A Blue Whale
Bring in a 100 ft rope to unwind and let the children see how long a blue whale really is.