Commotion in the Ocean

This week's activities were inspired by Giles Andreae's book Commotion in the Ocean.
 

It was our last week of Mommy and Me of the school year.  (But we will be doing book inspired play dates all summer with all 3 of my children)!


Gathering: Ocean sensory bin

We were inspired by a cute ocean themed sensory bin at The Picky Apple and made our own with ocean themed items at our house.  

Circle Time

We read Commotion in the Ocean during  circle time.  This is a fun book that features many different animals that live in the ocean.  Each animal is given its own page and witty poem to describe its features.  The poems are short and funny.  The book kept our preschoolers attention, which is a big deal considering they were all wearing swimsuits and excited about swimming! 

We did the traditional finger play "Fish Story."

"One, two, three, four, five -
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten -
Then I let it go again.
Why did I let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
The little finger on the right."

Art: Paper Towel Roll Octopus
One of my favorite blogs is Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas.  When I saw this adorable octopus, I knew it would have to be our craft to go with Commotion in the Ocean! 

 Snack: Blue Ocean Yogurt Snack with Fishies and Cookie Sand
 

We were inspired by these cute fishy snacks at Welcome Baby.  The kids loved them! 

Activity: Swimming

One of our Mommy and Me friends invited us to swim in their pool.  It was the perfect way to end a wonderful year together! 

The Pout Pout Fish

Gathering Activity: We played with fish puzzles and read fish themed books.

Circle Time: We read The Pout Pout Fish by  Deborah Diesen.  We sang songs about fish, practiced color words with colorful flannel board fish, and played with fish puppets.

Art Activity: Paper Bag Fish

Materials Needed: A paper lunch sack, plain paper bag, crumpled newspaper to stuff the sack, glue, pipe cleaners, and decoration material such as glitter glue, googly eyes, sequins or metallic confetti, markers, colored paper etc...

Directions:
1. Stuff half the sack with crumpled newspaper.
2. Twist on a pipe cleaner above the stuffing to form the body and tail.
3. Glue on a pipe cleaner mouth and eyeball.
4. Decorate the tail and body.


Snack: Goldfish crackers and fish shaped sandwiches (created with a cookie cutter)

Playtime Activity: We played fishing games with magnetic poles and fish.   You can find directions to make these here, but we already had enough between all the families.