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! 

Hooray for St. Patrick's Day

Gathering Activity:   Rainbow Bottles

We made these adorable rainbow bottles from Little Wonders Days.

Materials Needed: Colorful pom poms of various sizes, rice, empty and dry water bottle, funnels

Directions:
1-Put rainbow pom poms inside of the water bottle.  (This is great fine motor practice, especially as they try to place the large pom poms inside the small opening).

2-Funnel Rice into the bottle. We filled ours about half way.

3-Place the lid on the bottle and shake!

Circle Time : Hooray for St. Patrick's Day by Joan Holub

We read Hooray for St. Patrick's Day! This is a cute book with lift up flaps and a hidden Leprechaun on each page.  The children took turns searching for him.  It is a simple explanation about some of the traditions associated with St. Patrick's Day.

We sang I'm A Little Leprechaun. 

We also watched and sang along with Rachel Coleman  from Signing Time's "Rainbow Song" from My Favorite Things. 

Snack: Shamrock Pretzels

We ate these adorable Shamrock Pretzels we found on Family Fun's website.  We also added yummy green grapes!

Art Activity: Shamrock Painting 

Materials Needed: Finger paint paper, yellow and blue paint 

Directions: Cut a large shamrock shape from finger-painting paper. Put a squirt of yellow and a squirt of blue paint on the shamrock. Have the children mix the colors together to create green.  

Games

1- Search For the Leprechaun's Gold

Hide gold coins and gold wrapped candy for the children to find.  As they find the gold, have them return it to a pot.  

When all of the gold has been collected, have the children sort the candy and coins into two different piles.  We then divided the candy together as a group and let each child eat one piece.

2-Pass the Shamrock

We played music and passed a green shamrock around the circle.  When the music stopped, the child holding the shamrock ran around the circle.  

3-Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Where's Your Gold?

This is a game played like "Doggy, Doggy, Where's Your Bone?" A gold coin is hidden behind a child's back and another child sneaks up and takes the coin.  The Leprechaun then tries to guess which child has the coin.  We let the children guess until they find the coin.  

Follow-up:  My son and I do lots of fun activities without our Mommy and Friends as well.  This was a fun one that I wish I had thought of BEFORE class so we could have done it with all of our friends.

4-Rainbow Pom Pom Sort

We used our stackable balls and placed the halves upside down on our table.  Using a clothespin, my son sorted colorful pompoms into the holes of the corresponding colors.  So many great skills.  Fine motor development, sorting, counting, etc...

We also enjoyed this fun St. Patrick's Day sensory box. 

Snuggle Puppy

Special Instructions: Bring a shoebox covered with wrapping paper and a Valentine card for each Mommy and Me friend.  

Gathering Activity: Doggie Valentine Boxes

We made these adorable puppy boxes to hold our valentine cards.  We printed the pieces off in black and white and let the children color them.  The Mommies had to do the gluing part on the boxes.

Then the kids delivered their cards to each other.

Circle Time: Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton

At the beginning of the year, I asked each of the moms to send in a list of their favorite books.  Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton was on almost everyone's list.  I love this sweet book, and saved it for a special Valentines' Day treat!  The book is a little song from a parent to a child saying how much they love the child.  We read the story in circle time.  There is a CD available that includes the music and lyrics to the book, so after we read,  we listened to the song.  If you don't have the CD, you can also find it at .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUEMxwU7yy0  (Warning: This song is very catchy and gets stuck in your head all day long)!   We each chose a puppy dog to snuggle with while we read the story.

We also sang the song "H-E-A-R-T" to the tune of Bingo.  I had written the letters on hearts and the children took turns taking on heart away after each time we sang.  It made it easier for them to keep up with the song.

"There is a shape and it means love and Heart is it's name-o. "H-E-A-R-T,  
H-E-A-R-T,  H-E-A-R-T, and Heart is it's Nameo."  Repeat leaving off a letter each time.  Blow kisses for each missing letter.  (adapted from here).


Art:  Valentine Conversation Heart Art
Materials Needed:  Glue dyed pink, hearts cut out of posterboard, sponge brushes, candy conversation hearts.

1-Paint the heart pink with the glue.

2-Place the conversation hearts on to the painted heart.

3-Dry flat.

Snack: Rice Krispie Hearts, Apples, and Strawberries

Games: Conversation Heart Games

1-Conversation Heart Scooping: We practiced scooping skills by moving hearts from one bowl into another.  Simple fun, great fine motor skill practice.

2-Large Conversation Heart Stacking: We built towers with the large conversation hearts and counted how many we could stack before they fell.

3-Valentine Sensory Box : We explored and scooped heart shaped gems, pom poms, balls, sparkly letters, and heart boxes.