Alphabet > Letter A >
A is for Aquarium
Animals > Ocean | Seashore > Featured:
Crab | Dolphin |
Fish | Octopus |
Starfish
Crafts > Aquarium or Fish Tank
Online Activities >
*Dive Deep with Weebit
Cuckoo and his Mini Sub
*Look into Frogwart's Crystal Ball to See More Ocean Creatures
Holidays & Events
>
April > Int'l Week of
the Ocean
June > Aquarium and Zoo Month USA
Seasons
> Summer > Beach
| Seashore
Transportation > Water
> Submarine
|
Natural Settings:
Aquarium: The Bottom of the Sea
Activity #1: Alphabet Letter A a is for Aquarium
First, present what is an aquarium and alphabet letter A
printable materials.
The World
Association of Early Childhood Educators has granted
permission to First-School to share with you an activity contained in
their comprehensive program for children 2 to 6: The
Children's Club (A Club for the Children that Take Care of Planet
Earth): A Project in Values Education for Children 2 to 6 years of age <All of these activities combine learning values and in the
process, learning to take care of our planet.
The activities are designed for groups but I will do my
best to adapt this activity so that only one child at home can also enjoy
it. Additional materials, links and resources will be added
after the description and goals to enhance the activity.
Activity #2 from
WAECE:
The Children's Club
Natural Settings:
The Bottom of the Sea - Making an Aquarium
We work on:
- Appreciation
of the environment
- Observation
- Collaboration
All the
children are going to make an aquarium.
The
teacher will bring a cardboard box, a little bigger than a shoe one.
He/she will glue blue or green papers in the inner sides of the box,
simulating the water. The upper part of the box will remain open,
according to the model:
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Image
property of WAECE - reprinted for
educational and illustration purposes only.
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The
teacher will print the supplementary material (here).
Each child will chose an animal or plant from the illustration and
color and cut it up. If the drawing they have chosen is an animal,
they will glue them on a toothpick. Then both things, plants and
animals, will be put inside the box. That will represent the bottom of
the sea.
Reprinted with permission
- World Association of Early Childhood Educators.
Here are some suggestions and
variations for the project above:
1. Cut out "windows" on the shorter sides and one
front of the box with a sharp craft knife (adult) and line the rest of
box with blue or green paper as the illustration.
2. If sand is not available place clumps of play dough on the
bottom of the box, add small stones or dried beans to the
scenery. Replace toothpicks for craft stick/Popsicle sticks,
these are safer.
3. Reinforce the importance of collaborating together as
children work together to make the aquarium project. Later focus
on observation: observe and identify some of the animals in the
images: fish, crab, dolphin, octopus. There are activities
and information for these ocean creatures in the themes column.
Variations of the project if a box is not available:
**Ocean Scene: For a simpler craft have the children
color or paint a piece of paper
with light blue paint, wait to dry, glue some sand in the bottom and
then decorate with the images. Faster: provide a
piece of blue paper and proceed as above.
**Paper Plate Fish Bowl: Use a large paper plate and have the
children color or paint light blue paint for water. Glue
the decorated images.
** Drawing and handwriting :
Kindergarten - Grade 1
Print this drawing
and writing paper. The upper box will represent the aquarium or fish
tank. Children will color the inside of the box blue and draw or
paste the images in the template (not all images will fit).
Practice writing letter A (aquarium) on the handwriting lines below.
** Fish
counting and fish bowl craft and letter F activity:
Instead of the activity above, visit this nursery rhyme and craft
activity
Activity #3 Dive
Deep with Weebit Cuckoo and his Mini Submarine
Focus: Observation and Learning names of Ocean creatures | The
Submarine a water transportation vehicle > watercraft
Take the children on an underwater adventure in mini submarine to see observe great
ocean creatures. Make sure to click on the ocean creatures to
reveal their names. Make sure to discuss what is a
submarine and how this water transportation vehicle helps us to
observe and study the ocean.
1. Can the children identify any of the animals they see here
and the ones in their aquarium project?
Yes, a dolphin!
Activity #4: Look
into Frogwart's Crystal Ball to observe ocean creatures
Have children take turns scrolling and clicking on the images to
reinforce collaboration.
Scroll on the side bar and click on the ocean creatures to see
what happens. Can the children identify any of the animals they
see here and the ones in their aquarium project?
Yes, an octopus!
A Visit to an Aquarium | Marine Theme Park
Plan a visit to an aquarium in your area. Make this project
before or after the visit. Before visiting the aquarium visit
their web site so you can explore and plan the visit together and get acquainted with the
map and any
resources they may have.
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