Under the Sea!

The theme for the last week of July was "Under the Sea". The children are having so much fun in our "summer camp" this year!

 
This week we read: The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
                                        The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark by Deborah Diesen
                                        How Deep is the Sea? by Anna Milbourne
                                        Who's in the Ocean? by Dorthea DePrisco
                                        The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

The older children that join my class for Summer Camp do not nap during rest time. They have time in the gym in a small group while my class does. To keep them working on their skills, I make them  packet to bridge their grades.

The games that we played this week at morning meeting were so fun!
 We played "Number Ball" with a beanbag. We toss the beanbag around the circle and the kids have to say the next number. We stand in a circle and toss the beanbag across to friends and try to beat our record!

"Pop!" is a really fun game, and definitely a favorite. We stand in a circle and each child says one number as we go around. But each round there is a pop number. Instead of saying that number, you POP! the person that would be next, out. We work very hard on having good sportsmanship, and the kids have fun even if they're out because they know they get to play again in the next round!

"Pass the Vader" is a fun game. It's just like Hot Potato, except we do it with a small stuffed Darth Vader that children gave me this past Valentine's Day. Love it!

We played "Find the Clothespin". I found this game on KindergartenSmorgasboard, and I thought it just sounded so fun! While the children are not peeking, I hide a clothespin one myself, on a child or somewhere close around us. When they look for it, they can't yell out where it is, they put their finger on their nose! They have so much fun searching.

We played "Crocodile Snap". I found the idea for this game last year and adapted it to be my own. I turned a box into a crocodile with bulletin and construction paper, then filled it with little cards that have a letter, number or shape on them. The children have to reach into the crocodile's mouth (while he's sleeping of course), pull out a card and name what's there. Also hidden in the belly of the crocodile though are SNAP cards (the crocodile wakes up and SNAPS his mouth shut!). Once we pull three SNAP cards, the game is over!

The special activities this week were a blast. Since we are the oldest in the school, our class take over the little school garden. We spent time weeding it. It seems that our store bought plants are surviving, which is great!

Bubble day is quickly turning into a favorite. This week we tried to make Unpoppable bubbles! I found a recipe online using 1 part water, 1 part corn syrup, and 2 parts Joy dish soap. We tried. It seemed as if it was harder to blow bubbles with this solution. And let me tell you.... it was sticky! Hello dirt all over hands and attracting bugs. I think in the future we will stick with corn syrup-less solutions.

Every Wednesday my class has sprinkler day. This is always a fan favorite. The children wear their bathing suits and water shoes, run around in a sprinkler outside, and play in a water sensory table. It really helps beat the summer heat!

I LOVE having a movie day in the summer. It gives the kids a chance to relax, wind down and just enjoy themselves. Plus we have snacks and make it feel like the movie theater... who doesn't like going to the movie theater? This week we watched Finding Nemo.

Exercise is very important, so I thought it would be fun to have some kind of special exercise activity. This week, we moved our bodies like sea creatures! I found some ideas for animals to call out here.

Our question of the week was "If you lived in the sea, what would you be?"

For our theme "Under the Sea",  we explored the under sea world. In the sensory table I added blue pasta and rice that I dyed at home using a little vinegar and food dye, shells from the beach, blue glass marbles and undersea animals. I found the figurines at Michaels, 14 pieces for $9.99. Not bad. My biggest problem was that they had so many to choose from! I settled on just the Ocean tube, but they had prehistoric ocean animals, sea life, baby ocean animals... so many great toys!

In the Science center I added pages of some undersea creatures and plants.

In the blocks center I found pictures of under water ruins and buildings for the structure book.

We sang "I'm a Little Heart Fish" to the tune of Teapot.

"I'm a Little Heart Fish in the sea,

I have a heart tail that helps guide me.

When I'm feeling friendly I start to blow...

Tiny heart bubbles, up they go!"

(C) 2001 - 2011 Jean Warren www.preschoolexpress.com

The children wrote in their journals about their favorite thing in the ocean.

 In the summer I have elementary children that join my class. While my pre-k students write in their journals, the older children work on a reading response page based on the book that we read at morning meeting.

The children sorted colorful goldfish! Depending on the level of the group, the children sorted 20, 15, or 10 goldfish. We talked about tally marks, most and least, and worked on the one-to-one concept. Then they got to eat their goldfish! I think that was their favorite part!

We made a class book about Under the Sea. As a large group we brainstormed a list of the different creatures that live in the ocean. After they picked the animal that they wanted their page to be about we looked up a cool fact for them to write. Then they drew a picture.

For our fourth week of the  study "Buildings" we focused on the rooms at home and at school. First the class worked together to make a list of all the different rooms that we have at school, and the rooms that they have in their houses.

They each picked their favorite room at school, wrote which room it was a drew a picture of it. I turned this into a book that we put in the library center.

The children worked and played in partners to build with different size and shape blocks.

Next they picked their favorite room at their house and drew a picture of it. After they drew the picture, they wrote on the back, and we turned it into a book for the library center.

We talked about the features of a room, and looked around at our classrooms windows, doors, sinks, doorways etc. The children picked on to draw a picture of. They sat in front of the feature so that they were able to observe it while drawing.

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