I’m always looking for inspiration for more things to teach
to Thomas. I often catch myself taking the things I know for granted, and
somehow there’s a little thought that gets stuck in there that he just knows it
too. But that’s not the case, obviously. So I try to always teach him something
new. And then keep covering the new stuff that we’ve learned because he can
easily forget it. So we have yet to discuss the oceans. Even though sometimes
he will watch Octonaughts. I think that’s such a cute show.
Ways to Teach
Toddlers about the Ocean
·
Shells - But a bag of sea shells and let him
explore them. You could do art projects with them. Color pictures of shells. Maybe
make imprints of the shells in some play dough. There are a ton of ideas here.
Buy a big one that you can hear the ocean in as well and allow them to listen
to it. If you’re lucky enough to live by a beach, then go looking for shells.
We don’t, so I’ll have to buy a bag.
·
Print out 2 pictures of the ocean. Make them big
enough that the kids can easily place things onto it. Lay one down on the floor
or the table or whatever. Past the other picture to some spare card board. Having spare cardboard boxes lay around your
house is normal right? After the glue dries, cut certain parts of the
picture out. Then you can help you toddler play a matching game. This will help
them recognize some creatures, and some vegetation that live in the ocean.
·
Use construction paper to create pictures of the
oceans. Depending on how old you child is, they could help cut out the pictures
and glue them down. For Thomas I’ll have to have these types of things pre-cut
(Ex: sea weed out of green construction paper). You could even find items that
you could use to make a 3D picture. (Use some of the shells that you bought)
·
Turn your living room (or a hallway) into the
ocean. Personally I would like to turn a hallway into the ocean. Put some blue
lights in (or hang something over them that would have them reflect a water
type of glow). Put pictures all over the place of things found in the ocean.
Maybe put some stuffed animals or little character plastic animals around in
there. Scatter sea shells on the floor. Put whatever else you can find/think of
that would help teach them about the ocean. And then take them on an expedition
through the ocean.
·
Put up a tent. Plug in the projector. Find some
YouTube videos of exploring the ocean. Sit in the tent with your child, use
your imaginations to pretend that you are explorers in a submarine, and enjoy
the ride. Maybe you want to take some pictures.
·
If you have the opportunity to go to an aquarium
then I say use this as an excuse to do something for family time. Take lots of
pictures. It could me a mini-vacation for the family. And what’s better yet you
child will learn something new along the way.
·
For a counting activity find pictures of a
variety of ocean creatures. Glue them to a poster board (preferably blue) Use a
marker to write a number on the creature, and then draw bubbles coming from the
creatures that match the number on the creature.
·
Fill the tub up with water (or you could use a
wading pool) and put foam ocean creatures in there. Then let your little one
fish them out using a net or a strainer or whatever.
·
Counting with your sea shells – Gather up some
plastic bowls ( I kept my Easter egg dying cups, but you could also use other
plastic dishes or Styrofoam bowls or whatever you have) put a piece of paper in
the bowl with a number from 1-10 in there. Let the kids put the appropriate
amount of sea shells in each dish.
·
Buy a bag of colorful pompoms. Print out a
picture of a sea creature of your choosing, and then color the picture in by
gluing down the pompoms.
·
Make an octopus by rolling a piece of paper up
the long way. Glue the edges so they stay put. About halfway down the piece of
paper cut in the 8 “tentacles”, let the kids decorate their octopus.
·
Glue rice to a pre-cut out starfish. Make it
more fun by coloring the rice first.
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