The Ocean !

On Monday we gave each child 2 pieces of a puzzle.  How could we work together to assemble the puzzle?  We looked at the striped pattern on the top and bottom and tried to put those pieces together first. 

Alex and Amelia noticed their pieces had the same color orange.

As more and more of the puzzle was completed the children recognized different ocean creatures.  It was interesting to hear their spontaneous conversations, mostly about their own trips to the ocean.  They were able to identify every creature except one....and then Saul said, "It's a shrimp!" 

Each day, different children have asked to work the puzzle again.

No ocean is complete without a sandy beach. 

Scooping, pouring and lazily moving the sand around with fingers is all part of the sensory experience.  By using different sized cups and spoons the children are working with volume.

Briana is painting her ocean background.  The children could choose from a variety of paint colors and tools.

Alex loved using the fly swatter. He was intrigued by the design he could create and the fact that little bubbles appeared too.   His giggles could be heard throughout the room!

Many times we find a child or two watching their friends as they wait for a turn.  Together they talk about what they are painting!  Here, Saul took a very deliberate (and time consuming)  approach.  He wanted light paint so he could create the "foam" at the top of a wave and used all the tools to get different effects..  We told him, "Saul, you're being very experimental."  Emma's quick reply was, "And I am being very patient!"  You know we laugh all day long!

See all the swirls on Jake's ocean,  "just like the ocean if it is windy".   He took one of the brushes and twirled it, instead of the more "usual" way to paint!   Here  Jake is bending and pinching pipe cleaners for coral, a good way to develop strength and flexibility in a child's fingers.

Zoey is using yarn to make her coral, manipulating the yarn into the glue.  There's no way to keep your fingers from getting "gluey"  as you do this.  The slight stickiness made some of the children want a wipe immediately,  but we encouraged them to complete their design before cleaning their hands.  Sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty!

We read nonfiction books about fish and compared their body parts to our own.  The children learned about scales, gills, fins and tails.  We looked at pictures in the many ocean books in the room and saw all the varied colors fish can be.  Each child drew a body, tail and as many fins as they wanted to create a fish.  Noor happily displays her creation.

Zoey brought in a seahorse for us to examine.  We love it when the children bring in treasures that enrich our curriculum.