By the Sea Actrivities


Crab Walk

Have your children to sit on the floor and lean back on their hands. Have them keep their feet flat on the floor. Then have them lift their bottoms off the floor and try moving sideways as crabs do.

Paper Plate Crab

Have the children glue six red or brown streamers or ribbons on the eating surface of a paper plate, then staple the plate closed so the outside is the bottom of the plate. Have the children use red tempera paint to color the crabs. After the paint dries, have the children draw on eyes and a mouth.

Crab Walk Race

Have the children race like crabs.

Eat like a crab

Show your child a picture of a crab. Ask them "how does the crab eat?" Ask them to show you how the crabs eat using their fingers as pincers.

Octopus Streamers

Have the child make an octopus by knotting eight pieces of crepe paper together. Play some music and have your child do an octopus dance.

Hot Dog Ocotpus

Cut slits into a hot dog 2/3's of the way up. Us a toothpick to poke two eyes near the top. Put the hot dog in a pan of boiling water.

Paper Plate Octopus

Have your child cut a paper plate in half. Have the child draw eyes on the plate, then glue on eight pieces of crepe paper to the bottom as arms. When dry hang by a window to see the ocotpus "swim".

Easy Octopus Art

Draw 7 5 1/2 in lines up from the long side of a piece of construction paper. Have the child cut along the lines to make arms, and roll the paper and tape the sides of the body together. Have your child bend the arms outwards, and stick on sticker eyes.

Pipe cleaner Octopus

Cut a toilet paper tube in half. Have your child tape eight pipe cleaners onto the tube for legs. Use a marker for the eyes.

Fish Sort

Use the fish from above, have your child sort the fish by color, or size.

Shell Match and Sort

Place many different kinds of shell out. have your child sort the shell by type.

Fishing Fun

Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut and laminate many different colored, and sized fish from construction paper. Attach a paper lip to each fish. Spread the fish shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the fish. Have them try to catch the red fish.. or the biggest fish.

Watching fish

Go to an aquarium, point out the parts of a fish, (body, fins, eyes, gills, tail etc..) Ask your child which is the biggest, smallest? How do the fish swim? Etc..

More Watching Fish

Visit a pond, lake, or fish store to observe fish.

Paper Plate Fish

Draw a triangle mouth shape on a paper plate. Have your child cut out the triangle, and have them glue it on the fish as a tail. Let your child color, or use glitter, or tissue paper to decorate their fish.

Under the Sea

This one is sooo simple. Buy some fish stickers.. have your child put the stickers on a piece of blue paper for a fish scene.

Goldfish Fun

Tape numbers in the inside of a muffin tin, 1 to 6. Tell your child to place the appropriate number of Goldfish crackers into each "fish bowl" (the holes in the muffin tin).

Snack

Try the different varities of the Goldfish crackers.

Observing shells and such

Obtain many different kinds of shells and rocks. Allow the children to feel them, and look at them with a magnifying glass.

Sensory Fish

You need: Blue Hair Gel Ziplock Bag small Plastic fish Glitter
Place the fish, glitter and gel into the baggie. Seal the bag, and then tape it shut. Let the children feel and play with the bag at a table. Observe closely so the bag is not punctured.

Ocean Bottle

Clean out an empty plastic pop bottle. Add water, blue food coloring, and glitter, and maybe a few pebbles. Seal the bottle closed using a little hot glue, allow to completly dry before the children can play with it. Tip the bottle back and forth. roll the bottle on the floor.

Fish Art

Obtain bathtub grippers that are fish shaped. I found mine at the dollar store. (You can use any shapes.) Peel off the back, and let your child decorate with glitter, or construction paper. You don't have to use glue:)

Play Fisherman

Let the pretend to be fishermen. You can use a box with low sides for a boat, dowels with strings for poles, and plastic fish. (The children can pretend to be fish as well.) Provide shading hats, empty tackle boxes, and lunchpails.

Under the Sea Play

Go to the 1/2 off Card Shop or a place that sells party supplies. You can buy plates with different kinds of fish on them. Cut out the fish and attach to a popsicle stick. Allow the children to play with the different kinds of fish.

Fish Match

Use the extra plates (2 of each kind) from above. Cut out the fish shapes and laminate them. Ask your child to pick a fish... then find it's match.

Number Fish

Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut out 6 fish shapes from the plates (see Under the see play). Number 6 small squares of construction paper from 1 to 6, and glue them to the fish. Attach papet clips to the fish. Lay the fish on the floor, spread them out at first. Have the children use the fishing pole to try to catch the fish. Have them try to get a certain number.

Number Fish Game

Follow instructions for Nubmer Fish. Then, obtain a die. Have one child roll the die, then count the dots, to find the number. Then have the child try to catch the fish with that number on it.

Shell Game

Hide an object under one of three shell lined in a row. Move the shells around and have your child guess which shell the object is under.

Shell Hunt

Fill a dishpan half full with samd and shell. Let your child find the shells, and count them when they are done.

Be a Jellyfish

I suggest that you get a book from the library about fish, that includes a little info about jellyfish, and read it to your child before this activity. Staple pieces of crepe paper around a piece of yarn. Tie the yarn around the waist of a child... now they are a jellyfish.
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