Ocean Learning

The past two weeks we've been doing a little ocean learning here at the house.  Missy and I planned a trip to the beach last Friday, so it was a perfect opportunity to teach something super fun with the anticipation of seeing many of the things we've been learning about!  

Again, I'm all about learning along with life, but choosing a topic each week gives me something to focus on with Grace Louise, adding the potential for a little more structured learning to our day.  Something as simple as reading one thematic book!  (And finding books at the library on this topic was totally a breeze!  Her favorite book, though beyond her usual reading level, was The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean).

Our ocean concepts:

O is for Ocean.

S is for Sand, Starfish, Sun, and Seashells.

F is for Fish.

W is for waves.

On day 3 God separated the dry land, called earth, and the waters, called the seas.

Ocean and beach plants and animals.

Reinforcing shapes and letters.

I found this game, along with most of my craft ideas, on pinterest.  We made a simple fishing pole with a magnet at the end to pick up the letter fish with metal brad eyes.  Easy as pie!  I found that only putting a few fish down at a time gave GL the best opportunity for success in finding certain letters.  We've focused on the beginning letters of the alphabet, letters in her name, and of course the letters that we've been talking about the past two weeks.  She's loving this game, the fish were relevant to our topic, and it was not difficult to make!  

[All of these crafts/games are pinned under my Ocean Unit Board on Pinterest.  I take no responsibility for coming up with these ideas on my own... I'm simply not that creative, just a great thief!]

Look at that bit of sweet preciousness, right there!  (The girl, not the poster).  We made a mural with water and sand the first day, along with our "O is for Ocean".  The idea was to use the mural as a gathering place for our crafts from throughout the week(s).  Grace Louise has loved coming to the mural everyday to add something or talk about the things that are already there.  The bottom pic is our finished mural... and doesn't she just look as proud as a peacock?!