The tots have gone through themes on the farm animals and safari animals, so I thought I should gently move them into a relatively new topic.
Instead of suddenly showing them marine animals, I introduced animals that swim, such as the crocodile, seal, penguin and polar bear. These animals thrive on both land and sea. Then for the later part of the month, I introduced them to the sea animals.
As usual, we began our activities by reading simple books on the animals and related craftwork after that. Craftwork on animals is an excellent way for the tots to learn about parts of the animal body.
Our craftwork is pretty close-ended, and they relied mainly on my instructions. Despite all the critiques relating to close-ended play, I believe close-ended work is still necessary for building skills such as comprehension, task completion while helping to hone their fine motor skills as well as cognitive development.
Crocodile Craft Work
The crocodile craftwork was a great way to help the tots work on their shapes identification. Triangular razor-sharp teeth, head and tail, rectangular body and square scales (some of which were cut by themselves) though one of the tots preferred to use pom-pom for scales.
SEAL
The tots attempted cutting out circles and ovals to create the seals’ head and bodies, slowly guided by their mom.
We chose a blue background to represent the seals swimming in the waters, and drew fishes because the tots had learnt that seals love to eat fish. See the whiskers on the seals? Don’t you think they look a little like dogs? Seal actually evolved from the canine family.
Polar Bear
The polar bear is one of the animals that swim and lives on land. We made paper plate polar bear. Using white paint as adhesive, we paste the bear’s head, ears and mouth on the paper plate. Wobbly eye and pom-pom nose made the polar bear looked extra adorable.
Sea Turtle
More cut-and-paste work for the tots to familiarise them with the sea turtle. We did this again yesterday. And I was pleasantly surprised by their ability to cut out the body parts according to the outline I drew for them and put the pieces together all by themselves.
Penguins
Penguin – my little girl’s favourite animal. We made a toilet-penguin, and they were so pleased with their artwork. The craft was, however, slightly tricky for them, and they required a lot of intervention from me.
Shark
Baby shark do do do do do do … One of their favourite Youtube songs. They are familiar with the shark because of their brother’s mega-shark soft toy from Ikea, and due to their visit to the RWS S.E.A Aquarium last June. Click here for the post sharing our experience.
I got the tots to paste the fins to the sharks’ bodies, and we went on with some simple counting after that.
Fish – Shapes and Counting Activity
I find this a fabulous activity that we can repeatedly carry out to hone the tots cutting skills, appreciate dimensions and count.
Using only triangles, I demonstrated putting a fish today while they attempted with some cutting and put the rest together.
Not an easy feat for the little ones I would say. Repeated practices would really help them distinguish size and orientation.
By the way, if you notice, there are 6 fishes in the craftwork, representing our 6-member family.
More Paints and Colour
Bought a marine-themed colouring book from the Popular Bookshop for the tots to dribble and paint on.
Octopus – A great counting opportunity
The actual octopus itself is a little too eerie for my little ones, and we skipped the octopus book which we borrowed from the library. We went straight into making an octopus craft using toilet roll.
Since octopus has eight legs, I got the tots to count the number of legs the octopus has using number blocks. That would ensure that the tots would not count endlessly in circles.
Puzzle Activities related to marine animals
Colour matching puzzle* from Melissa and Doug.
More puzzles from Popular
Story Telling
I personally like this open-ended “Fuzzy Ocean” felt book very much. It will accompany the tots through their various developmental stages, from matching to reading, imagination and story-telling. The felt pictures are sturdy, as proven by another similar book we bought many years ago.
You can get the book from book depository via this link*.
Reading Times
These are the thematic books we read, and tots love very much.
Jumbo blue whales by Francis MacIntire – an early reader series which is highly suitable for the toddlers, very easy to read, and clear images that aid the tots with comprehending the facts.
Look, a clownfish! / by Tessa Kenan.
What’s a fish? / by Anna Kaspar.
Grace the green sea turtle / Rebecca Johnson.
A House for Hermit Crab* by Eric Carle. The book is slightly advance for the tots, but I like it that it introduces many sea animals and months of the year to the tots. The hermit crab made new friends who helped him decorate his new house. But at the end of the year, he had to let go of the shell that was once again too small for him and find a new one again.
Watch the video of the story here.
Relevant DVD if you allow your child to watch
Octonauts – The great swamp search. The Octonauts series is highly recommended by parents who are into peaceful parenting and non-violent programs for kids. The Octonauts series is educational and introduces lots of marine animals and ocean phenomenon to little children.
My resources, as seen in this post:
Animal Flashcards and Puzzle by 童悦坊. You can find them in Bras Basah Popular.
Elmer’s School Glue* for crafts
Googly Eyes* for crafts
You may also be keen on the following post:
Homeschooling the Twins – 25 months old – Fruit Theme
Homeschooling the Twins – Safari Animal Theme
The kids had a blast in KidZania Bangkok
Hope my sharing is useful here.
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