Mister Shark, Mister Shark, What Time Is It? (Outdoors)
Kids of all Ages
This classic game can be played outdoors as well as in the pool. Pick a child to be the shark, and have him or her turn around and close their eyes. The other kids back away, and chant ‘mister shark, mister shark, what time is it?’ The shark responds by giving the time (any time), and the kids take that many steps toward him (three steps for three o’clock, etc.). Continue this until the kids get close to the shark. Then when they ask what time it is, the shark yells out “lunch time!” and chases the kids around the playground or pool till he catches someone who in turn becomes the next shark. (The shark is the judge of when it is time to call lunch time by listening to how close the kids sound.)
Shrimps in the Water (Science / Sensory)
Pre K to Kindergarten
Fill your sensory table or another large tub with water, and add store bought shrimp. Try to get an assortment of sizes. (Some daddy shrimp, baby shrimp, etc., and as close as you can find to natural, unprocessed form. Check the deli section.) Let the kids play with them in the water while talking about what they think the life of a real shrimp in the ocean is like.
Sea Shells in the Sand (Science / Sensory / Outdoor)
Kids of All Ages
Fill your sensory table with play sand, and add a variety of sea shells. (Buy bags of sea shells at Wal-Mart or at a craft supply store.) Have the kids bury the seashells in the sand and dig them up again. You can also make this an outdoor activity for your sandbox.
Shark Sock Puppets (Art/Dramatic Play)
All Ages
Gather 1 spare tube sock for each child in your class. Place the sock over the end of a 2 by 4 board and use a razor blade to make a slit across the toe of the sock to create a mouth opening. Next cut a dorsal fin shape out of felt paper, leaving a small tab on the front and back, and make a slit through the top of the sock halfway down that’s long enough for the fin to slip through but catches on the tabs. Turn the sock inside out, push the fin through, and then glue the tabs you left at the front and back to the inside of the sock using fabric glue. Be sure to glue the tabs down in opposite directions, since the opposing forces will keep the fin upright instead of causing it to collapse to one side. Once dry, turn the sock right side out again, and apply another layer of fabric glue to close the sock around the fin and further secure it in place.
Next you’ll need fabric paints or colored magic markers, a pair of googly eyes or fuzzy balls to use as eyes for each sock, spare felt pieces, fabric glue, and a pair of craft scissors for the teachers. Have the kids paint or color their sock puppet, glue on the eyes, and if they’d like, make some additional fins from the spare felt pieces. (They can draw the shape of the fins themselves, have you cut them out and then hand them back to glue on the puppet where they’d like.) You might encourage them to put the sock over their non-dominant hand while they’re creating it so they can decorate it how it will later appear when being used. For the finishing touch, cut two strips of pointy teeth from white felt, and glue them on the inside of the mouth opening to make a top and bottom set of teeth.
Once their projects have had time to dry, they’ll have a fun shark puppet that they can actually feed; biting down on play people or gobbling down other objects by grabbing them with the hand inside the sock and pushing it down into the belly of their shark.
Human Jellyfish (Art/Dramatic Play)
Preschool-Grade 1
Gather 1 paper grocery store bag for every child in your class, and have them paint it white, yellow, tan, light blue, pink, or some combination of light colors. Then have them cut strips of tissue paper streamers into 1-2 foot sections, and glue them around the bottom of the bag so that they hang down underneath it. Once the bags are dry, cut out a rectangular viewing hole where a child’s eyes would be, and have them place the bag over their head to become a human jellyfish.
Fishnet Rubbings (Art/Fine Motor)
All Ages
Get a fishing net and tape it down over one of your tables. Give your kids blue crayons and a piece of paper, and have them rub back and forth to create a net pattern over their paper. Once they’re finished, encourage them to draw in little fishes over their pattern with colored pencils.
Fish Impressions (Art/Fine Motor)
All Ages
Use the fish stencils contained in this theme to trace an assortment of silhouettes onto construction paper, then cut them out to use as a stencil. Tape them onto the table, one silhouette for each seat. Provide the kids with crayons and paper, and have them rub back and forth to leave the impression of the fish on the paper. (It helps to tape their paper so it stays in place while they rub.) Once they’re done, have them use the crayons or colored pencils to draw in details of their fish. If they’d like, once they’re done you can give them a new piece of paper and have them repeat the process with a different silhouette.
Seafood Tasting Party (Special Project)
All Ages
Schedule a seafood tasting party for your classroom! To share the expense and avoid having to pay too much out of pocket, assign each child in your class a specific type of prepared seafood to bring in. It’s best to assign two or three kids to bring in the same item, so that if one child forgets you have a backup. Here are some ideas:
- Crab
- Shrimp
- Seaweed/Kelp
- Tuna
- Scallops
- Kipper snacks
- Albatross
- Octopus
- Jack mackerel
It doesn’t have to be fancy – a can of crab meat or tuna fish will do. Set all the items you gather at a table. You might want to add some crackers as well. Next, make a simple rating card for your kids listing each item, or have them create their own if your kids are literate or learning how to write. Have them taste a small sample of each item and then rate that item on a scale of 1 to 10 according to their personal taste preferences. Later on, have a group time to discuss their experiences, or chart their ratings to come up with an average score for each item and see which one is the most popular.
Shark Sock Puppets (Art/Dramatic Play)
All Ages
Gather 1 spare tube sock for each child in your class. Place the sock over the end of a 2 by 4 board and use a razor blade to make a slit across the toe of the sock to create a mouth opening. Next cut a dorsal fin shape out of felt paper, leaving a small tab on the front and back, and make a slit through the top of the sock halfway down that’s long enough for the fin to slip through but catches on the tabs. Turn the sock inside out, push the fin through, and then glue the tabs you left at the front and back to the inside of the sock using fabric glue. Be sure to glue the tabs down in opposite directions, since the opposing forces will keep the fin upright instead of causing it to collapse to one side. Once dry, turn the sock right side out again, and apply another layer of fabric glue to close the sock around the fin and further secure it in place.
Next you’ll need fabric paints or colored magic markers, a pair of googly eyes or fuzzy balls to use as eyes for each sock, spare felt pieces, fabric glue, and a pair of craft scissors for the teachers. Have the kids paint or color their sock puppet, glue on the eyes, and if they’d like, make some additional fins from the spare felt pieces. (They can draw the shape of the fins themselves, have you cut them out and then hand them back to glue on the puppet where they’d like.) You might encourage them to put the sock over their non-dominant hand while they’re creating it so they can decorate it how it will later appear when being used. For the finishing touch, cut two strips of pointy teeth from white felt, and glue them on the inside of the mouth opening to make a top and bottom set of teeth.
Once their projects have had time to dry, they’ll have a fun shark puppet that they can actually feed; biting down on play people or gobbling down other objects by grabbing them with the hand inside the sock and pushing it down into the belly of their shark.
Wave Motion (Science/Sensory)
Preschool-Grade 1
Bring in a kiddy pool or some other large tub, and fill it with about two inches of water. Give kids some straws and some paddle-like objects (or just have them use their hands), and let them experiment with wave generation by gently running their hands through the water or blowing through the straw to generate waves. Can they find a way of recreating the waves in the ocean? Is there a difference in the type of wave each method produces? How do they think their own little experiment is similar or different to the motion of actual waves in the ocean? Discuss their observations later in group.
Wave Bottles (Science/Sensory)
All Ages
Collect and clean clear plastic drink bottles, removing the labels from each one. Next fill them about a quarter to a third of the way to the top with cooking oil, and add water to fill the rest of the bottle nearly to the top. Add a couple drops of blue food coloring, and then apply a layer of glue to the inside cap before screwing it on to seal the bottle shut.
The water will separate from the oil, creating a unique wave motion inside the bottle. With younger kids, make the wave bottles and then let them play with them, turning the bottles sideways to watch the motion of the liquid. With older age groups, let them make their own wave bottle to take home.