Sharks became my son’s obsession in First Grade. Kindergarten was his Lego obsession which definitely continued into First grade, but in First Grade he met some friends in California who loved sharks and his inkling of an interest blossomed. They formed a “fish club” at school and suddenly he was pouring over Shark books late into the night. Four years later, heading into Fifth grade he’s still obsessed and absolutely knows more about sharks than I do. 

If you have a kiddo who is obsessed with these incredible creatures – then these Shark Week ideas are for you! This post is a round up of all of the fun shark activities we’ve done over the course of many ideas, more than you’ll likely do in one week. 

Note: You can certainly do these ANY time of the year – not just during shark week! 

Shark Week Unit Ideas

affiliate links are included in this post.

Field Trip Ideas

If it’s possible, going to see real live sharks is an exciting addition to a Shark Unit. We’re lucky to be able to snorkel with sharks and see them in the nearby aquariums here in San Diego. 

Aquarium

Depending on where you are, your access to aquariums and aquariums with sharks will vary obviously. If you can get to an aquarium and see these guys in real life though it is a great experience.

Right now, here in the San Diego County area we were able to see three kinds of reef sharks at the AquaLife aquarium at Legoland and little sharks at the Birch Aquarium (they’re outside in a little area curtained off from the play area.)

Sea World – San Diego

This is kind of the ultimate aquarium. My son was beyond excited that he not only got to see some cool sharks – like black tipped reef sharks – but he also got to touch sharks in the touch tanks by the entrance. We were about 100 yards into the park when he smiled up at me and said “I already really like this place Mom!”

Shark Activity Ideas

Learning anything and everything about sharks seemed to be our general plan for our Shark Unit. Here are some shark activities to get you started.

Literacy Activities

• Awesome Children’s Books about Sharks from My Storytime Corner 
• Comparing and Contrasting Fiction and Non-Fiction Books
  Comparing and contrasting two books is one of our first grade learning objectives. We also did this with two ocean animals, but for this activity I simply put out a sheet of paper for each kid with a space for writing or drawing something that was the same and something that was different. Then we had a bigger discussion together and grew our lists.
• Shark Word Find Puzzle from Jinxy Kids – these would be great spelling words as well if you’re looking for a related Spelling Word list. 

read also: Preschool Ocean animals unit ideas

Art Activities

• Learn to Draw Sharks with a shark drawing book
• Learn to Draw Sharks with this video tutorial on Art for Kids Hub. 
• Learn to Draw a Shark printable from Kid Activities Blog
• Under the Sea Mural – we used the 3 Day Collaborative Mural idea from Artful Parent
• Giant Shark Suncatcher Craft from And Next Comes L is another fun potentially collaborative project.
• Shark Chalk Pastel Drawings from Nourishing My Scholar
• Easy Shark Origami from Hawaii Travel with Kids
• Paper Plate Shark craft from Kid Activities Blog
• Shark Bookmark Craft from Big Family Blessings – this is super cute! Or print and color these shark bookmarks from Picklebums
• Cut and Glue Shark Craft from Kiddy Charts – I think this is best for kindergarten/first graders.
• Chomping Foam Shark Puppet from The Soccer Mom Blog

STEM Activities

• Ocean Life LEGO Building – start with these LEGO building ideas post here.
• Shark Week Fast Facts Printable from 3 Boys and a Dog
• Play Games to learn about the food cycle and more. We love playing CHOMP. It’s a quick, easy and fun card game that includes sharks. We also love Professor Noggins Trivia Oceans game. It includes sharks along with a whole host of other marine life. 
• Shark Toys and Water Beads Sensory Bin
• Observing + Drawing Favorite Ocean Animals – pick an animal and observe them at your local aquarium.
• Learn about their characteristics. Like how do sharks float?
• Math & Science Shark Printables from Every Star is Different
• Measure Sharks – Pull out your favorite shark book, a tape measure and some chalk. Measure your favorite kinds of sharks and draw them out on the drive way. 
• Shark Worksheets from Living Life and Learning 
  
  Awesome Ocean Science by Cindy A. Littlefield
  Find Online
  A whole book of kid’s science experiments about the ocean! Fascinating information and fun hands on activities.  5+
• Watch Octonauts Episodes about Sharks 
  Season 1 (episodes 7, 8, 22), Season 2 (episode 1) and Season 3 (episode 7)
• Play in Ocean Oobleck from Glitter on a Dime
• Sharks Unit Study printable pack from Rock Your Homeschool. This is a really detailed, thorough packet for kids who want to go a little deeper.
• Shark Life Cycle with Mama Teaches

Social Studies Activities

• Map Where Sharks Live

Gross Motor Activities

• Play “Great White Shark” at the pool.
  It is Marco Polo except the person searching is a shark instead. If you think saying shark at the pool is going to be too alarming to others (note: do not play this game at the beach) then you can just say “Hammer” and “Head” or some other variation on a shark name.
• Shark Circuit Training
  Make up a workout circuit that’s shark themed. We did a leg focused one that included shark munchies (jumping jacks), shark swims (running in place), shark chompers (shark leg raises). Be creative. How can you move your bodies like a shark and workout?
• Play What Did the Shark Eat?
  There are 3 ways to play this game from Your Therapy Source which can work on a variety of skills. 

Cute Shark-ish Snack Ideas

• Shark-Cuterie Board from Simplistically Living
• Ocean Blue Lemonade Popsicles from Play Party Plan
• Shark Lollipops from In The Kids Kitchen
• Shark Covered Oreos from In The Kids Kitchen

Browse All Of Our Unit Ideas

It is impossible to not smile while I watch my kids scamper in the waves. The sun warms my shoulders as I sit back in the sand. They run towards the waves and then away when a big one comes crashing into the shore. They roar with laughter and then run towards the water again.

This endless game is excellent physical activity and some pretty awesome sensory input, but is it more than that?

Are they actually learning anything at the beach or are they falling behind their peers bending over worksheets and IPad learning games?

If I learned anything from being at home with my kids it is that anywhere can be a classroom. A classroom, the actual physical room, is not needed. It serves a purpose to help organize large groups of kids, but it is not a key ingredient in learning.

Learning? Learning can happen anywhere. Even at the beach.

read also: 20+ Ocean Unit Ideas for K and First grade

What do you need to make the beach your classroom?

affiliate links included

Materials for Your Classroom

What to Bring Each Beach Trip

*Beach Blanket (this one is awesome!)

*Sand Buckets

*Sand Shovels

*Water + Snacks

*Sunscreen

Materials to Rotate

*Sand molds

*Kites

*Water spray bottles

*Plastic People or Animals

*Plastic Vehicles

also read:
8 Things to Pack in Your Beach Bag to Spark Creative Play

 Activity Ideas for Your Classroom

Literacy

• Beach Scavenger Hunt from Natural Beach Living
• Journal Writing: Journal about what you see or experience with your other senses at the beach. Doodle or write stories.

Math

• Sorting Seashells from Playground Parkbench
• Make Patterns with seashells

Science

• Beach Learning Activities from Little Bins for Little Hands
• Create a Ocean Nature Table back at home from Natural Beach Living
• 5 Ways to Explore Science at the Beach from KCEdventures
• Collect Shells, Rocks, Bugs and Look Closely
• Ocean Animal Unit from Bambini Travel

Creativity

• Make a Beach Collage from Crafty Kids at Home
• Create a Sand Castle or a Different Sand Structure
• Draw Pictures or Create Stories

Motor

• 15 Things to do with Kids at the Beach from Frog Mom
• Fly a Kite

But this is just a start. Some ideas to get the wheels turning. The real ideas will come from your kids.

What interests them?

What do they notice?

What questions do they ask?

And how can you take that further?

These are the questions that will create a classroom of curious, engaged learners – even at the beach.

The moment you arrive at Torrey Pines State Reserve it is pretty obvious why this hike makes it onto so many Best San Diego Hikes for Kids and Best San Diego Attractions for Kids lists.

It is gorgeous! And this isn’t even close to the best view.

affiliate links may be included in this post. 

Now I aim to be completely honest here – so I’m just going to say it – the first part of this hike kind of sucks.

You start down here – either park in the lot or on the street just before the park entrance – and then you hike up a hill. You can park at the top but then you’re going to end with the hard part so I don’t recommend that.

So, once you park, you head up a hill. A big hill. Like a super big hill. Not steep for the most part but a long, slow climb up.

Now to be fair, ever since I had that huge part of my lung taken out hills have been hard for me. Part of why I like to hike so much and love California so much, is that forcing myself to walk up these things, while hard, is super helpful for strengthening what is left of my sad lungs.

Even still, those of us that didn’t have a partial lobectomy were also struggling up that hill.

Hang in there through that climb, it is worth it.

The views from the top are spectacular. On a clear day you can see ocean for miles.

I am fascinated by the west coast landscape right now so I loved every bit of this hike. The ocean. The rocks. The foliage…

At the top there is a small nature center and there was also a Ranger outside the bathroom (port-a-potty) area. My kids immediately started asking him questions about the different things on his table.

They walked away (many many many minutes later) with new knowledge about the animals in the hills of San Diego. Learning thru adventure for the win!

We also got our handy bird guide that has since been used on several hikes at the nature center.

So bird guide, new knowledge and rested legs (and lung) in hand we headed down the mountain.

All the way down the views were spectacular. I’ll spare you the hundreds of pictures I took but it was amazing.

Follow the Kid Friendly San Diego Facebook Group!

The hike down is definitely doable for little legs. My kids are good hikers at this point (my twins are 6) but I think most kids about 4 and up could handle the walk down. I would probably have attempted it with my kids when they were three but especially the uphill part would have been a struggle.

At the bottom you are rewarded with a stunning beach.

also read: rock field trip to Torrey Pines and activity ideas

The hills, the rocks, the water, the beach. This was pretty much my version of heaven. A busy heaven – because this is a super popular park, but it was amazing.

also read: 52 things to do in san diego with kids

We walked along the beach back in the general direction of the car taking our time the whole way.

My kids loved hopping on rocks and wading into the little pools of water.

I took more pictures and just marveled. Truly. What a beautiful place we get to call home for a while.

We ended at the beach in front of the entrance. My kids couldn’t resist a splash in the (freezing cold) Pacific. And really after all that hiking they had earned it.

Good Things to Know about Torrey Pines

In conclusion, here is what you need to know before you hike at Torrey Pines.

• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Be prepared to go uphill.
• Bring water for going uphill and for the sun.
• Wear sunscreen.
• Stop at the bathroom at the top.
• The top is also a good place to stop and have a snack.
• Be prepared for kids to want to get wet at the bottom.
• It is awesome

If you’re looking for a hike in San Diego I definitely recommend this one. It is one we will do again.

Learn More about
Having Adventures with Kids in My Book!

My kids spent a week digging in clean, white sand and squealing over blue, salty waves. It was relaxing and fun.

Where, you ask, is this little slice of delightful beach life?

Long Island.

Wait…what? Like the Long Island that holds Queens and Brooklyn?

Yup. That one.

About an hour East of Brooklyn along the southern coast of Long Island is the little town on Long Beach, NY.

Here gorgeous stretches of unspoiled sand meet big crashing waves from the Atlantic.

affiliate links are shared below

A Weekend in Long Island NY

We have spent a week the past few years out on Long Island with our extended family and I often get questions when people see my pictures on Instagram – so here it is:

Our top tips on where to stay, eat, and play in Long Island, NY.

STAY.

If you live in New York City, Long Beach is absolutely doable as a day trip. It takes about 1-2 hours to drive out there depending on where you live in the city.

If, however, you want to spend a week or long weekend – which I highly recommend – look into a beach house rental.

There are an abundance of options. Airbnb and other rental agencies have lots of reasonable options that are just steps away from the ocean.

We love renting a house where we can all sleep in beds, follow our regular schedules, and have space for eating and spending time with our extended family.

EAT.

For the most part, since we rent a house, we shop at the local grocery store and eat in. Over the years however we have developed some favorite places to eat out or find treats.

Bungalow West

Big menu with lots of variety. We love the smoothies and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and the tacos for lunch.

Beach Bagel and Deli

Okay, so yes I’m reading the title and the bagels and sandwiches are good, BUT this is where you want to go for delicious ice cream. Pop over to the little window and take your pick of delicious flavors. The ices (what they are more known for) are also a great option, especially for people with Dairy Allergies. They have a whole menu of Dairy Free options.

Dough Hut

Ah-mazing donuts. I do realize it is starting to sound like all we do is eat treats when we go to the beach. This is maybe a little true, but since we rent a house we cook most meals at homes. This little hole in the wall has awesome donuts and they open bright and early (6am). Note: They do not, however, have any dairy free options. 

NOTE: While we don’t eat out a ton, there are a lot of good restaurants in the area if you are looking for somewhere to eat. I would start looking on Beech Street.

TO DO.

If you’re headed to Long Beach, I hope you like the beach but there are a few other things to do if you need a break or hit a patch of cloudy weather.

Long Beach

First! The beach. I recommend getting there early and trying to come during the week to avoid the crowds. It is never as busy here as it is on some of the closer beaches on the weekend, but it does get busier on weekends.

Entrances to the beach are located between Nevada Avenue and Pacific Boulevard and these have attendants. Street parking is limited, but available if you have a little patience.

There is a daily admission fee ($15 for nonresidents – kids under 12 are FREE) but I think it is entirely worth it for the gorgeous beach. Season passes are available.

Once you’re on the beach, assuming you’ve brought some fun beach toys and a boogie board or two, you will have endless hours of fun ahead.

Play at a Playground

Take a beach break at a playground.

The area has several, including this small, newly updated playground. The Georgia Ave Park is a little gem tucked on the west end of W Beech St.

Our kids love the tree house climbing structures and the splash pad area. There is a nice shaded area for parents and picnicking.

You can also visit the Magnolia Playground located at Magnolia Boulevard and West Broadway or the Clark Street Playground on the bay side.

Bike Rentals

Families can rent bikes on the boardwalk and ride along the smooth path. Long Beach is an incredibly bike friendly town and you will see them everywhere you go.

Watch a Movie at Long Beach Cinemas

I hope you have perfect weather, but if not there is a small movie theater in town that always has at least one kid movie in our experience. See listings here.

Other Notes:

*Just in case, there is a CityMD Urgent Care Clinic and a 24 hour pharmacy in Long Beach.

*There are port-a-potty like bathrooms on the beach.

Subscribe Below for Weekly Family Travel Ideas

The ocean is one of those parenting things for me. You know those things you absolutely adore that you cannot wait to share with your kids?

That favorite book you read as a child.

That favorite ice cream spot.

That favorite summer vacation spot.

The ocean is that for me.

affiliate links are included below

I was a water baby. A water kid. A water grown up now I suppose.

My mom loves telling the story about my first trip to the beach in Florida when I crawled right into the water – completely obviously to the fact that the waves could carry me away. I have loved it ever since.

I love the feeling of your body diving smoothly into the water. I love the feeling of waves crashing around your toes. I love leaping over waves. I love paddling over them…

So imagine my surprise when not only was my son not impressed but he was afraid of the ocean.

The first time we took our twins to the beach it was gorgeous, quiet little spot along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. It was a perfect day. Warm sun on our skin. Gentle breeze. The clear blue water collided in gentle waves on the shore.

This was it!

We walked our almost toddling babies down there and gave them a minute to take it all in.

Lake Michigan – if you haven’t had the delight – is huge. Although it’s obviously not as big as an ocean, it feels endless when you stand at it’s shore.

They stood bug eyed holding on to me. I was sure they were filled with the same awe and wonder and thrill I still feel every time. My daughter reached for it and started toddling forward. Our friend wadded way into the water with her. Soon they were both soaked and my daughter was giddy. Her smile stretched from ear to ear, except for when she determinedly pulled to go deeper into the water.

My son preferred the sand.

There was a huge part of me that wanted to shout “But you’re missing out! It’s awesome in there!” I wanted to pull him into the water. I wanted to pick him up and splash him in the next wave. He’d realize the error of his judgement, right?

It’s one of those parenting moments when you realize your kid just isn’t going to love everything you do. It’s heartbreaking.

Six years later we are heading to the beach again. This time it is Long Island Beach in New York with my parents.

The back of the car is loaded down with sand toys and swimsuits and sunscreen. Tucked to one side are boogie boards for my son. That same kid who refused to get in the water all those years ago will spend the better part of the week letting his body get slammed by waves as he attempts to ride them.

It’s hard to believe he’s the same kid sometimes.

So how did we get here? How did he go from a baby and toddler afraid to touch a wave, to my boogie board obsessed six year old?

I wish I had a magic switch for you that I could mail and fix all your child’s fears, but I don’t. Instead I have three pieces of advice.

Three pieces of advice that will hopefully help you help your child in taking baby steps away from being afraid of the open water.

3 Tips for Helping a Overcome a Fear of Water

1. Accept your child’s feelings.

This was the hardest part for me. You’re scared of the water? Why? That makes NO sense. The water is awesome! is what I thought every single beach trip for years.

It was however how he felt and I was mostly able to just accept that. Fear is where he was. That’s where we had to start. He was afraid of the waves and that was okay.

Be calm and comforting. 

2. Embrace what they are willing to do

As long as I wasn’t pressuring him, my son was thrilled to be at the beach.

He would chase seagulls up and down the beach, so he started joining me on quiet morning runs where he got the whole flock to chase on his own.

He would build endless sand castles and moats, so we got different sand toys to expand his play.

He would bury me and his sister with sand, so I spent sunny days with my feet buried in the sand.

In the pool, he adapted much more quickly so we took more mom and baby swim lessons and eventually big kid lessons.

These were ways he would interact with the beach and water. He felt safe once he realized I wasn’t going to pressure him and we could still have a lot of fun at the beach.

Start wherever they are and build from there. 

3. Keep providing opportunities

This is one of the hardest things about parenting: providing opportunities without pressuring.

Finding that balance between pushing your child to do things they aren’t comfortable with, but not allowing them to be held back by fear or lack of awareness or whatever else life brings.

More than anything, I think this requires a monumental amount of patience. 

In their first five years, my kids saw a beach more times than I can count. I am after all still a water baby. My husband and I tend to choose places to vacation where long, sunny days playing on the sand and surf are the obvious option. Along with those swim lessons, my son walked along beaches, dug in sand by beaches, watched his family members play in the waves, and perhaps most importantly observed his sister’s obvious love of the ocean.

My husband and I would occasionally ask if he wanted to go chase the waves with one of us or take a turn getting held in the water to jump over waves. He would ignore us or just shake his head no.

Every now and then, however, he would try it.

He would come chase the waves, trying not to let them catch us as we ran in and out from the end of the water. He would tolerate one of us carrying him out a little ways, mostly horrified when the waves would jump up and touch his legs.We would stop when he wanted to stop, but we certainly made sure he knew we were having fun.

I wish I could say that I remember the first time he ran to the water himself. I don’t. What I remember is a gradual shift.

He went from being a kid that only ever played in the sand to a kid that only played in the sand, except for maybe one time each trip he’d hold my hand near the water to a kid that would go and splash in the waves for a while as long as he was holding on tight to one of us.

Then in July of 2016, he noticed his first boogie board.

He was digging in the sand as usual. His sister was way out in the water jumping waves with her grandpa. He had paused and was carefully watching a group of kids riding the waves.

“Mama? I want to do that.”

My kid? The one who only occasionally went in the water wanted to ride a wave? He wanted to have waves crashing around him? He wanted to get swallowed up by one and spun around and dropped on the sand?

Ummm…okay?

I bought him a boogie board at the closest surf shop that afternoon.

If he’s reading this some day I hope he isn’t offended when I say, I really didn’t think he would ride it.

I thought there was a 95% chance that he was going to get out there with his little board, take one look at the plan and go back to digging his hole to China. I thought there was a pretty good chance that I would get to ride a boogie board.

On the other hand, if there was even a one percent chance that he would like it, I was in.

The next morning we waded out there together. He was carrying the board almost as big as him against his body. I gave him a few tips and set him up laying down in the water and waited for a wave.

With a little push he was off. Up and over the wave carried him.

I held my breath.

He popped up when he reached the sand with a huge grin. “AGAIN!” he shouted.

I got him ready again and let go. Again he popped up grinning ear to ear.

This time when I reached out to help he said, “I’ve got this mom.”

I watched him all morning and for the rest of the week. A serious face while he waited for the right wave. Swirling up and crashing into the shore. Jumping up with a huge smile.

Like magic, gone was my baby clutching to my shoulder. Our empathy and gentle encouragement and oh so much patience had paid off.

On Friday I bought a second boogie board. It was the only way anyone else was going to get a turn. I smiled the whole way back to the beach.

Don’t miss a post! Subscribe Below!

Surrounded by sand piles and drenched from earlier splashing my kids are laying with their new little friend.

Nearby I commiserate and brainstorm about blogging and motherhood and life with my pal Sara (who writes beautiful encouragement for mamas and kiddo adventure ideas on Sunshine Whispers). As we chat, we watch our kiddos and I am occasionally amazed at how happily our kids are playing.

It shouldn’t surprise me. Life at the beach is usually like this.

In part I think the fresh air and waves are freeing and joyful, but I am also reminded of the endless curiosities the ocean presents.

Looking ahead at our calendar, our July is starting to look like one long trip to the beach. No complaints here.

We will take our summer learning to the beach. (Read more about this specific beach at the bottom of the page!)

With child interest driven learning there is always a chance that they will head off in a completely unanticipated direction. If they do I will follow.

However, the planner in me has to think ahead at least a little.

Right now, with a beach trip fresh in their minds and a month ahead of further beach adventure opportunities I think it’s a safe bet that something about the beach or ocean will capture their attention.

In fact, this is not a new interest for my twins. They have been beach and ocean fans since their first trip as babies.

It is okay to repeat themes. Every time we come back to the ocean as an interest it looks very different. My kids are not the same. Their questions and skills and interests have grown with them.

And so I plan. I brainstorm. I research. And then I wait and watch and see where our adventures and their questions take us.

affiliate links are included below.

I thought it might be helpful to show you what this looks like. Let me know if you have questions after you read.

also read: 16 summer adventures with free bingo printable

Ocean Unit Planning

Current Learning Objectives

I always try to keep their learning objectives in the back of my mind when I’m planning to make sure I’m covering reading, writing, math, science, gross motor, etc. My kids are in between K and 1st grade – here is a list of some of what they are working on at the moment:

*Continue growing in ability and confidence with reading independently.
*Communicate their ideas in writing and pictures.
*Ask questions and learn how to find the answers.
*Explore animal characteristics and habitats.
*Compare and Contrast two things and two books.
*Basic additional and subtraction
*Explore basic forms of measurement.

Field Trip Ideas

A big part of my philosophy of education is providing hands on AND real life experiences for kids. Field trips play a huge role in this. They are able to bring a topic to life in ways I never could with crafts or books or activities.

1. Ocean Obviously. We live about 15m from the Atlantic Ocean.

2. New York Aquarium

3. Visit a Tide Pool or Strandline

4. Whale Watching – not sure if I can pull this off this summer, but would love to try.

Possible Interests

I have been observing my kiddos on our recent beach trips and in their play, and making mental notes about things that seem to interest them about the ocean. From there I started researching, searching, and brainstorming ideas.

Based on what I have observed so far, my kids seem interested in Ocean Animals, Tide Pools, Building in the Sand, and Nature Collections. I have gathered ideas to expand on all of these below.

• Ocean Animals
  

  They have been talking a lot about animals and pretending to be different animals in their pretend play so diving into 1 or more specific animals could be where we are headed. Some ideas for that include;

  Learn about a specific animal.

  Sea Otters, Whale Sharks and Seahorses currently seem like favorites. These books or a trip to the aquarium might help us narrow it down to 1-3.

  Read picture books about ocean animals and their habitat.

  Learn about their characteristics. Like how do sharks float? Or these interesting fish facts or these gorgeous ones!

  Do some measuring involving their ocean animals. I love this How Big is a Blue Whale activity. Or perhaps some ocean animal graphing?

  Celebrate Shark Week? Here are some young kid friendly resources and ideas.

  Create a Life Cycle – like this one for a Sea Turtle.

  My kids would love these ideas for making Ocean Life out of Legos!

  Draw and Write about their chosen animal. We could also put on a Puppet Show about ocean animals.

  Compare & Contrast real animals with those seen in fiction picture books or movies like Finding Nemo or Finding Dory.

  
  Learn about Ocean Animal Habitats.

  Learn which animals live in which of the Ocean Zones. I love this example of a nature table + this printable about the zones of the ocean is perfect.

  Make an Ocean Mural:

A mural is often a fun way to conclude a unit. I can see us gradually building to a large collaborative mural. This Pufferfish Paper Plate Craft, these Paper Plate Tropical Fish and this Cardboard Tube Jellyfish Craft are too cute. Perhaps we could add them to a mural?

Gorgeous process art Ocean project idea or this Layered Paper Underwater Scenes. are inspiring too.

• Tide Pools

  This Tide Pool Science Experiment looks like so interesting and fun!

  These early reader ideas about Tide Pools look perfect!

  Tide Pool Interactive Notebook

• Building Structures with Sand

  The STEM learning potential alone is enough to make me want to spend days at the beach encouraging these creations.

  There are a couple of fun sand building prompt ideas in this post. I would also like to introduce some different materials into their building, such as; sticks, rocks, flags, animals, boats, people.

• Nature Collections

  I’ll need these ideas on How to Start & Organize a Nature Collection. Right now my son has a stack of sticks in his room.

  Once they are somewhat organized it would be fun to use some of these materials for activities like;

Sea Shell Printing sounds like a fun use for all the shells we’ve been collecting.

There are some great Math with Seashells ideas in this ocean science post.

also read: Shark Week Unit for 5-9 Year Olds

A Starting Place

For now, we will start with some awesome Picture Books about the Ocean, some time to pretend with pretend Ocean Animals, and some more trips to the Ocean to see what sparks their interest the most.

Then I will do a combination of following their lead and introducing some of the related activities above to see what interests them the most – or go back to the drawing board.

I’ll share more as we progress!

Brownies Beach, Maryland

These pictures were taken on our beautiful morning at Brownies Beach in MD. It was about an hour drive for us from the suburbs of Baltimore.

Basic facts about brownies beach in maryland

• Parking is limited and a little hike to the beach.
• There is a port-a-potty by the parking lot and the beach.
• You have to pay to go to the beach. Check the site for rates.
• Water is shallow for a ways out which is perfect for little ones.
• The beach is one of the places you can hunt for sharks teeth – bring something to collect things with you.

“Woah! Look at this one mom!” She holds up her shelf as another foaming wave crashes around her waist. My daughter is on her hands and knees at the edge of the ocean digging through the wet, soupy sand for shells. Every few minutes she grabs hold of another spectacular find. Her enthusiasm for each is equal and endearing.

She is on a hunt for a snail shell. She saw one at the aquarium the week before and she is intent on finding one here in the ocean.

The week before it was sea stars and a few days before that she was observing how the tide affected the sand. The learning opportunities at the beach are seemingly endless.

Preschool Ocean Animals Project

GO : Field Trip Ideas

Go to the Beach

Search for shells, play in the sand, pretend to be fish swimming in the sea and more.

Visit an Aquarium

Most big cities have an aquarium and they are awesome spots for learning about ocean animals. We visited the New York Aquarium several times during our unit. It has some fun fish tanks, an awesome seal show, and these touch tanks (pictured above) during warmer months.

Visit the Zoo

If your city or area doesn’t have an aquarium, the zoo might also be a good field trip idea. A lot of zoos have a water animals section. You might find native fish, otters, or even bigger animals like sea lions.

Go on a Dolphin Cruise or Whale Watching Adventure

If your child is interested in the big animals in the sea, there might be nothing better than seeing them up close out in the sea. If you have the means and opportunity, this is an inspiring field trip for an ocean project.

affiliate links are included below.

READ : Children’s Book List

Books are always my starting point for this type of unit. Good books inspire, inform, and leave us wanting more. Here are our favorites from our Ocean Animals Unit.

The Ocean Alphabet Board Book by Jerry Pallotta
Order Online

A-Z through the ocean. This book covers everything from the Atlantic Ocean and Bluefish to Yellowtail Flounder and Zillions…of fish in the sea. 1+

Awesome Ocean Science by Cindy A. Littlefield
Find Online

A whole book of kid’s science experiments about the ocean! Fascinating information and fun hands on activities. This book is intended for older children, but we were still able to find activities that 4 and 5 year olds could do. 5+

Little Polar Bear series by Hans De Beer
Order Online

Sweet stories about a little polar bear who has amazing adventures in and around the freezing arctic ocean. 3+

Polar Opposites by Erik Brooks
Order Online

Alex, a polar bear and Zina, a penguin not only live on opposite sides of the world, but they are opposites in every sense of the world. One is messy. One is neat. One likes to get up early. One gets up late. Even the way they travel is different. However, despite their polar opposites Alex and Zina are best friends and in the end they can “ALWAYS meet in the middle!” This is such a sweet story about embracing differences that talks about opposites, oceans and artic animals, and friendship. 2+

Atlantic by G. Brian Karas
Order Online

“I am the Atlantic Ocean” begins this stunning book. It is told from the perspective of the Atlantic Ocean and is teeming with information. What makes this book truly amazing is the illustrations. They brilliantly capture the immense size, the movement, and the varied tones of the Atlantic. 3+

Watch Out Turtle! Watch Out! by April Pulley Sayre
Order Online

I shared this book as part of our UNIT ON TURTLES and it has continued to be a favorite. The turtle the story follows is born on a beach in Florida so I included it with our Atlantic Ocean books but sea turtles live in all the oceans except for the Arctic Ocean.

That’s Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
Order Online

I love this book for anytime, but it does fit well with an Ocean Animals Unit. It is a silly and suspensive story about a tiny fish who steals a tiny hat from a very big fish. If you haven’t, find this one and read it. Now. 3+

In the Swim by Douglas Florian
Find Online

We have read and re-read this quirky collection of poems many times during this unit. The poems are brief but often funny in a soft, playful way that mirrors the watercolor illustrations. Our favorite is the poem about the sharks who can park wherever they wish. 4+

Secrets of the Seashore by Carron Brown & Alyssa Nassner
Find Online

This book is part of the Shine-a-Light series from Usborne and it’s wonderful. The pages are designed to reveal a secret when you shine a flashlight behind them. In this particular book, the secret habitats along the seashore are revealed. Starfish, barnacles, small fish and other animals can all be spotted along the shore. This is a fun one to cozy up in a darkened room with a flashlight and read before bed. 2+

Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu
Find Online

The stunning black and brilliant blue illustrations are what captured my eye. Wandering Whale Sharks follows a whale as it swims around the ocean. The book shares simple facts while beautifully capturing the poetic strength of these huge animals. 3+

The Blue Whale By Jenni Desmond
Find Online

The stunning illustrations in this book make you completely forget that you are learning anything. This technically falls in nonfiction because it offers the pure facts about whales that a little reader discovers in a book, but it is a beautiful story with soft, watery pictures of an enormous whale and a tiny curious child. 3+

Super Swimmers: Whales, Dolphins, and Other Mammals of the Sea by Caroline Arnold
Find Online

This is a fascinating collection of facts about the big movers under the sea. We love the interesting facts and the soft, watery illustrations. 3+

1001 Things to Spot in the Sea by Katie Daynes
Order Online

From the open sea and a shipwreck to the beach and an aquarium, this fun book covers all things water. My kids love searching the bright, complex illustrations for the different things listed around the edges of each page and soaking in all the details. I like the built in practice with number recognition, counting, and new vocabulary. 3+

PLAY : Activity Ideas

Literacy

Building Words

I created this invitation using cards from our Go Fish deck (bought at Target), Foam Letters (Order Here), white paper and glue. It was one of our many Morning Invitations during this unit.

Math

How Long Are The Fish?

This Math Morning Invitation was inspired by Teach Preschool‘s math table. We practiced measuring with the Unifix Cubes and some fish I cut out of construction paper.

How Many Ways Can You Make a Fish? 

This activity only requires some tangrams and a little creativity. I believe that playing with and manipulating shapes is an important component of mastering shapes. An activity like this also encourages flexible thinking. If you want to increase the math, encourage your child to keep a tally and assign an actual number to the number of ways they create different fish.

Make a Pattern Quiet Time Invite

This is a simple sheet that I drew and then made a couple of copies of on our printer/copier. As you can see, very limited artistic skill is needed here. My twins were able to do this on their own (at 4 years old) once I read the directions on the bottom of the page to them. We have worked on patterns a fair amount. My daughter quickly made a blue, green, blue, green pattern and my son made a rainbow fish, pink fish pattern – which you can imagine took a lot longer. The point was it was an easy, more open-ended way to work on pattern in the context of our unit.

Science & Sensory

Collections

On your field trips to the beach, find things to start a collection. We built seashell and rock collections this summer. If you can’t get your hands on the real thing, you can also order them and still do fun activities. With you collections:

*Use a magnifying glass to look closely at your finds.

*Sort, classify, and order your collection in different ways.

*Make observational drawings of your favorite items.

Experiments

The sink or float experiment pictured above is such a classic I’m not going to bore you with the details, but my son found it in the back of one of our books about dolphins. He asked for help to round up the materials and wanted me to clarify one of the directions, but otherwise he conducted this one all on his own. He loved that the apple floated, that was a huge surprise.

Creativity

Collaborative Mural

This one was inspired by the same dolphin book that suggested the sink or float experiment. Again, they did this almost entirely independently one afternoon. Stage One: Paint the water. My son insisted we needed sand along the bottom of the ocean so he took charge of that part. My daughter and I experimented with mixing shades of blue, green, and white to create water colors for the ocean water. Stage Two: Add the animals. They did this in a few ways, I think the ones they created separately and then attached to the paper worked the best.

Fine Motor

Sailboat Peg Invitation

We love this simple Pegs & Patterns toy. I set out the ones that related to our unit on one of the shelves in their playspace during the unit.

Finish Your Unit

This step is always hard for me. Where does it end? When has a unit really concluded? I don’t think my kids have stopped learning about the ocean or ocean animals. They are still curious, they still have questions, they still love going to the beach and the aquarium. At some point though, interest starts to head in a different direction. Their play starts to reflect other interests or the focus of our conversations takes on another topic.

also read: 20+ Unit Ideas for Kids Who Love Animals

With this unit, play themes started to shift back towards building and constructing things – a popular topic this year in our house – so I started thinking of ways to draw our Ocean Animals Unit to a close. I shouldn’t have bothered though, because they quickly came up with the perfect idea all on their own. One morning, they worked together to create this huge mural. It was much grander and more detailed than the one inspired almost a month earlier by one of their books (above in the art section)

The mural included many of the things they had learned about and their conversations while they constructed it could easily be used as evidence of all of the deep learning and thinking that has occured.

They used our whole stash of Ocean Animals books and a variety of art materials to create a mural as big as our table. When they were done it was huge and detailed and a wonderful way to celebrate all they have learned.