Under the Sea

Lately we've been really busy with a good friend's wedding. Last week we did get a chance to make some sea creature crafts. We made this cute hand print crab. This was another idea that I got from Pinterest. The original post came from here.

After the hand prints dried. I painted on some glue and he sprinkled sand on it to make a beach. He also added some googly eyes.

He also free painted a couple of starfish shapes that I had cut out for him.

We also did a sorting printable and a pre-writing printable from Homeschool Creations' Ocean Pack and we watched a Under the Sea Song clip from Disney's The Little Mermaid on Youtube.

Sandy Sensory Bins

I've been slacking on making sensory bins this summer, but this afternoon I made two, A Dino Box and a Beach box. They are both made using sand as a base because Daddy ordered too much sand for the new horseshoe pits and Alex's new sandbox. Hmmm? What other sand activities can I do. : /

After our much anticipated trip to Prehistoric World in Ontario Canada, Alex has been very interested in playing with his dinosaurs. I decided to make him a playscape/sensory box for his dinosaurs.

In this box is sand, a shallow dish with water, a couple of twigs with leaves still on them, a small log, a package of plastic dinosaurs and rocks.

The second box I made I decided to make some DIY Moon Sand. I found the recipe I loosely followed on Pinterest, the original post was here.

My Moon Sand Recipe

6 cups of sand

3 cups of corn starch

1 and a half cups of water (more or less for desired consistency)

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and play.

The homemade moon sand is very close to the store bought moons sands consistency and a lot cheaper. I think it would be identical if I had finer sand. When the sand seems to dry out, you can add a little bit more water and it should be restored.

Once I made the Moon Sand, I added some shells we collected from the local beaches, small blue sea glass, some red gems,  a small shovel, a couple small sand molds and a sea turtle and that completed our Beach Sensory Bin.

Tot School Day 3

A Wet Wednesday

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

One of our favorites. A beautifully illustrated book that teaches about sharing.

Keeping with our color theme I came up with an idea to make tiny colored fish out of some scrap craft foam. Then I made some triangle shaped "nets". I found a small kitchen strainer and a small fish net and let Alex catch the fish in a tub of water. He immediately got the idea of it and had a blast. 

Rainbow of fish

Catching fish

Matching the fish to the same colored triangle "net"

Since it was a beautiful day we went for a walk down to the beach. Alex soaked his shoes and pants but still had fun.

Hopping down the path to the beach

Alex collecting shells

We collected a bunch of white clam shells.

Later in the day we made our own Rainbow Fish. I cut out a fish shape and let Alex color it with markers. I helped him by outlining the fish shape. Then I dunked it in the sink so it would have a more softer water-colored feel. After it was dry Alex helped me glue on some foil for his shiny scales and a googly eye.

I made Alex some bath sea creature from craft foam. I was inspired to do this after reading Filth Wizardry's blog post about craft foam bath murals. Alex enjoyed the new colorful creatures and liked sticking and unsticking them to the side of the bath tub. 

I am also linking this to Mommy Adventures' StART and ABC and 123's Show and Tell