The Mermaid The Witch And The Sea By Maggie Tokuda
Keep the tweens and teens entertained with this young adult sapphic romance set on the high seas. Pirate Florian, born Flora, has done everything in order to survive. Lady Evelyn Hasegawa is on a one-way voyage to an arranged marriage, which got interrupted by the pirate and the crew on board the ship. What happens next is a sweeping fantasy tale of the captive and captor falling in love.
We hope you turtle-ly enjoy our sea-lection of books about the ocean, folks!
Taking Care Of The Ocean
- Materials: vegetable oil, bird feathers, spoons, large plastic bowls, dish soap, and water
- Preparation: Set up your station. This can be done as a large group activity, independent exploration, or in pairs/small groups.
- Each station will need a bowl with vegetable oil and feathers , spoons or tongs to extract the feathers, dish of soapy water, and clean water for rinsing.
- Procedure: Start by giving children prior information about oil spills. Be sure to do this in a gentle way, you are simply introducing the concept.
- Show students how the oil separates from the water and sticks to the feathers. Invite children to provide their observations. Ask them how they think the oil would affect sea creatures. Next, show children how the oil can be removed from the feathers with the soap.
**Assessment Opportunity** Science: Recognizes cause and effect relationships
One Tiny Turtle By Nicola Davies
Teaching students about endangered species is crucial to fostering a sense of respect for the planet. This story follows the life of a tiny loggerhead sea turtle as she hatches, travels through the ocean, and goes on a thirty-year journey. Finally, she ends back at the place where it began, to lay her eggs and continue the story.
Extending the Learning: Students can tear strips of yellow, brown, and green tissue paper and glue it to a paper circle or paper plate to create a shell. Add a green or brown head, four legs, and a tail to make a gorgeous turtle of their own.
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Malander By Thomas Taylor
In the town of Eerie-on-Sea stands the Grand Nautilus Hotel, which has an unexpected visitor fearless Violet Parma. Having lost her parents at the hotel when she was a baby, Violets returned looking for answers. Unfortunately, shes also being pursued by a strange man, while the Malander is making its appearance in the town. Will she be able to find out what happened to her folks? This fantastical mystery, part of a trilogy, had us hooked from start to finish.
Mr Seahorse By Eric Carle
With engaging illustrations and exciting acetate see-through pages, preschoolers are entranced with Eric Carles story about a seahorse on the brink of fatherhood. Mr. Seahorse also explores the ocean and meets some other underwater fathers caring for their babies. This book is especially lovely as it shows how good dads can take care of children as well!
Extending the Learning: Eric Carle has a very unusual way of illustrating his books he paints on thin paper and then cuts the shapes out that he needs to make his pictures. Explore this with students! After looking at some examples of Eric Carles art, encourage students to paint large pieces of paper using brushes, fingers, or even objects. After the paint dries, give the students scissors and put all the papers on the table to share and create their own collage artwork.
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A House For A Hermit Crab By Eric Carle
Introduce your child to Hermit Crab. A tiny and kind creature living on the sea floor. He is a happy crab, but his shell is so plain. Follow his adventure though the sea as he decorates his shell and meets new friends along the way.
Summer is a great time for a trip to the beach! Dig your toes in the sand, splash in the warm water, and collect shells along the shore. Can you find a shell like Hermit Crabs? Talk to your child about other animals that lived in the shells you find.
Cant make it to the beach? Bring the beach home with beach-themed small world sensory play in your own backyard! Ideas for bringing the beach home from Fantastic Fun and Learning.
The Rainbow Fish By Marcus Pfister
This classic story is about a small but beautiful fish who boasts about his shiny scales. His friends ask if he will share them, but he refuses to even interact with them. After a while, the other fish go away, and Rainbow Fish is left sad and lonely. A wise old octopus counsels him to share his beauty. So Rainbow Fish goes back to the others and shares his shimmering rainbow scales so that all the fish can be beautiful.
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Ocean Life Unit Study
Whether you are interested in teaching your children the layers of the ocean, Ocean zones, sea life, looking for ocean science worksheets and hands-on activities, or just need help planning a unit study, this pack is amazing. It has beautiful real and realistic pictures included that your children and you will love working with.
Learning Ocean Zones For Kids
Did you know humans have only explored about 5% of the ocean? Theres still so much we dont know! We do know the ocean can be divided into three zones. These zones are different environments with diverse plants and animals living in each.
Learning about the zones is a fun ocean lesson plan to explore with your kids this Summer.
Check out some of our favorite lessons all about ocean zones for kids:
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A Small Blue Whale By Beth Ferry
A lonely blue whale meets a quiet pink cloud and believes its the friend that hes been looking for. However, when he finds himself in trouble, a group of penguins comes to rescue him. While this is indeed a book about the ocean, its also a heartwarming story about friendship that will melt even the coldest of adult hearts!
Sherlock Sam And The Seafaring Scourge On Sentosa By Aj Low
Get this book if youre searching for a swashbuckling, seafaring, Singaporean adventure. Sherlock and his Supper Club friends are hired to retrieve a collectors priceless artefacts. The team trails clues around the small islands of Singapore, which lead them to the true culprits behind the theft. Will the Supper Club gang be able to take on their most dangerous foe yet?
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The 13 Best Kids Books About Ocean Animals
Supplement your ocean unit studies with some of the best kids books about ocean animals. Plus see all our fun ocean kids activities.
Today Im sharing some of what I would consider the best childrens books about marine life.
If youve been following along in our at home summer camp, you know were talking all about the ocean.
Weve made paper plate seahorses, weve talked about ocean pollution , weve had frozen ocean sensory fun, made a cute handprint fish craft and an educational ocean theme preschool sensory bin!
Its certainly been busy, but today were going to slow it down a bit and talk about ocean animal books.
Read on below to see our top picks to buy or borrow from your local library.
Favorite Ocean Books For Babies And Toddlers
This is beyond a favorite! You can read more about it in this post.
Montessori Book Basket and Shelves with Ocean-Themed Activities
Following are books weve enjoyed for our ocean unit! Ive found that toddlers love even some of the big reference books meant for older kids. We have fun looking at the pictures and adapting the words as needed. I often find even the littlest ones looking at the big books on their own.
I always have related books available throughout a unit. On the top shelf, I have Steve JenkinsDown Down Down , The Big Book of the Blue , and Ocean: a Photicular Book .
On the right side of the shelf , I have National Geographic Kids Ultimate Oceanpedia .
Ocean Animal Sensory Bottle with Ocean: A Photicular Book
Ocean: A Photicular Book was a New York Times bestseller. Its a super-fun book for multiple ages to look at with images that use Photicular technology to make each image like a 3-D movie on the page. It also tells about each ocean animal, including vital statistics such as size, habitat, range, diet, life span in the wild, and threats.
Montessori Book Basket with Books for an Ocean Unit
I have a book basket beside the shelf with a variety of Montessori-friendly ocean books. Look here for more non-fiction ocean books if I dont have the book youre interested in linked to yet.
Update: Ocean Anatomy was just published in April 2020 and its wonderful! A favorite of all my grandkids!
My grandkids all LOVE this book !
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The Snail And The Whale By Julia Donaldson
Heres another tale about friendship between two unlikely animals. When a tiny snail longs to see the world, it hitches a life on a whales tail. Together they go on an amazing journey until disaster strikes. How will they get out of their plight? A delightful story about how even the smallest creature can help others in a big way.
The Seashore Book By Charlotte Zolotow
Pick up a seashell by the seashore and put it close to your ear. What can you hear? This classic story tells the tale of a boy, who has never seen the beach. Through simple prose, elegant artworks, and the power of imagination, the boys mother describes a vivid day at the beach to him. Its a perfect kids book to read before bedtime.
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Ocean Zone Coloring Page
Coloring is a fantastic way to help your preschoolers build fine motor skills and concentration. Plus, this ocean zone coloring page will help your preschoolers remember the sunlight zone, the twilight zone, and the midnight zone. Kids can label each zone in the ocean and color the animals that live there for extra practice.
Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea by Steve Jenkins
This adorable book is filled with beautiful art work and a fascinating tale about the animals that live in each zone of the ocean. Get ready to meet these amazing ocean creatures as you travel down, down, down in the ocean together during your preschool storytime.
Lets Learn the Ocean Zones video from SciShow Kids
SciShow Kids videos are informative and engaging. Your kids will learn a lot about each ocean zone with Caitlin and her robot mouse, Squeak. Grab some goldfish crackers and get ready to learn with this cute video thats perfect for a rainy day.
Ocean: A Photicular Book
Were kicking off our sea animals list with an AMAZING book although aimed at older children with almost moving pictures its worth getting Ocean: A Photicular Book whilst with your young children you can flick through and watch the pictures and it will still be being flicked through when they are much older.
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Over In The Ocean: In A Coral Reef
We are very fortunate to have some signed copies of Marianne Berkes book to both of my children and although our copy of Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef is not signed it is still a much loved book on the shelf. I love the counting, rhymes and also language development that she focuses on connecting the mother and baby animals names correctly.
Make some clay animals to go with the book Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef by Marianne Berkes
Seashell Memory: Name Recognition
- Materials: Seashells large enough to write names in you will need two shells per name/word, sharpie
- Preparation: On each shell, write one name of a child in the classroom, be sure that each child has their name written on two different shells, be sure to write clearly so children can read the name.
- Play: Set up an invitation for 2-3 children to play at a time. Play is the same as the classic memory game. Children flip over two shells, they read the name and see if they match.
- Variation: For advanced preschoolers, Instead of writing the child’s first name on both shells, try writing their first name on one shell and their last name on another. For younger preschoolers consider writing a symbol such as a shape next to the name to assist them in identifying matches. Another way to play is to write uppercase letters on one shell and lowercase on another and inviting students to match.
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Read Aloud Activity: As Big As A Blue Whale
- Materials: Rope cut to 100 feet
- Procedure: Read a book about whales such as Is a Whale the Biggest thing there is? by Robert E. Wells.
- Invite children to engage in conversation about how big a blue whale is. Encourage them to make guesses comparing a whale to common everyday objects. “I think a blue whale is as big as a ____” Record their guesses on a chalkboard or piece of paper. Next, have the children help you unravel the rope. Tell children the rope is the size that a blue whale can grow to. Allow time for conversation about size and comparison. Invite children to compare themselves to the size of the whale. Ask how many of them it would take to be the size of a whale. Ask what other objects are a similar size.
Ocean Picture Books For Preschool
posted by Vanessa Levin|filed under book lists, ocean|affiliate disclosure
Do your kids love the water? Are they fascinated by all things that swim and live in the ocean? The unknown mysteries of the underwater world make young children very curious about marine life. Learning about the ocean and animals that live there is a great way to capture and hold their attention. Below are some of my favorite ocean books for preschool. These books will not only help develop critical vocabulary about the ocean and ocean life, but also include many opportunities for literacy, math, and science.
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The Ocean Alphabet Book
The Ocean Alphabet Book Jerry Pallottas Alphabet Books goes through the creatures of the ocean in alphabetical order providing a little snippet of information about each creature and an illustration. This is a great book for the literacy corner in a classroom or for those ocean mad tots that youre working on alphabets with.
Preschool Ocean Science Experiments
Theres so much to observe and explore when youre studying this exciting ocean theme! Ocean science activities are a fantastic way to encourage your preschoolers to be curious, make observations, and explore the world around them.
Get ready for some hands on science learning fun with these hands-on science themed ocean activities for preschoolers:
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Shine A Light: Secrets Of The Seashore
Secrets of the Seashore is another of our favorite ocean themed books thats part of Usbornes Shine-A-Light series. These fun books have hidden pictures that come to light when you shine a picture behind them. This cute seashore book is a fun way to learn about different sea animals and activities in an interactive way.
More Printable Ocean Activities For Preschoolers
If youre looking for even more adorable ocean printables to use with your kids this Summer, you dont want to miss these printable ocean activities.
These cute printable bundles are filled with fun and learning opportunities. Plus, theyre great for entertaining your kiddos as you travel to the ocean this Summer.
Check out these below:
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Oceans: Dolphins Sharks Penguins And More
Ask a child to tell you some creatures that live in the oceans and at least one of the main animals featured in Oceans: Dolphins, sharks, penguins, and more! another National Geographic book will come up. Discover more about these wonderful animals and their underwater world, wanting to know more, learn about these and help them will not only help and protect these animals but also the whole ecosystem and all the animals within it.
The New Ocean: The Fate Of Life In A Changing Sea By Byrn Barnard
Global warming, pollution, as well as overfishing are causing a new ocean that is drastically changing. While some change is good, however, the ocean is becoming hotter and some places are becoming void of ocean life. This book takes a look at how the new ocean will change the lives of some common sea life.
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Explore Sinking And Floating
Which animals float in the ocean and which sink? How do big animals like sharks float in the ocean? Why dont seashells float? You can explore these questions and more with a fun hands-on ocean science experiment.
Fill a bathtub or large container with water. Then, add various objects to discover whether they sink or float. Have your preschoolers make predictions about what will sink and what will float. Then, record their predictions and what actually happens for some fun practice using the scientific method together.
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- Publisher :Usborne Books New edition
- Language :English
- Reading age :2 – 6 years
- Item Weight :5.6 ounces
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