Nature is fascinating!
In Arran Building, the Pink and Yellow group children have been showing great curiosity about sea creatures, so we’ve been learning more about Ocean Worlds in various ways :
“Can we read this big book about shells?”
“What is this fish called?”
We’ve been reading fishy stories & books of facts to discover about different types of fish, like lion fish & deep sea angler.
We made our own Sea World, then designed fish and fishing rods using magnets and paper clips. Watch us trying to catch them!
“We need to make some seaweed for it.”
“That’s a whale shark. It’s the biggest fish.”
“Look, I’ve caught two anchovies.”
”I caught a number 3.”
The children explored with their senses as they felt the scales of a real mackerel and described what they observed:
“It’s cold and slippery…”
“…green and blue, shiny, feels soft…”
”Tail helps it swim. That’s the bit that the eggs come out… that’s the fin.”
Rock Pool role play and nature investigations with bladderwrack seaweeds and shells. “It feels slimy” (seaweed)
“I’m being a whale shark… This is a baby stingray.”
“I can hear something in the shell….I found a limpet!”
Expressive Arts:
The children have also been expanding their creative skills by trying out different art techniques including collage, printing, and paper marbling with inks and oil. They used mashers to print turtles and clay to model starfish and other creatures.
We practiced numeracy skills through some fishy games.
“I counted 8 shrimps!”
Sink or Float: In Science experiments, we made jellyfish with balloons and string. When filled with air alone they floated too high. One of the children suggested it would sink more if we added water inside, so we did… We also tried adding a little oil and sand.
“I saw jellyfish floating in the water on my holiday.“
”They’re soft, yellow and red” “They have tentacles“ ”This one’s a baby”
“Look what it’s doing. It’s making a current….a whirlpool.”
