A Trip to the Beach

En Español

It’s that time of year again! The air is beginning to warm up and we are headed for another summer in Kern County. Families are spending more time outside at picnics and barbecues. This is also the time of year that many families are taking trips to the beach for the weekend, therefore giving you the perfect opportunity to link up experiences at home with activities in the classroom, which makes the learning even more meaningful to children.

Planning a theme around a trip to the beach is fun and easy to do with all age groups.

Step One: Read a couple of books about the beach or ocean to the children. Here are some of my favorites:

  • For infants & toddlers try, “Baby Beluga” by Raffi
  • Preschoolers would enjoy, “Sheep on a Ship” by Nancy Shaw
  • For young school age children try, “Hello Ocean” by Pam Munoz Ryan
  • Older school age children would enjoy, “Dolphin Adventure” by Wayne Grover

Developmentally: reading helps children learn new language, build cognitive skills like ordering (reading from front to back, or left to right) and promotes a connection between the written and spoken word. Honor a child’s request for information, comments about the story or to study a page more closely. These are “teachable moments” in which a child is most eager to learn.

Step Two: Find out what the children know about the beach and what they’d like to learn. This can be done through conversations or dialogue.

FOR infants and toddlers this would be very low-key and natural, as you are going to keep reintroducing simple concepts associated with the beach throughout the day.

SINCE preschoolers and school age children are capable of much more concrete thinking, you can generate conversations with them about the beach. This kind of information is critical because then you are going to know what activities to plan.

Some possible areas of interest could be:

    How do fish breathe under water? Why is water wet? Why is the ocean salty? What do we use water for? Who lives in the ocean? Why things float? Where does sand come from?

Developmentally: keep in mind the age of the children when answering these questions. You need to avoid giving too much information. BUT what if you don’t know the answer? Try responding with “What do you think?” Often, you are surprised at the level of logic and understanding in the answer! It is also important for children to realize that adults don’t know all the answers, but we do know how to find them**. You are modeling problem-solving skills. **Try this great website, http://www.why-is-the-sky-blue.tv

Step Three: Remember that your role is of an observer, recorder and facilitator – so you are going to follow the children’s lead. Here are some ideas you can incorporate into your setting that would enhance learning about A Day at the Beach!

Some ways of reinforcing concepts about the beach for infants & toddlers are through:

  • Water play. Add pails, shovels and sponge cut outs of fish (CCCC Resource Library) to your sand and water tables.
  • Tactile Activities. Glue large pieces of sandpaper to a heavy piece of cardboard (a hot glue gun works well). You could also attach large and small sea shells. Fill heavy duty ziploc bags with shaving cream, hair gel or Karo syrup and duct tape them to the cardboard.
  • Props. Have lots of beach balls and sunglasses.

Developmentally: infants and toddlers use their sense of touch and taste to help them identify the objects they are handling or the things they are doing. Learning and language occur as you, the caregiver, give them words about what they are experiencing. Even little ones benefit so don’t forget to include them in your conversations.

Try these ideas for preschoolers & school age children:

  • Add sea creatures, sea shells, shovels and pails to your sand and water play centers. Don’t have these? No problem! Try making your own sand and water play tables by purchasing two plastic sweater storage containers from any home improvement center. These work great because they are very shallow and long, and they also come with lids. Fill one table with sand and the other with water. If you don’t have toys specific to water play – try recyclable or inexpensive items like sponges, turkey basters, plastic cups, strawberry baskets, homemade funnels (water bottles that have been cut in half and taped), and squirt bottles made from empty mustard containers. Stay close, all water play needs to be supervised.

Developmentally: sand and water play is great for children because both are “open ended” activities. That’s to say there is no right or wrong way to do it. Both help children with small muscle development (scooping and pouring), cognitive development (identifying wet versus dry, empty versus full, heavy versus light, etc.) and both provide opportunities to use imagination. Water play is a fun sensory activity that usually occurs outside, so please be sure to use sunscreen on the children.

Other fun props include a periscope made from a shoebox and mirrors, boats made from styrofoam, and diver’s air tank, masks and flippers made from 2 liter bottles, clear plastic wrap and cardboard.

Developmentally: providing children with opportunities to pretend play is a great way to build self esteem and confidence because it gives children the chance to practice real life skills, try out new behaviors and can be a great stress reliever. Children begin simple pretend play at about age two and continue through to early school age years.

Add to, or create a science table with things from the beach and ocean for the kids to look at. Try large seashells, beach sand (and playground sand so kids can see the difference), seawater in a bottle, seaweed and of course, a large magnifying glass.

Developmentally: science activities help children with cognitive development as they learn to ask and answer questions like…what happens if you take seaweed out of the water? It also helps children learn to process information. When children have questions, take the opportunity to help them find the answers. You are promoting school readiness and problem solving skills.

Try these simple science experiments. Using a large, clear container (I’ve found that a bin from my refrigerator works great) conduct a sink or float test. Using objects like feathers, cork, string, plastic, seeds, money, beans, buttons, pine cones, popsicle sticks, etc, have the children determine what the object does in the water. Keep a large chart. Objects or pictures of objects may be glued on the chart or drawn by children.

Another easy experiment uses pipe cleaners, pencil, water, salt and a clear glass. Fill the glass about two-thirds full of water. Add about 6 tablespoons of salt. Then wrap one end of the pipe cleaner around the pencil several times. Allow the other end to dangle into the water. (Make sure that the end touches the bottom of the glass.) Over time, the water will evaporate, leaving behind the salt.

This next idea is both a science and art activity. Purchase a large, fresh fish from the market. You’ll also need tempera paint, brushes and newsprint. Let the children paint the fish. While they are painting you can talk about the different parts on the fish. When they’ve finished, help them place a piece of newsprint right on top of the fish and press down gently, outlining the curves of the fish. Peeling carefully from one corner, help them lift the paper off the fish.

Developmentally: this activity provides children with a unique opportunity of seeing, smelling and touching a real fish. It provides them with new language (gills, fins, scales, etc.) and may invite requests for more information about fish and water. Painting also reinforces color identification, small motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.

This simple cutting activity works well for preschoolers. You’ll need toilet paper tubes, scissors and markers. Have the children cut strips up around the tube, about half way up. Bend the strips out to make “legs”. The final step is to add eyes and you have an octopus.

Developmentally: cutting is a small motor skill that children begin to develop at about age three. It requires muscle control and hand eye coordination that are necessary to learning how to hold a pencil correctly. If you are nervous about allowing your little one to use scissors, give them the opportunity to practice tearing pieces of paper from a magazine.

Seashells can be sorted by shape, size, or color and used in a variety of art projects like collages, paintings, shell rubbings, etc.

Developmentally: sorting is a great skill for pre-kindergartners as it helps them learn colors, shapes and numbers. It also helps build an understanding of simple math concepts like classifying and patterning. Children need this understanding in order to learn about counting, adding or subtracting.

Sandcasting is a great activity for school age children. You’ll need sand, small seashells, a variety of sequins and plaster of paris. Spread sand, shells and sequins in a large, shallow container. Pour a cup of plaster of paris into a container (a quart-sized container works best) and mix with water until it reaches the consistency of gravy. Pour over the area where the shells are, and let it dry until it sets. This activity could also be an opportunity to talk about excavating fossils.

Developmentally: for younger children this activity reinforces cognitive development like wet and dry, or soft and hard.

For a fun activity that reinforces gluing skills, trace and cut starfish from yellow construction paper. Then, mix cornmeal with dry coffee grounds. Have the children spread glue onto the starfish and sprinkle the cornmeal mixture on top. The mixture smells and feels good! Add leftover mixture to your sensory table.

Developmentally: gluing requires hand eye coordination and small motor skills. The cornmeal and coffee grounds have the added benefit of smelling good and giving the children an opportunity to examine something new.

Thank you to Lisa Albert from the EPTSS Division for this month's activity!

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