Sea Life Sensory Bin

Sensory bins have always been a favorite activity for me to put together. B has always had a propensity of putting inappropriate things in his mouth, so it has been a while since I made one. As he gets older and has more tools to help (thank goodness for chewelry) I thought I have another go-around with sensory bins. 

Now I know we are quickly approaching Easter. I had all these creative ideas flowing of an Easter theme, Holy Week theme, or other Spring ideas. However, B just kept going back to the shark toy. I am trying to fight my natural instincts to take over and instead have more kid-directed play/craft time, so a sea life sensory bin it is.

We started out with little brown rocks that go into fish tanks. We added shells, agate type rocks, green play tree that look sorta like seaweed (well at least to me), and whatever sea animals I had on hand. Don't forget the sharks!!!

I also found a boat with  little guy (in case we want to play JAWS), a fishing pole game found at the $3 bin at Target, and  a whale sponge. Wringing out soaked sponges is not only fun sensory play but helps strength hands and forearms which promotes fine motor skills.

Next I added water dyed with blue food coloring. Another day B wanted me to try green water. Do a mixture if you want. Then just let them play. He has played with this numerous days for at least 20 min. each.

This isn't the only beach theme sensory bin I have done. To see a more traditional sand sensory bin without water go here. Also if your family loves sharks I have a great game to work on learning ABCs or sight words here. Lastly, for your budding scientists out there we did a closer look and activity with shells here.

Autumn Weekend at Coast

My mom and I packed up the boys for a weekend at the Oregon Coast. We couldn't have asked for better weather (sunny, blue skies, 60 degrees, with a light wind) or a funner time. We started by heading to Newport. In Newport we have a very nice aquarium (made for Kieko-aka Free Willy) and we have gone quite a few times. However, most people don't realize just down the street is the Hatfield Marine Science Center of Oregon State University. Here they also have aquarium tanks, tide pools you can touch, and other interactive exhibits but it is FREE! They have a slot for donations to support the program but my donation was the same price of one persons admission to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

We were so lucky the Octopus was out and on the glass (rare) and right next to a Sunburst Sea Star

"B" loved the Anemones gripping his finger. Luckily a man told me that the stinger cells sometimes stick to babies fingers and they get hurt when the fingers go in the mouth. Good to know!

There was lots of sensory items there

Killer Whale Skull

Next up was beach time. Where my lovely children decided to lay in the sand and make "sand" angels and eat the sand. I was trying not to have anxiety attacks, but when the baby rubbed his eyes with handfuls of sand it was time to go. A mommy can only take so much. Plus we had to get to Lincoln City to check into the hotel, have dinner, indoor pool time, and watch Gnomio and Juliet. Before movie time my mom made marshmallow shooters for a hotel battle. So many giggles!

"B" waiting for mini marshmallows to fall so he can get a treat

Its war!

Make your own shooters by cutting bottom of disposable cup and putting a tied balloon also cut in half over bottom.

The next morning it was time to hit the Lincoln City beaches. We had seen tide pools in a museum, but it was time to see them in their natural habitat. Then my favorite memory growing up-agate hunting. On the way home I had a surprise in store. In Lincoln City artist hide their hand blown glass balls (reminiscent of the old glass balls that would wash up on shore from ships). For five years I have been dying to find one of these special treasures. On the way back to the car I found one in the sand and "A" found one next to a lamppost. I did a happy dance right then and there.

Found Hermit Crab

Doesn't he look excited to get a pic with his Dear ole Ma?

My mom taking the kids to the surf

Run! Don't let the wave get you!

Seaweed anyone-or is this Kelp?

Agate Hunting

Jellyfish washed up on the shore

My glass ball. Isn't it gorgeous?

The two treasures together

Shark ABC Attack

I have been scouring the computer for fun activities and games to help "A" with reading sight words and lowercase letters. I recently came across I Heart Crafty Things and saw the cutest game with a homemade shark that eats flashcards. It was so simple and adorable I had to make one. Let alone, I knew this would be a way to look at flashcards that "A" wouldn't run shrieking away from. Man, was I right...he loved the game and did some good reading as well! The game is to put flashcards (we made homemade ones that look like fish) with letters or sight words face up on the floor or table. Next you say, "Mr. Shark is looking for the letter..." They choose the letter and if it is correct they get to feed the shark. If you are doing a word you would say, "Mr. Shark is looking for the word...." It truly was a hit and can't wait to play it again! If you want to play this game and make a shark of your own get a legal size envelope and seal it. Next color it gray. Cut out a large triangle from the side. Clue the triangle you cut out so it is sealed on all sides. This will be glued to the top to make your fin. Next put a googly eye,tooth and gills. In I Heart Crafty Things she used felt teeth and yarn for fins but I just used what I had on hand-paper.

I chose lowercase letters that don't look like their uppercase and some sight words

Grains of Sand

This is actually a special project "A" does with my mother. My mom LOVES collections! Recently she started a sand collection for/with "A". Each time someone goes to a place that may have sand she has them take samples that she puts in glass jars. She even took sand from "A's" sandbox! Being a rock-hound (like me) she wanted "A" to see how sand looks different when taken from different areas. Here are some countries "A" has sand from:

• Thailand
• Mexico
• Honduras
• Grand Cayman
• United States: Florida, Alabama, Oregon, Washington
• Awaiting sand for Japan from "A's" aunt in Okinawa

Collection so far

The darker grains (they have fun sorting colors and particle size)

Lighter Grains

To help "A's" understanding of how sand is made and why they differ I got the book Jump into Science with National Geographic:Sand by Ellen Prager for us to read. In the book, they show close up of sand and I found an amazing slideshow of similar close-up pictures of grains of sand that was published in May 2008 Discover Magazine. To view the entire slideshow click here.

Page from the book looking at different sands

Close up of sand from Greece (photo from Discover Magazine)

Grain of Massachusetts sand as piece of art from Discover Magazine

Photo from Discover Magazine (Okinawa Japan)

This is just one of the many reasons why "A" and my mom have such a great bond!

Treasures in Ice

We recently read the picture book, Immi's Gift by Karin Littlewood. It is a sweet story of a little girl in the Arctic who finds a treasure while ice-fishing. The flotsam she finds brings color to her stark, white world. Later she sends off a piece of her world. We followed this up with a text-to-text connection with David Wiesner's Flotsam.

I have been scouring online for some water activities for this week's summer challenge, and ran across Counting Coconuts' frozen block of treasures. When I saw the picture it immediately reminded me of Immi's igloo. I knew I had to make one of our own! In a 9x12 glass dish I filled it with water, shells, coloful rocks, foam sea animals, letters from our family, and a large sea-star. I tried to do colored ice-cubes like Counting Coconuts but I was unsuccessful. "A" couldn't wait to "excavaute" the treasures and dropped the pan, so I don't have a whole block to show you, only pieces.-SO SAD!

From Immi's Gift

Our block isn't pretty but you get the idea!

Now that we made the block we needed to "excavate" the treasures. "A" and I thought of some things that may melt or break ice. "A" thought more about breaking by using his dinosaur excavating tools and his toy hammer. I added a water bottle, salt, and sugar to help facilitate melting. I knew all these 
items wouldn't work (sugar) but wanted "A" to try them for exploration. He said he would first try with the thing he knew wouldn't work -the water bottle. Hmm was he surprised by the results! Although he liked trying to break it we found the salt and water bottle the best at melting the ice to release our "flotsam".

Our Excavation Tools

Getting smaller now

This activity kept "A" busy for hours.