Ocean Unit
This was supposed to be a mini unit…. how can you do a mini unit on oceans when there is so many fun things to explore and learn!?! Each unit this summer I have planned more and more for both girls instead of just my preschooler. My tot is LOVING being included with her own work (she always had her own trays or work on the shelf but something on theme) so this unit I chose to also plan a few works specifically just for her as well.
Sensory Ocean Bottle
This is more for my youngest but I went ahead and made two so they would each have one. We have some tropical fish that I added to them. This was really simple to do. I added a bit of liquid food coloring to water and added glitter then just added the fish.
Ocean Animals (Schleich and Safari) + Three Part Cards
I made three part cards for these a couple years ago. I used these mostly for my youngest this time around. I introduced with a small basket with 3 objects at first and then will add to it more. The following week, I will introduce the object to card matching concept. She’s done object to object and card to card.
I also used three part ocean cards from Mornings Together that were included in the Summer Mega Bundle I purchased.
Shells (real + 3 part cards)
A few years ago, the girls Mawmaw brought home some shells for them. They have been in rotation on and off since then! I am adding these to the shelf along with 3 part cards. Some came from the Summer Mega Bundle, and some came from Little Folk Learning (possibly also acquired in one of the two bundles I bought this summer???)
Oceans 3 Part Cards and Control Chart
This is from Imagine Our Life. They are great! We reinforced this activity by learning an ocean song (Min 1:47 has just the oceans. We will add continents soon!) and matching the ocean labels to the sand and water globe.
We just started the first official math material in the Montessori Math Sequence so we are not really as focused on the number to quantify aspect of this puzzle yet. I am not doing a full 3 part lesson on that concept yet. I will wait until we are there in the sequence. This is from Montessori by Mom and can be downloaded for free here. Since we are not yet sequencing numbers, I ended up printing a control copy to make this puzzle more fun for my oldest. She was a little frustrated working it at first but enjoyed it after I added this piece!
Ocean Art (Cards plus DIY Art Study)
The Summer Mega Bundle I purchased had ocean art cards. You can grab this from Montessori Inspired Company’s Etsy shop. It is her By the Seashore Bundle. I used these to explore on the shelf, and as inspiration to create our own ocean art. Both of the girls absolutely loved these. It was fun to just appreciate the beauty and to also recreate our own. We also did some color matching work with our Color Tablets.
Ocean Books
We purchase a Usborne book ahead of time, “101 Things to Spot in the Sea” that I’ve been holding for our next Ocean unit. I also grabbed, Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea by Steve Jenkins. In addition to that, I wrote a Oceans Biome Reader for the girls. We started with that one, then read the other two.
Sea Turtle Study
For Christmas, my daughter was gifted a turtle to follow it’s migration path online from the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Her name is Hope. We looked at her path again. I also made a booklet on Sea Turtles and found these 3 part cards of the seven types of sea turtles by Carrots are Orange.
We also found this fun show on the Smithsonian called “Sea Turtle Rescue“. Our four year old loved it and has stated she is going to be a sea turtle doctor when she grows up.
This unit took about two weeks. We started a week before our family’s beach vacation and then got to explore things for ourselves at the ocean! Once we got back we continued the unit and just tried to get back into our homeschool groove.
After this week, I will rotate anything that is still of interest off the shelves when we decorate for fall in a couple weeks and get our our fall unit. I already put together our fall art study. Feel free to use it in your homeschool!
Did you do an ocean study this summer? What were your family’s favorite activities?
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