The idea and the poem for this came from http://funhandprintart.blogspot.com/search/label/handprint%20and%20footprint%20calendar%202 -- I love doing these calendars every month to see how much they have all grown.. it amazes me each time!
This has been my favorite craft we have done for oceans so far... All I did was cut some ovals of felt ahead of time and 8 pieces of ribbon. Then, with my help, the kids used a hot glue gun to glue the ribbon legs all around the oval and then we wrapped the oval around their finger and secured it with a rubber band.. After that all that was left was giant googly eyes *after all GIANT googly eyes make every craft more awesome as my son puts its*. The kids wouldnt put these down at all for the rest of the day, they were excited that they had made themselves a toy.
And of course one of our felt octopuses had to end up in our new sensory bin.. The kids are loving this bin, I recycled an old rock band box into their bin so it is a lot bigger and more kids can play at the same time. In this bin I put a mixture of beans, rice, lentils, and pasta dyed in different shades of pinks, blues and greens. Then I took salt dough and made the small blue balls which so far have represented everything from bubbles and eggs to raindrops. Throw in some green easter grass for seaweed, a few ocean animals and a boat and a scoop and youve got hours of entertainment! And of course a bit of mess everywhere ;)
For open art times I managed to find this cute set of ocean stamps and 2 multicolored ink pads at my local dollar store. Then in the next aisle these great ocean stickers!
This activity has been the most widely used since I have put it out and its being used by all the age groups too. All I did to create this was wrap duct tape around a small box and poke holes into one side.. In the bowl are some party favour picks of ocean animals. This way the kids can design their own ocean. I love it because it really works their fine motor control and well nothing is cuter then seeing a 2 year old trying to fit these into the little holes. It takes such concentration!
Also, although its not related to oceans, we have been doing a lot of yoga lately. Ive been using the first 3 Yoga kids http://yogakids.com/ videos to help me teach the kids. They are getting to be quite awesome at a lot of the poses now!
I will be linking this to One Hook Wonder's Montessori Monday. To see what other kids have been up to this week check out the links at http://onehookwonder.blogspot.com/
What a great octopus craft! They came out so cute. I love how you were able to carry the theme through several works. Thanks for linking up to Montessori Monday! :)
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