this week's five on friday features more activities for your little ones this summer! the calendar for this upcoming week is based on the theme of, "seashells." if you don't have any lying around from past beach trips, you can find seashells in the craft department at most stores - walmart, michaels, hobby lobby, etc. we've even found some at the dollar store before. and if you don't have time to get out and about to find some shells, you can always use clip art, noodles, or even rocks and just "pretend" they're shells. :)
to read more about the five on friday series and to see theme's from week's past, CLICK HERE.
read on for this week's five on friday: seashells...
one.
sorting seashells. you can use a sorting tray if you have one - i have a few leftover from my kindergarten teaching days - but really, anything with separate compartments works. ice cube trays, lunch trays, divided plates, etc. you can even use hula hoops, masking tape, or yarn to make sorting circles. depending on the age and ability of your child, he/she can sort seashells by color, size, shape, attribute, etc. get creative!
two.
seashell painting. you can use some of the shells you worked with yesterday and paint them adding glitter, stickers, and other accessories. set up a seashell museum (older children can even "name" and describe their shells for the museum). you can use air dry clay to make shell impressions. when it dries, you can paint the impression. or just use regular old playdoh and make shell impressions. roll out the dough, flatten, and repeat. rolling "snakes" out of playdoh and flattening it out are great fine motor skills for little ones!
three.
seashell sand pail. use the printable at the end of this post to help your child practice one to one correspondence as well as number recognition. you can print one copy of the attachment and laminate it (or cover it with clear contact paper) to conserve paper and time :)
write a number on the sand pail with a dry erase marker and have your child place that number of shells on the sand/in the pail. wipe off, write another number, and repeat.
there are a number of extensions for this activity... you can write number words instead of the numerals for older children and have them practice reading the words then placing that many shells on the mat.
your child can write a number by themselves and place the shells on. you could start with the shells on the mat FIRST, have your child count them, and he/she writes the corresponding numeral on the pail.
for younger children, you can practice numbers up to five. count to one; put on one shell. count to two; put on two shells, etc.
if you choose not to use the printable, you can use tea light containers, bowls, or even actual sand pails to complete the activity.
four.
paper plate oyster. paint a paper plate (make sure it is not "wax" covered) and fold it in half. place a cotton ball on the inside for the "pearl" inside the oyster.
ABC shells. label the inside of 26 shells with the 26 letters of the alphabet. have your child place them in ABC order. or flip them over and identify the letter on the back. you can also use these to spell out simple sight words (it, on, and, are, is, then, that, why, you, etc, etc, etc).
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five.
seashell pearl cookies you will need vanilla wafers, icing, pink/red food coloring (if desired), and yogurt covered raisins.
tint the icing pink to resemble the inside of a shell. ice the flat side of one vanilla wafer. place the yogurt covered raisin on top as the "pearl" ice the flat side of the other vanilla wafer and place on top of your "pearl" at a right angle.
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PRINTABLES:
seashell calendar AND sand pail game
don't forget to check out the five on friday activities and FREE printables from week's past (sea life, flags, stars and stripes, beach, and more!)
feel free to email me with any questions or comments. hope you enjoy! :)
