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Pre-K activities, learning games, crafts, and printables


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Seashells

Craft, role play, manipulation, sensory bin, and early science activities for little seashell lovers!

In the Educatall Club
Seashell-filled flashcards, posters, games, activity sheets, puppets, drawing activities, coloring pages, and a lot more summertime fun!


Educatall Club
Educatall Club

ALL THEMES See 2024 schedule

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AREA SETUP

(Open thematic poster-Seashells) Print, laminate, and decorate the walls of your daycare with all kinds of posters.

 

Educa-decorate-Seashells
(Open educa-decorate-Seashells) Print, laminate, and cut out the various items. Use them to decorate your daycare and set the mood for the theme.

 

Garland-Seashells
(Open garland-Seashells) Print the illustrations. Let children decorate them. Cut them out and hang them within your daycare or near your daycare entrance to create a garland.

 

Educa-theme-Seashells
(Open educa-theme-Seashells) Print and laminate the items that represent the theme. Display them to present your theme to your group (and parents) while decorating an area within your daycare.

 

At the beach
You will need four brown paper grocery bags. Open them and hang them on a wall to create a large mural, at children's level. Liberally apply glue and sand all over the surface. Let dry. Throughout the theme, fill your beach with children's crafts. You may also add pictures of their family vacations if you wish.

 

SPECIAL TOOLEduca-theme-Seashells

This special tool was created in response to a special request received. (Open poster-No nap today) Print and laminate. Display the poster in your naptime area.

 

CIRCLE TIME

Poni discovers and presents-Seashells

(Open Poni discovers and presents-Seashells) Print the cards. Cut them out and laminate them. Use a Poni puppet (available on the online store) or a puppet representing another character children are familiar with to present the different types of seashells to your group.Deposit seashells here and there throughout your daycare. Observe children's reaction when they find them. To greet children, wear a special hat on which you have glued seashells.

 

PICTURE GAME
(Open picture game-Seashells) Use the pictures to decorate your daycare or to spark a conversation with your group. Print, laminate, and store the pictures in a Ziploc bag or in your thematic bin.

 

ACTIVITY SHEETPicture game-Seashells
(Open activity sheets-Seashells) Print and follow instructions.

 

WRITING ACTIVITIES
(Open writing activities-S like seashell) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.

 

Stationery-Seashells
(Open stationery-Seashells) Print. Use the stationery to communicate with parents, in your writing corner, or to identify your thematic bins.

 

Educa-nuudles-Seashells

(Open educa-nuudles-Seashells) Print for each child. Have children color the sheet. Once they are done, they may use Magic Nuudles to turn the coloring pages into three dimensional works of art. Variation: If you do not have Magic Nuudles, ask children to fill the spaces designed for the Magic Nuudles with bingo markers or stickers. To order Magic Nuudles:

 

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIESActivity-sheets-Seashells

Word flashcards

Use the flashcards to spark a conversation with your group, in your reading and writing corner, or to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards-Seashells) (Open giant word flashcards-Seashells) Print. oyster, clam, mussel, shell, scallop, snail, pearl, seashell, hard, ocean, coral, sand

 

ROUTINES AND TRANSITIONS

Game-This is my spot-Seashells
(Open game-This is my spot-Seashells) Print two copies of each illustration. Use adhesive paper to stick one copy of each illustration on the table. Place the second copy in a bag. Children take turns picking an illustration to determine where they must sit at the table. You may also use the illustrations to determine children's naptime spots or their place in the task train.

 

My seashell pathMy seashell path
(Open my seashell path) Print, laminate, and secure the illustrations on the floor of your daycare to create a path leading to the areas frequently visited by children throughout the day. The path can lead to the bathroom, the cloakroom, etc. If you prefer, use the illustrations to delimit various areas.

 

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS-Seashells

Construction/building blocks:

  • Offer only sand, water, seaweed, and beach-coloured blocks (blue, brown, and green).
  • Sea animal figurines.
  • A large blue canvas or cloth that can be set on the floor to represent water.
  • Have children wear gloves when they play with blocks...to represent a crab's claws.

Arts & crafts:

  • Add salt to your poster paint and observe the result once the paint is dry. You may use fine salt, sea salt or coarse salt to test different textures.
  • Collages using seashells.
  • Add fine sand to your poster paint or to your white glue.Game-This is my spot-Seashells
  • Have children use chalk to draw on sandpaper.
  • Glue paper tentacles on a paper plate to create an octopus.
  • Blue, green, and brown tissue paper, cardboard, cellophane paper.
  • A sea mural.
  • Make sea creature puppets.
  • Paint with seagull feathers.
  • Material to make fishing rods.

Drawing:

  • Coloring pages related to the theme.
  • Marine animal stencils.
  • Ocean-themed creative coloring.

Role play:

  • At the beach: sun hats, beach towels, sunglasses, umbrella, sandals, sand toys, beach chairs, empty sunscreen bottles, magazines, etc.
  • Deep sea fishing: rubber boots, fishing rods, hats, net, plastic fish, bait, fishing kit, etc.
  • Diving: masks, snorkels, fins, anchor, empty 2-litre soft drink bottles, etc.
  • You can delimit the area using blue or green electrical tape to represent water.

Manipulation:

  • Marine animal memory game.Word flashcards-Seashells
  • Store-bought or homemade puzzles of beach or ocean scenes.
  • Laminate a dolphin, crab, or octopus picture and cut it into pieces to create original puzzles.
  • Tweezers to represent crab claws that children can use to transfer pompoms from one container to another.
  • Pin the tail on the dolphin or whale.
  • Clear plastic bottles filled with a mixture of water and blue food coloring.
  • Ziploc bags filled with blue hair gel, blue salt, blue oil, etc. Seal the bags. Children will love seeing the changes and movement of the different substances without having to get their hands dirty.
  • Marine animals sculpted in modeling dough.

Pre-reading:

  • Books about the beach.
  • CD with wave sounds.
  • Fish and marine animal picture books.
  • Poster of different marine animals.
  • Illustrations from the educatall picture game can be used to invent stories.

Pre-writing:

  • Hunt and seek games.
  • Activity sheets related to the theme.
  • Games with educatall word flashcards.
  • Tracing and maze activities.
  • A cookie sheet filled with sand and a stick that can be used to trace words or draw shapes and designs.
  • Laminated fish drawings that children can trace using dry-erase markers.

Motor skills:Educa-symmetry-Seashells

  • An obstacle course children must complete while moving like a sea turtle, a lobster, or a crab.
  • Attach a cushion to each child's back and have them move about like a sea turtle or a hermit crab.
  • Bowling: glue marine animal pictures on soft drink bottles.
  • Treasure hunt. Use 10 pairs of colourful fish in different colors and encourage children to hunt for pairs.
  • I am moving like a... (crab, turtle, dolphin, seagull, etc.).

Sensory bins:

  • Fill a large container with sand and sand toys.
  • Fill a container with blue ribbon, yarn, string, etc. Add tiny fish and seashells that children can manipulate.
  • Fill a container with different shades of blue gooey substances (hair gel, Jell-O, baby oil, etc.). Add containers children can fill and empty, utensils, or plastic marine animals.

Early science:

  • With your group, make your own wave machines. Have each child bring an empty 2-litre soft drink bottle. Add ½ cup of vegetable oil to each bottle. Fill the bottles with water and add a few drops of blue food coloring. Seal the caps and let children shake the bottles to create waves.
  • Different sizes and colors of seashells and magnifying glasses for observing them up close.
  • Different types of sandpaper for comparisons.
  • A live crab or hermit crab children can observe (or pictures).
  • Pictures of land turtles and sea turtles that can be compared.
  • Observe the world through blue cellophane paper.
  • What floats? What sinks?
  • What does seawater taste like?

Kitchen:

  • A crab or pollock recipe.
  • Taste sardines or simply observe them.

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

Beach party
(Open perpetual calendar-Beach Party Day) Print. Outdoors, set up sandboxes, umbrellas, tables, chairs, etc. Play summer music and invite your group to dance in the sand.

 Lacing-Seashells

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Lacing-Seashells
(Open lacing-Seashells) Print, laminate, and make holes around the contour of each shape. Children can use string or shoelaces to lace the shapes.

 

Magical seashells
You will need three seashells (or plastic drinking glasses). Hide a marble under one of the seashells. Move them around. Children must watch the seashells closely and guess which seashell the pearl is hiding under.

 

A day at the beach
During circle time, ask children if they have ever been to the beach. Have them tell you about their day at the beach. Have children use their imagination. Stand up, pretend to select a spot for your umbrella and beach chair, play with a beach ball, swim in the waves, relax in the sand, etc.

 

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIESGiant-seashells

Walking on seashells
(Open giant seashells) Print and laminate several seashells. Set them on the floor to create a path. Encourage children to walk on the seashells.

 

Flying seashells
(Open tiny seashells) Print and laminate the seashells. Deposit them on your parachute. Children must energetically shake the parachute to send the seashells flying through the air. Once all the seashells have fallen to the floor, collect them and start all over again. Variation: Print two copies of each page and use the seashells as a memory game.

 

Sandbox
Play in your sandbox. Explain how a beach is an area near a large body of water that is completely covered with sand. Build castles, dunes, etc. Provide trucks and plastic figurines. Variation: Deposit your hose in the sandbox and run the water until your sandbox is full of mud. Children will love playing in the mud. This is a great Friday afternoon activity (the sand will dry over the weekend).

 

Treasure hunt in the sandTiny seashells
Select an object with your group. Designate a child to hide it in your sandbox. When he/she is done, the other children search for the object. The child who finds it can hide it for the next round. Variation: Collect several rocks and paint them using gold paint. Hide these gold pieces in your sandbox. Children can use sieves to find them.

 

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Educ-trace-Seashells
(Open educ-trace-Seashells) Print for each child. Children must trace the dotted lines using a crayon of the corresponding color and then color each object using the same color.

 

Educ-pairs-Seashells
(Open educ-pairs-Seashells) Print. Children must color identical illustrations using the same color or draw a line between them. For durable, eco-friendly use, laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.

 

Educa-symmetry-Seashells
(Open educa-symmetry-Seashells) Print. Children must color the bottom picture to make it look exactly like the top picture.

 

Educ-intruder-SeashellsEduc-pairs-Seashells
(Open educ-intruder-Seashells) Print and laminate. Children must find the six (6) intruders.

 

Educ-same and different-Seashells
(Open educ-same and different-Seashells) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must circle the illustration that is different in each row.

 

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

I can hear the ocean
Ask parents if they have a large hollow seashell. Encourage children to press it against their ear to "listen" to the ocean.

 

Day at the beach
During circle time, ask children if they have ever been to the beach. Have them tell you about their day at the beach. Have children use their imagination. Stand up, pretend to select a spot for your umbrella and beach chair, play with a beach ball, swim in the waves, relax in the sand, etc.

 

EARLY SCIENCE/MANIPULATION/EXPLORATIONEduc-intruder-Seashells

Sandbox
Hide several seashells in a sandbox and encourage children to dig them out of the sand.

 

Sand dough
(Open creative recipe-Sand dough) Print.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of sand
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1 cup of salt
  • 3 tablespoons of oil
  • 3 teaspoons of cream of tartar
  • ½ cup of water

Steps:

  1. In a pot, combine all dry ingredients.Creative recipe-Sand dough
  2. Add liquid ingredients.
  3. Cook over medium-low heat until a homogeneously granular (like sugar) ball forms.
  4. It is best to use an old pot since the sand may scratch the surface.
  5. Use the sand dough like regular modeling dough to explore a new texture.

Prints in the sand
Use the sand dough to make prints of children's hands and feet. Let the prints dry before painting them.

 

Moon Sand
Make beautiful sand castles...that are much less fragile!
(Open creative recipe-Moon Sand) Print.

 

Moon Sand

 

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups of sand
  • 3 cups of cornstarchCreative recipe-Moon Sand
  • 1 ½ cup of cold water
  • A large container

Steps:

  1. Vigorously mix the water and cornstarch together for a few minutes to obtain a relatively smooth mixture.
  2. Add the sand (1 cup at a time) to the liquid mixture and mix well using your hands so the sand absorbs the liquid.
  3. Once the liquid is completely absorbed, you are ready to play! Use the Moon Sand to make various shapes and structures.
  4. Store the Moon Sand in an airtight container. Simply add 3-4 tablespoons of water to the mixture each time you wish to play with it and you will enjoy several hours of fun!

**The texture of this dough is a lot like the store-bought version, but it is much less expensive.


CULINARY ACTIVITIES

Food item of the week: Salt
(Open educ-poster-Salt) Print and laminate the posters to present this food item to your group. Children will discover different forms of everyday food items. Display the posters in your kitchen or in the area children eat their meals and snacks.

 

A meal in a seashellEduc-poster-Salt
Purchase seashell-shaped plates or bowls and use them to serve lunch to your group.

 

Seashell salad
Prepare your favorite macaroni salad recipe using seashell-shaped pasta. Add colourful peppers for an extra touch of color.

 

ARTS & CRAFTS

Puppets-Seashells
(Open puppets-Seashells) Print the models on heavy cardboard. Have children cut them out and decorate them with a variety of materials. Glue a Popsicle stick behind each model to create puppets.

 

Models-Seashells
(Open models-Seashells) Print the models and use them for various crafts and activities throughout the theme.

 

Our seashells
Purchase large shell-shaped pasta (the larger the better). Have children paint them. Let them dry before using them for a special seashell treasure hunt.

 

Sand drawingsPuppets-Seashells
Have children use white glue to draw designs on cardboard. Over a garbage can, help them sprinkle sand all over their drawing. Variation: You can add a touch of color to white or light sand by adding powdered paint to it.

 

The ocean
Hang a blue shower curtain on a wall. Cut fish shapes out of Kraft paper. For each child, glue two fish back to back, leaving an opening at the tail. Let children decorate their fish before stuffing it with cotton balls or scraps of newspaper. Hang the fish in front of the blue curtain using blue or green crepe paper. Use this décor to take pictures of the children in your group.

 

Sand painting
Have children mix sand and powdered paint together. Use empty dishwashing liquid bottles to divide the colors. Children draw designs on paper using white glue and then sprinkle them with sand. If you prefer, you can purchase colourful sand in stores.

 

COLORING PAGES

Complete the drawing-SeashellsI am learning to draw-A seashell
(Open complete the drawing-Seashells) Print for each child. Have children complete the picture by drawing the missing elements.

 

I am learning to draw-A seashell

(Open I am learning to draw-A seashell) Print and laminate the model sheet. Encourage children to practice their drawing technique on the model sheet before trying to draw a seashell on their own. (Open coloring pages theme-Seashells) Print for each child.

 

SONGS & RHYMES

(Open songs & rhymes-Seashells)

 Songs & rhymes-Seashells

Seashells

By: Patricia Morrison

 

 

Seashells in the waves
Seashells in the sand
Seashells in my bucket
Seashells in my hand

 

 

Have Fun
The educatall team

 

 

 

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