Under the Ocean... Under the Sea!

Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea

Today, C requested to read Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea by Jan Peck, illustrated by Valeria Petrone. The illustrations are brilliant and eye-catching, and it is one of C's favourite reads. It is a story about a little boy on an ocean adventure, looking for treasure. He encounters all sorts of sea creatures, big and small. Well, there's an interesting twist at the end. We discover that it was just a figment of his imagination! In reality, he was in the bathtub with all his water toys (a seahorse, an octopus, a dolphin, a starfish, a hermit crab, a whale, a swordfish, a shark and a sea turtle).

And when we were reading this story, C played with a magnetic fishing game (by Melissa & Doug). She fished for each sea creature the boy met as we went through the pages of the book.

Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea
by Jan Peck, illustrated by Valeria Petrone.

Magnetic fishing game by Melissa & Doug.

Trying to catch the Octopus!

Fishing for the Dolphin.

Creating an Ocean Scene

C could not find a starfish in the magnetic fishing game, so we decided to make one! We discussed and thought to create an ocean scene using felt. We used coloured felt from Daiso, and drew out the shapes so we could cut them out.

Components of our ocean scene.

Coloured Felt from Daiso.

Piecing them together. We used an 18x18cm
blue felt as the ocean background.

C applied glue so we can stick the
different parts onto the background.

Adding details to the starfish.

Applying glue on the back of the fish.

Using our trusty Crayola washable glue!

As we were piecing everything together, C suggested using glitter glue to add some sparkle to our artwork. It was a fabulous suggestion. Kids really do come up with the best ideas!

Crayola washable Glitter Glue.

One of C's favourite art tool: Crayola's Glitter Glue!

Some golden glitter for the ocean floor.

The finished ocean scene! C is very pleased indeed!

If you are interested in creating an ocean scene with your kids and would like a reference of what we did, do feel free to download it here: Simple Ocean Scene

Some fun facts about a few sea creatures.

Also, if your child is keen to learn about the parts of a fish, you can download a worksheet here : Parts of a Fish

Meanwhile, here's wishing all a wonderful weekend ahead!

Baking Fun!

Baking Animal Cookies

C and I love baking together. Today, we thought of baking cookies shaped like animals since we were doing an activity about animals. Baking is also a great sensory experience as C enjoys mixing the ingredients and kneading the dough. Here's a very simple recipe for deliciously chocolatey cookies! It's really easy so it's fun to do with kids!

Ingredients:

- 140g butter

- 140g caster sugar

- 2 egg yolks

- 225g self raising flour (depending on the temperature as well as humidity, you may need less or more. Just mix till the dough is not sticking to your hands)

- 30g cocoa powder (we used Hershey's)

- Semi-sweet Chocolate chips

Method:

1. Cream the softened butter into the sugar till pale yellow.

2. Beat in the yolks.

3. Mix the flour and cocoa powder into the creamed mixture till you get a non-sticky dough.

4. Cling wrap and chill the dough in fridge for around 10 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 190degC.

6. Roll out dough and use desired cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Add as many chocolate chips as your child wishes! C had a hard time resisting not eating them all!

7. Bake for 10 minutes. Chill and enjoy!

C helping with the flour and cocoa powder.

A great chance for C to help with some dish washing
while waiting for the dough to chill! She was really
enthusiastic about it. I hope her enthusiasm will last.

Some cute animal shaped cookie cutters!
C chose a hippo, an elephant and a bear.

The best part for C! Rolling, kneading and cutting shapes
into the dough.

Cutting out animal shapes.

C's favourite was the bear!

Enjoying a lovely tea break after all the baking fun!

A happy girl!

Learning about Animals

The animal activity we did today was to introduce C to the classification of animals. C now appreciates the differences in animals and she was really excited to help place the animal cut-outs in the correct categories. 

Placing the animal cut-out in the correct category.

Learning that a starfish is an Invertebrate.

Almost done with the classification!

Please find the printables here:

Animal Classification - with animal cut-outs (print and cut out the animals for your kids to place them into the various categories in the empty table below)

Animal Classification - reference table

You may wish to laminate them to make them last longer. Meanwhile, hope you will find the printables useful for you and your kids! 

A Beautiful Day to Appreciate Nature

We woke up to a beautiful day this morning. The weather was cool as the clouds were overlooking high above and shaded us from the usual blazing sun. C and I decided to head out with her trusty magnifying glass for an adventure outdoors. Here are some pictures of what we found.

Spotted a Spider Web!

Pretty Yellow Ixora flowers!

Yellow Flame Tree.

Picking up twigs.

And flowers.

Leaflets from the Yellow Flame Tree.

We stumbled upon an interesting cat with relatively long fur.
C called this a 'Lion Cat'!

Pretty pink Mimosa flower.

C was fascinated with the mimosa plant that
reacted to her touch! The leaves fold inward
and droop when touched.

Oxalis Corniculata. They resemble clovers.

C testing her balance on the sturdy roots of a tree.

After the little nature walk and expending her energy at the playground downstairs, it was time to head home. C had fun with activities to name the different parts of a plant and a tree.

Parts of the Plant Activity.

You can download the free printables here:

- Parts of a Tree Activity
- Parts of a Plant Activity

Singapore is truly a Garden City with all our beautiful trees, greenery and flowers! C and I are so glad to have the chance to appreciate the wonderful nature around us.

Math and Addition Fun!

Kids love playing games. So I thought of a way to teach C math and simple addition by using a couple of games. Here are the details below.

Fill the Fruit Jar

To play this game, you will need:

- Dice

- Print out of the Fruit Tokens

- Print out of the Fruit Jar (to place the fruit tokens in)

Basically, players take turns to roll the dice. Whatever number is rolled indicates the number of fruits we have to place in the jar. C had a great time deciphering the number shown on the dice, and counting the fruits to be placed into the jar.

C busy counting the fruit tokens.

C counted 4 correctly!

This is also a fantastic activity to introduce the different types of fruit to your child!
You can download the free printable game here : Fill the Fruit Jar Game

Monkey Addition

Well, based on the Chinese Zodiac, it's going to be the Year of the Monkey soon. So here's one way to welcome the upcoming Lunar New Year!

You will need to:

1. Print out all 3 pages from the link below. The 3 pages include 

- addition equations

- a counting template / board (p2)

- monkey tokens

2. Laminate all pages to make them durable. This is a game that you can use over and over again to help our kids understand simple addition.

3. Cut out the addition equations and monkey tokens.

Present an addition equation to your child. You can start with the simpler ones first if your child is new to addition. The idea is to use the cut out monkeys to help our kids visualize how addition is done. 

For example, if we have the equation 2+3, we can place 2 monkeys on the top row, and another 3 monkeys on the bottom row. We can then ask our kids to count ALL the monkeys on the board. They can see clearly that 2+3 is equals to 5. This game really helps C understand addition very well. Hope you will find this useful too!

Download the free Monkey Addition Game.

Learning about the Life Cycle of a Butterfly

C has always been a fan of Eric Carle, the author of the well-known book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Since she was a baby, I've read the story to her regularly, and that probably forged her interest in caterpillars and butterflies.

We just visited the library the other day, and C LOVES picking out books by herself. She stumbled upon this book titled Ten Little Caterpillars, written by Bill Martin, Jr, and illustrated by Lois Ehlert.

Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Jr.

It immediately became her favourite read among the pile of books we borrowed. The rhymes in the book were really catchy, and we both enjoyed how the book ended with details of each of the ten caterpillars featured.

Details of the ten caterpillars.

We learnt about each caterpillar's diet, and what each caterpillar grew to become. This gave us the opportunity to recap on the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and at the same time discuss about a butterfly's LIFE CYCLE. We made a little illustration of a butterfly's life cycle, and I asked C to fill in the various stages with stickers.

A simple illustration of a Butterfly's Life Cycle

Well, I'm totally new to blogging, and would love to share activities that can be downloaded for printing. When I figure out how to upload printables, please check back for additional activities that C and I have done that are related to learning about life cycles! Meanwhile, do share if you have any other ideas that you may have. I would really love to hear from you!