Mother Goose Time- Small Sea Creatures Preschool Lesson Plans

Here's some free Mother Goose Time lesson plan ideas that preschool through elementary-age children will love.

Each day of the week, we learned about each of the following:

• plankton and jellyfish
• sea star
• seahorse
• sea sponge
• x-ray fish

There was a lot to do for each day, which we can't cover all here, but I'll share our favorites with you.

Jellyfish Hat Craft and Dramatic Play

My daughters loved acting out being a jellyfish. They had a lot of fun with the dramatic play. Their dad was stung by a jellyfish once, so the topic was interesting to them.

Here's a picture of the lesson plan from the book. Mother Goose Time provided all of the above supplies, except for the tape. It's such a great time saver to have all of the supplies in the bag each day! Every once in a while, I just need to use some of our own glue, tape or paint. Most other supplies are included.

Supplies:

• photograph of a jellyfish
• shower cap
• tape
• curling ribbon (what you use to wrap presents)

The children tape the curling ribbon onto the shower cap, as they look at a photograph of a jellyfish.

Then, the children act out being a jellyfish.

You can also hang the jellyfish craft onto the wall, and the children could swim though the sea looking up at the jellyfish.

"Look, mom. I am swimming under the jellyfish!"

 

 

Sea Star Snack and Bumpy Sea Star Craft

This is a photo of our sea star snack. Of course, you could use sunbutter, if needed. We didn't have
rice crispies, so the girls decorated their sea stars with nuts and cranberries.

I didn't have a star cookie cutter, so it took me a couple of times to get the stars right. I just cut two pieces of bread at once and then separated the pieces for each daughter.




This Sea Star Craft was really fun for the girls. It seems so simple, but they loved putting on the bumps and then feeling the sea star. You can also practice counting the legs. We usually count in English and then Spanish. Practicing anything in Spanish pretty much makes it differentiated for my older daughter. That way the older child and younger child are both able to be challenged. I think counting in Spanish is beginning to be too easy for our eight-year-old daughter, so I think I may have her start counting in Italian, too. She can count to 100 in Spanish.

 

 

 

Daddy Seahorse Game

This Mother Goose Time Daddy Seahorse Game is so adorable! My daughters could not wait to show daddy their seahorse game and to play it with him when he got home.



For our younger daughter, we practiced counting the baby seahorses in English, and she also tried Spanish along with her older sister. We said numbers in Spanish for our older daughter, because English was too easy for her. That way it made the game fun for our older daughter, too. Otherwise, it would have been too easy for our older daughter.

Daddy seahorses take care of seahorse babies in their pouch. The girls turned over a number and put in the correct number of seahorses in the daddy seahorse's pouch.

 

Sponge Stencils

The girls hung their sponge stencils above their desks next to their jellyfish hats. This activity seemed to really relax them. I noticed that some of the ocean photographs in this month's box seemed to have a relaxing effect. Research has shown that fish tanks and ocean scenes tend to relax children. That's also why I chose to put their finished artwork on the wall in front of their desks. I love the colorful photographs Mother Goose Time includes for each day's lessons.

Supplies:

• Background picture paper (picture of a
  
  ocean scene)
• Sea sponge stencils
• Sponge
• Paint
• Glue or tape

 

 

 

 

X-Ray Fish Handprint Craft

Handprint crafts are so much fun. It would be fun to put together a calendar with all of the handprint crafts we do for the year, and make a calendar for the following year.

Here are the instructions:

Look at their little handprints!

Mother Goose Time packed tons to do into this week! We had so much fun, and we are so excited about our adventures next week!

Next week will be our final week studying Ocean Commotion, and we will be discovering more about ocean exploration.

Mother Goose Time- Whale, Octopus, Dolphin, Shark and Sea Turtle Preschool Lesson Plans

Feel free to use any of these ocean theme (large sea creatures)  Mother Goose Time lesson plans.

 

Many of the lessons (art, games and songs) can be differentiated for Pre-K through elementary age children.

 

Ocean Commotion Theme

Our theme for this month is Ocean Commotion. The kids have learned about ocean scape (ocean water, ocean floor, ocean caves & crevices, ocean plants and coral reef). This week the kids learned about large sea creatures (whale, octopus, dolphin, shark and sea turtle). This web shows the curriculum sequence.

 Ocean Animals A to Z Book

We began learning about ocean animals by reading and tracing each alphabet letter in this beautiful book by Leslie Falconer.

This interesting book has beautiful photographs and large letters for the preschooler to trace. It also has a short description of each animal. It incorporates reading and science in a very visual and kinesthetic manner. My daughter had no trouble going all the way through the book in one sitting.

I highly recommend this book. My daughter loved it. I was so impressed that it came in our Mother Goose Time box for the month.

Here are some examples of pages in the book...

Mother Goose Time, Jonah and the Whale, Obeying God and Chore Charts

Jonah and the Whale Crafts and Dramatic Play

The girls loved making this whale, from the Bible story, Jonah and the Whale. This is a supplement that comes with Mother Goose Time, Experience God. It even came with a coloring book.

Every month, you can choose to add on the Experience God activities, which go along with the theme. I chose to order this supplement, because it's been a fun and helpful way to help the kids feel close to God.


 
They loved acting out the Bible story with  Jonah, his little boat and the whale. This was great for dramatic play.

The girls learned an important lesson from the Jonah and the whale Bible lesson... It's important to obey God when He calls you to do something.

Mother Goose Time sends posters for each part of the Bible story, so they children can visually see what happens as the teacher or parent explains the story. While they were busy creating the crafts, I read the story. So, when they were done creating their Jonah, boat and whale, they were all ready to act out the story themselves.


The children learn that Jonah learns to obey God, as he finally faces his fear and goes back to the city to share God's word with the people. How can we learn from Jonah's experiences?

Deciding to Obey God

Here's a little "O" banner for "Obey" with a Bible verse.

"This is love for God: to obey His commands."
1 John 5:3

...And at that moment I remembered what God has called me (and all the homeschooling parents reading this) to do... Homeschool our children. Sometimes, it's not easy to obey God, but when you do, you finally feel at peace with God.

Then, I feel a prayer of thanks well up in my heart, as I look into their appreciative, loving eyes.

The best example we can give our children is to do it ourselves. That's what they will really remember. Yeah, they'll remember all the times we messed up, too. So, we better keep ourselves in check. ;) But lets face it, we'll never be perfect. That's why we have God's grace. We also need to remember to share God's grace with our little ones in the way we parent them.

Chores Craft and Activity

Chores and tracking chores is a great way to teach children consistency and responsibility. It's nice to have the children do age appropriate chores, like picking up toys, brushing teeth and brushing hair.

For little ones, it seems that the number of chores corresponds with the age of the child. So, a 3-year-old child can maybe do the three age appropriate and developmentally appropriate chores mentioned, and an 8-year old child can possibly handle eight age appropriate and developmentally appropriate chores.

The Mother Goose Time chore tracking craft and activity is ideal for preschoolers. You can make this chore activity at home by simply taping pictures symbolizing the chore onto empty yogurt cups or tin cans (be sure to get rid of any sharp edges.) As the preschool child finishes each chore, he/she puts the popsicle in the corresponding cup or can. I think this chore activity is best for preschoolers.

As for the older kids... Here's a chore chart (rocket or rose), I created on my other blog. You can print it for free for your older children.

 

 Carol Brooke Books Chore Chart
https://carolbrookebooks.wordpress.com/category/household-organization/chores-charts/

Mother Goose Time, Oyster Pearls Craft and the Letter "O"

Oyster Pearls Craft and Lesson

Mother Goose Time shared a wonderful oyster pearls lesson plan with us this month, as part of the Ocean Commotion theme for April.

The girls loved making their own oyster shells with pearl bracelets inside!

Ages: Pre-K and up

Supplies:

• Beads (real pearls can be white, pink, yellow, green, blue, brown or black)
• Paper plate
• Pipe cleaner
• Paint

Holding up the paper plate, we discussed how the paper plate is shaped like an "o", as in oyster.

We looked at pictures of oysters and oyster pearls. I showed them a real pearl necklace, too.

I decided to show my daughters a video on youtube explaining why oysters have pearls. It's pretty

gross, but it's nice that something pretty can be made out of something so gross. The video explains that either a parasite or a grain of sand gets stuck inside the oyster. The oyster protects itself from the foreign matter by covering the grain of sand or parasite with lacquer, which is hexagonal aragonite crystals of calcium carbonate. (Of course, they don't know exactly what those words mean, but they get the general idea when they see the video show the process.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T18E58vOTus

Then, the girls got to paint their oyster shells. First, they painted the inside. They decided on yellow, even though it's usually pink. (Mother Goose Time included most of the needed supplies.)

As one side of the paper plate dried, they worked on their bracelets.

They strung several white beads onto the pipe cleaners.













"Look, a pearl bracelet!"

After they finished making their bracelets, they painted the outside shell (other side of the paper plate).

We folded the wet, painted plates and let it dry that way, so they would look like a oyster shells.

Field Trip to See Real Oysters and Pearls

One thing we love to do is go on field trips to see exactly what we are learning about in the real world. So, we went to Downtown Disney and visited one of the oyster shell
jewelers.

We were tempted to buy a pearl, but we just looked at them. :) The jewelers have the oysters in the shell, and if you decide to buy one, they will open the shell for you and you can pick out jewelry to have the jewelers set the pearl in.



You can see the oysters with pearls inside here.








After you choose and oyster and take out the pearl, you can get jewelry for your pearl.






It was fun for the girls to see a real oyster shell, create their own oyster shells and pearl bracelets, while really having an understanding of where real pearls come from... The ocean, not a bucket.

Mother Goose Time, Discovering the Ocean Floor

Exploring the Ocean Floor Fun

Mother Goose Time included this "Ocean Commotion" preschool curriculum web in the April box!

It's great to hang this up for the kids to see. Each day, they explore the next activity on the web.

I enjoy using this web to explain writing to my 2nd grader, too. You can use the same type of web for any type of writing (story, report, biography, etc...)

Seashell Discovery, Music, Counting, Dancing and Acting

When my 3-year-old daughter discovered the seashells inside her Mother Goose Time preschool curriculum box, she was thrilled!

The seashells are beautiful. Wow!

She used the seashells to make music.

"Look Mom, the seashells are instruments!"

"Wow, it looks like animals live inside. Do animals live inside, Mom?"

We talked about the types of animals that live inside seashells. Which she found fascinating.

She even noticed that they were supposed to fit together on her own, and she opened and closed the shells.

She counted the seashells.
"1-2-3..." (up to twenty)

She counted in Spanish, too!

She sorted the seashells, and then counting the types of shells.

My daughters danced around the seashells on a blue ocean blanket, while we listened to the Mother Goose Time Ocean Commotion CD.

"I'm a fish!"
"I'm a dolphin!"
"I'm a sea turtle!"

They also loved exploring the ocean floor using their play magnifying glasses on this colorful poster.
They found a green plant, seashell, and octopus...

"Look Mom, this green plant looks different than the other one."

They turned the play magnifying glasses over and did more exploring, acting out discovery.

Then, over the weekend, we took a trip to downtown Disney to see the beautiful aquarium at the Rainforest Café.

We even made our own aquarium. We talked about the habitat, temperature of the water, and how we have a fresh water tank, rather than salt water (like the salt water tank at Rainforest Café).

The girls love to relax and watch the neon tetras swim in their new fish tank.

They can't wait to learn about large sea creatures next, such as the whale, octopus, dolphin, shark and sea turtle.

We'd love to share our adventures with you as we have fun learning. You can subscribe above, and you'll get an email next time we post our adventures.

What's your favorite ocean lesson? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

Ocean Water Science Experiment with Mother Goose Time

I love how Mother Goose Time lesson plans can easily be differentiated, depending upon the ages and abilities of your children. This science experiment is a great example.

My daughters are three-years-old and seven-years-old, so their abilities are different from one another. My older daughter studies challenging curriculum appropriate for a 2nd grader. Mother Goose Time offers my older child a little break from academics, while still giving her the opportunity to learn and create, along with her little sister.

My three-year-old daughter loves sharing Mother Goose Time with her older sister, and each day is a fun and new adventure. It's so nice that each day's activities are separated in a separate bag with activities for both children, which is inside the themed, monthly school bus box. I love the daily curriculum guide that suggests songs, assessments and reflections.

 

Here is a fun ocean water experiment we enjoyed this week!

Ages: Preschool through Elementary Age

Mother Goose Time provided the above, pictured instructions sheet for the experiment.

Instead of bowls, we used a plate for the sugar and salt. I wrote "salt" and "sugar" below each one with a dry erase marker. I also wrote on the cups, being sure to keep the writing far below where they will drink.

The girls made their predictions...

How do you think ocean water tastes?

They prepared their supplies, and completed the experiment while using their senses of sight, smell and taste.

The girls smiled, laughed and discussed their observations.


Best of all, they had fun, sister bonding and as they learned that ocean water is salty and tastes about the same as a cup of water with one teaspoon of salt in it.

We Love Mother Goose Time Preschool Curriculum

Mother Goose Time has asked me to be a Blog Ambassador. Being a former preschool through 2nd grade teacher, I truly understand the time involved and value of Mother Goose Time curriculum. This little box saves me hours of preparation, and makes a huge, positive difference in my 3 year old daughter's day. Our second grade daughter loves the activities, too.

I had ordered a month of curriculum earlier this year for our 3-year-old daughter, and I was really impressed. I'm pretty particular, so it takes a lot to impress me. The curriculum is typically used at preschools, but it is also perfect for homeschooling a preschooler.

The art, music and science activities can be helpful for elementary-age children, especially if they need a break from their academic work. The Mother Goose Time curriculum box is delivered to your door, and the box is made to look like an adorable, little school bus. When you open the box you'll find an entire months worth of activities, teacher handbooks, CD for the theme of the month, calendar and circle time CD of songs, and monthly note for the parents, plus more I'm probably forgetting. Each days activities are packaged in a separate bag, so it doesn't get mixed together. Each bag has everything you need for the days lesson and activities, such as a craft! You can order for any number of children. I decided to order two kits, so our 2nd grade daughter can enjoy the crafts, too. The crafts are ideal for preschool through elementary age children, which is ideal for homeschool families. This saves a tremendous amount of time. I'm actually shocked that they can fit so much in the box. You can also add on the Experience God curriculum, if you like. I did, and the kids love it.

Every once in a while you will need to provide your own paint, glue or tape, but most things like googly eyes, feathers, construction paper and other supplies are provided.

This month our Mother Goose Time theme is Ocean Commotion. We just got our box and we can't wait to get started. I'll be taking pictures of the children's work to share with all of you. Mother Goose Time will also post our children's activities on their social networking sites.

In addition to working on our Mother Goose Time activities, I'm planning a field trip for our daughters to visit The Aquarium of the Pacific, and we just visited the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The docents there gave us a wonderful presentation and tour explaining how important it is to clean up any trash we find around by the gutters. I know it sounds silly, but you can actually be saving a baby seal, sea turtle or dolphin simply by keeping the gutters clean of debris. I never would have known this made such a difference. The children were able to see animals that had been harmed, simply because of trash from gutters! If we are going to teach our children about the ocean, let's also teach them how to save the ocean and the beautiful animals in the ocean. :)

I love how Mother Goose Time teaches children good character. You can feel it in the lesson plans, it's really built into the program itself. I was really impressed when I saw this video of Tim Tebow on their website. Mother Goose Time is a wonderful example of a company that gives to people, not just in the wonderful services they provide, but also in the extra, unexpected ways they choose to give back to the community. I love Mother Goose Time, and I'm truly looking forward to sharing their wonderful preschool curriculum with my blog readers.



What fun activities do you like to use when teaching children about the ocean?

What preschool curriculum do you use?

What ocean theme picture books would you recommend?

Please share in the comments below.

Author Notes:
I'm writing a picture book this month about ocean animals. :) Immersing myself in these activities has really got my mind thinking about marine mammals. I think as a personal goal I'll write a children's picture book to go along with our theme each month. Fun!