Theme: Sea Creatures

The first week in October we learned about sea life and sea creatures. We learned that blue whales can grow to 100 ft long, and I showed the kids how long that was. They were pretty amazed. We searched for sea shells in the sand box. We matched and sorted paper shells and fish. We talked about salt and fresh water, their differences, what animals live in each, and played Sink or Float. We plyed with modeling clay and made fish and shell imprints. We read books about fish and other sea creatures. We also watched "Finding Nemo."
This week we went to the Dallas Children's Aquarium. We had gone to this aquarium about 3 years ago, but since then they have remodeled it and focused it on children. It is absolutely amazing now and so much better than it was. They have a touch pool inside and a stingray touch/feeding pool. The kids loved being able look at everything and touch some of the animals. I couldn't convince them to touch the stingrays, but they loved being close to them and getting splashed by them. It was a lot of fun and a great experience for all of us.

Our modeling clay fishes and jelly fish.

The touch pool--The man is holding a horseshoe crab. The kids wouldn't touch it. The only thing they did touch was the shells.

Stingray at the pool where you could touch them.

The kids really liked watching the sharks. I think they could have stayed there for hours.

I thought it was really cute that they were holding hands.

I love that they made the aquarium a children's aquarium. It is so much more fun and interactive for them.

Sea horses

Albino alligator (behind Tink ;)