Sweet Smiles Preschool: Seahorses

On Monday we learned all about seahorses!

I wrote the numerals 1-8 on 8 separate pieces of paper (8 is the number we are learning about this month). We crumbled up the pieces of paper and pretended they were seahorse eggs. I had the kids close their eyes, and then I hid the "eggs" around the room. They searched for the "eggs" and brought them back to our circle.

Each child opened their "egg" and identified which number was on their piece of paper...

We sang:

"Daddy seahorse had a pouch,

with 100 eggs.

And in his pouch he kept them warm,

all 100 eggs.

With an egg, egg here.

And an egg, egg there,

here an egg, there an egg,

everywhere an egg, egg.

Daddy seahorse had a pouch,

with 100 eggs."

(Sung to the tune of "Old McDonald.")

We repeated the song five times, and skip counted by 100's each time.

Then I asked the kids who carried them before they were born. Next, I asked them who carries them now. I explained that it is the daddy seahorse that carries the baby eggs before they hatch. The kids folded up their shirts and explored carrying toys around the room. They counted how many they could carry and compared their amount with their friends.

Mother Goose provided each child with this daddy seahorse counting game...

The kids cut apart the pieces and then stapled the daddy seahorse's pouch onto the larger picture to create a pocket. They turned all of the number cards face down on the floor. They chose one number card at a time, and placed the same amount of baby seahorses in the pouch.

Some of the kids felt comfortable doing this activity independently, and some needed a little more guidance. It was a great exercise for practicing number recognition and counting skills.

I asked the kids how they think a seahorse uses its tail. I explained that seahorses use their tails to grab onto things. Some males use their tails to fight off enemies. I set out some of the hands-on letters that we have learned about so far this year (all letters are provided by Mother Goose Time). I called out a word, and one child at a time had to identify which letter that word started with or ended with (depending on the ability level of each child). When they correctly identified the letter, they wrapped a pipe cleaner around the letter (we pretended the pipe cleaner was a seahorse tail).

We learned that a seahorse has a small fin that propels them forward, then they drift through the water. They grab on to things with their tails when they need to stop. We explored what it might look like if we could float in the water. Then I played, "Hey, Mr. Seahorse" from our Mother Goose Ocean Commotion CD. I asked the kids to pretend to float around the room like seahorses. When I paused the music, the kids had to pair up with a partner and link their "tails" together. (Seahorses prefer to swim in pairs.)

I asked the kids where their favorite hiding place is. I explained that some seahorses can change colors to camouflage and hide from predators. The kids searched for something in the room the same color as what they were wearing. L and N thought it was hilarious that they were wearing the same color. They stayed together to stay camouflaged!

K was wearing pink, so she stood next to her backpack to stay camouflaged...

Mother Goose provided us with this seahorse puzzle. I asked half of the kids to hide the puzzle pieces in the room near something of the same color as the puzzle piece (camouflage). The other half of our group searched for the hidden puzzles pieces, and then worked as a team to put the puzzle together. We switched roles and repeated the activity a second time, so that each child had a chance to hide the puzzle pieces and put together the puzzle. I left the puzzle out for the kids to continue to play with throughout the day.

The kids worked on a mini emergent reader book from their literacy workbook. The book was titled, "In the Water." First we read the book together as a group. Each page had a shape on it. The kids had to cut apart animal photos and match them to the right page with the matching shape. Then they practiced reading their book, and circled all of the letter W's.

The kids practiced their measurement skills by measuring seahorses in their math workbooks...

They also drew their own ocean creature and measured it...

These were our books for the day...

In the afternoon I set out a beach themed puzzle center. There was a total of six puzzles for the kids to put together.

There was a total of six puzzles, so occasionally the puzzle pieces got mixed up. The kids could sort the puzzles by looking at the images on the back of each piece...