Storytime: Under the Sea

The First Day of Summer is this weekend, and that means you'll be thinking of swimming and going to the beach. Some of you may vacation near the ocean. Get your kids excited about the summer by sharing these fun books and rhymes about the animals that live under the sea.

BOOKS:



I Spy Under the Sea by Edward Gibbs
Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jarrett Krosoczka
A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea by Jessica Law
One Lonely Seahorse by Saxton Freymann

RHMYES & SONGS:

"The Shark in the Sea"
(tune: "The Wheels on the Bus")

If you have various felt or finger puppets, you can use this as a flannelboard or glove puppet. Or, simply act out the motions as a fingerplay.

The shark in the sea goes chomp, chomp, chomp.
Chomp, chomp, chomp. Chomp, chomp, chomp.
The shark in the sea goes chomp, chomp, chomp,
All day long.

The octopus in the sea goes wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

The seahorse in the sea rocks back and forth.

The fish in the sea goes swim, swim, swim.

The crab in the sea goes snap, snap, snap.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I Caught a Fish Alive

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (count fingers on right hand)
I caught a fish alive. ("catch" five fingers of right hand with left hand)
Why did you let it go? (release it suddenly)
Because it bit my fingers so! (shake right hand)

Five Little Seashells

Five little seashells lying on the shore.
Swish went the waves, and then there were four.
Four little seashells pretty as could be.
Swish went the waves, and then there were three.
Three little seashells all pearly new.
Swish went the waves, and then there were two.
Two little seashells shining in the sun.
Swish went the waves, and then there was one.
One little seashell left all alone.
I picked it up, and I took it home.

CRAFT:

We made Mister Seahorse! Okay, full disclosure. This craft takes prepping ahead of time. But, it was so darn cute, I HAD to share it with my storytime kids. I found the template and directions from I Heart Crafty Things. I never tried shaving cream painting, and it was awesome! I don't usually shy away from doing painting/messy crafts at storytime, but this process required drying before the kids could "lace" the hair, that I decided to prep all the seahorses the day before. I'm glad I did, because the "squeegeeing" was the hardest part! Fun fact: the paper retains the smell of the shaving cream. :-)