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. :-)

Storytime: Under the Sea

We're winding down our Summer Reading Program at my library.  That also means we have a couple weeks of story time left this summer and then I'm free on vacation.  I thought it would be fun to do an Under the Sea themed story time, especially since a lot of our little ones have been going on vacation to the beach with their families.  Calgon, take me away!

BOOKS:



RHYMES & SONGS:

Did You Ever See a Fishy?
Tune: Did You Ever See a Lassie?

Did you ever see a fishy, a fishy, a fishy?
Did you ever see a fishy swim this way and that?
Swim this way and that way, swim this way and that way,
Did you ever see a fishy swim this way and that?

(Source: King County Library System)

The Shark in the Sea
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus

I have a sea animals felt set that have velcro attached to them.  They work great as a glove puppet, or directly on a flannel board.  I modified the verses to this song based on those felt animals.

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

(Source: Youth Literature)

Once I Saw an Octopus

Once I saw an octopus in the deep blue sea
     (put hand over eyes as if searching and look down)
I called, "Hey, Mr. Octopus, won't you swim with me?"
     (hands over mouth to call)
Then out came his tentacles so very long and straight
     (link thumbs with fingers out)
I counted them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
     (count eight fingers)

(Source: Jen in the Library)

"Under the Sea"
Pull out the music instruments, get everyone up on their feet, and dance away to this hit song.  From the CD The Little Mermaid Greatest Hits, you can't have an ocean-themed story time without playing this song.  And good luck getting this song out of your head.  You'll be humming it all day.  Not that I speak from experience. :)

CRAFT:
For my preschool group, we made hermit crabs.  I found the idea on Pinterest and here are the details.  I simplified it by having the kids trace their hands without using a paint hand print.  Then, they decorated their paper plate "shell" anyway they liked and I helped them affix the pipe cleaners and eyes with tape and glue dots.
For my toddler group, we decorated paper fish.  I cut out several fish shapes on construction paper using an Ellison die-cut.  The kids decorated them with foam stickers, sequins, and crayons.