Joyful Childhood

After exiting the TurtleTrak theatre, we were able to enjoy more viewing.

"Race to the Beach" is a motion-controlled video game where you get to pick a turtle and make your way from the sea to the beach by avoiding obstacles along the way.  Both Cici and Kole really enjoyed our trip to Sea World.  They have learned so much from this hands-on experience.

Felt Board/Flannel Board

Materials Needed:

Felt Board/ Flannel Board ( I added felt material to our easel with Velcro)

Felt

Sharp Scissors

Glue Gun

Permanent Markers

Googly Eyes

Felt board play and storytelling has many benefits in teaching babies and toddlers.  Felt board storytelling helps with teaching visual literacy, especially to children that have speech delays.  Both Cici and Kole enjoyed our felt stories and they keep on coming back to play with our ocean wildlife.  To make the felt pieces, I used felt purchased at our local art supply store and I drew ocean wildlife.  Googly eyes were attached to felt with a glue gun and details were added with a permanent marker.  

Object Basket

Object baskets are great for language development.  Materials needed are a basket and model version of ocean wildlife.  Best toys for this activity are ones that look very realistic.  This activity is very simple, yet it does wonders for language development.  When Kole picked up a toy animal, I mentioned the name of the animal and let him examine the model.  Babies and toddlers need lots of repetition; therefore, we will keep this basket on our shelves until Kole loses interest in them. 

Loggerhead sea turtle that was released back to the ocean

There was a great turnout; more than 700 people came

Gleaming sun, sounds of crashing waves, salty air and grains of sand are perfect layout for a wonderful nature exploration for kids.  Our vacation mainly consisted of unstructured wander walks where we engaged all of our five senses to explore the wonders of nature.  One benefit of having kids that are early-birds, we were able to catch the sunrise every morning while on vacation.  Watching the sunrise was breathtaking for all of us.  As the darkness of night was coming to an end and the rays of sunshine glowed, Cici and Kole were overjoyed playing and enjoying the God's masterpiece.  

Their faces lit up with glee

During our wander we found various coastal wildlife that live in Volusia County.  One in particular was a ghost crab (pictured below).  Right away, Cici's curiosity skyrocketed.  "What kind of crab is it?  Where does it live? What does it eat?  Is it a boy or a girl?  All these questions opened an opportunity for our future lessons about coastal wildlife.  

  

We had a wonderful guide of coastal wildlife that reside in Volusia County.

One activity that we did few times a day was shell collecting.  During quiet times in the condo, Cici played and examined her shell collection.  

Orlando Science Center

Orlando Science Center is our most preferred place to play during rainy days and hot summer months.  Orlando Science Center has four floors of exhibits, Crosby Observatory, and Dr. Dare's Lab where you can play scientist and perform hands-on experiments.  The access to materials like these encourage structured and unstructured, imaginative play that help children learn about science, the world and themselves.  OSC's parking garage is connected to the building by a bridge pictured below.  

Summer is the perfect season to learn about the ocean floor and various creatures within it.  Since movie Finding Dory was released in June, it was a great opportunity to learn more about various kinds of sea creatures, especially clown fish.  On the first floor, within the "Nature Walk" there is a aquarium with various exotic fish and coral reef.  We have read few books and done numerous activities about sea creatures and Cici was extremely excited to tell other children about all the fun facts that she knows.  Below you will find some of the activities we have done:

Clown Fish Painting

Materials:

Orange, Black and Blue Paint

Painter's Tape

Paint Brushes

Paint Rollers

Poster

On a poster, I outlined a clown fish and Cici used painter's tape to leave white spaces for the stripes.  It was a fun project for her; she was very excited to take the tape off and see the straight line generated by the painter's tape.

Finding Dory Science Experiment

We found "Finding Dory" gummy candy at our local Michael's Arts Supply store.  It was a perfect set for our study on osmosis. I found a great science blog where it gives you step-by-step instructions how to perform it.   http://science-mattersblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/gummy-bear-lab.html

Rubbermaid Aquarium

Cici used Crayola's bathtub crayons to draw various coral reef in a plastic rubbermaid container.  Next, she added water and dropped Crayola's bath dropz to color the water blue.  She had a blast using her imagination and playing with her foam bath toys.

Sea Salt Art

Cici painted with watercolors and sprinkled sea salt and left it to dry.  Next day she used permanent markers to draw coral reef and other sea creatures.  Lastly, she used stickers to finish her sea creature artwork.  She really enjoys messy projects!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.