Where I live, on the east coast of the U.S., most kids have some experience with the beach. It is a common vacation spot as well as a day trip destination. Whether or not you and your kids travel to sandy shores, you can have beach week at home and incorporate some learning as well. That’s what I”m doing this week. Here are some ideas:
Fill your sensory bin with shells (from the beach or from a craft store). Add a bucket and a shovel for scooping an pouring. Use the shells for sorting, counting and describing. For added sensory fun, add water, colored craft sand, sandbox sand or kinetic sand.
The theme of “beach” carries vast opportunities for vocabulary expansion. Use index cards to draw pictures or get clip art online. Make flash cards for introducing new words, describing or storytelling. My target words for this week include bucket, shovel, sand, ocean, castle, umbrella, crab, towel, lifeguard, beach ball, dolphin and sunglasses.
We are also playing Beach Bingo and sorting by color using colorful buckets that I made on Lessonpix.com.
So, play with some shells and build an indoor castle. Put a video of waves crashing on the shore on your laptop, tablet or smart TV. Spread out some towels and lather the kids in coconut smelling lotion. Then sit back, and enjoy your indoor beach. Its beach week! One Word At A Time!
