Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week!

In many ways, this has been one of the most fun weeks I've had as a teacher in ages!  Why? Because we're done with most of the "have tos" and I get to teach what I truly feel the children need, and will enjoy. 

I chose to go with a Beach Theme for this week, and I'm not sure who had more fun, me or the kids!

We were totally busy, and squeezed in the beach theme every chance we could!

Here are a few of the things we did:

1.  Towels!  We brought in beach towels, and the children sat on them every time we had stories on lessons on the rug. Each day, there were more beach towels and paraphernalia, it really looked like the beach! We even had a couple of "boogie boards" and a child sized beach chair! These came in handy during Independent Reading time, as well. Yes, you guessed it, we read loads of books with the Beach theme!

2.  Games!  I managed to dig up several games with the beach theme that reviewed important skills we studied this year. Of course, instead of the usual tubs, I picked up some pails and buckets at the dollar store to store the beach themed games. Great stuff!

3. Books, books, and more books!  Our wonderful librarian found some great books for us to share! Here are some of my favorites:

• What LIves in a Shell?
• Seashells by the Seashore
• Beach
• Hello Ocean
• Bats at the Beach
• The Seashore Book

4. Floating Boats!  This was a huge hit this week, and something I managed to bribe motivate the children with as they're getting into their "summer mode". We made sailboats out of milk cartons, then today we floated our boats. First, they put their boats in the water, then we added "people" (balls of clay) It was interesting to see how many people they put into their boats without disaster. They were thrilled to bring their boats as well as the "people" home at the end of the day today. We called our bodies of water The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. We figured the Arctic Ocean was mostly ice and probably wouldn't have sailboats. (Yes, I'm always finding excuses to squeeze in a bit of geography review as well!)

 

5.  "Beach Day" Theme Unit: We did manage to squeeze in some real learning, mostly in the form of centers. This set has plenty of review materials for my second graders! You can see this unit by clicking the link below or click here: Beach Bundle

 

A little more learning fun: Science and Social Studies Activities for Summer

What themes do your students enjoy in your class?

Beach Week!

Kids love themes, and what is a better theme for the classroom than going to the beach?

No, we're not going to the ocean, I'm just trying to think of fun ways to get them working and learning these last few weeks.  

Here's what we're going to do during Beach Week:

1. Literature! First of all, there will be plenty of literature!  Here are some books I've found with a seashore or beach theme: (Click the title for an affiliate link to Amazon to find more about the book!)

• What LIves in a Shell?
• Seashells by the Seashore
• Beach
• Hello Ocean
• Bats at the Beach
• The Seashore Book

I have a feeling I'll find more great books as I go through my classroom library as well as my school library.  I like to read several examples of fiction as well as nonfiction to give the children a real feel for what we're studying. 

2. Music and Sounds! Next, to set the mood:

Peaceful Ocean Surf CD

Here is a Youtube video of ocean waves and sounds: very peaceful! Great background sounds!

Or try this one! I'll be playing this one when they're painting or creating!

2. Writing! After all this seashore learning, We're going to have to do some writing!  I made up some paper with a seashore theme (see image at top of page!)  For this freebie, click HERE.

 

4. Beach Towels! Of course, I really have to get the kids into the feel of the ocean. I'll be inviting them to bring beach towels next week. My plan is to let them take out their towels during Independent Reading time. I'll play my ocean sound CD, and they can pretend to do my very favorite summer activity... reading at the beach!

5. Beach Themed Centers!  Here's my Seashore Learning Collection Literacy and Math Centers: click the image for the link!

 

  Want a little more ocean fun? Here's some Science and Social Studies activities, many of which focus on water! Science and Social Studies Activities for Summer

What ideas do you have for Seashore Week?  I'd love to hear your ideas!