Arctic Ice Fishing

Here’s an ice fishing activity that I made to go with my Antarctica theme.

What you’ll need:
1 container,
Water,
Food coloring,
Rubber or plastic fish or other objects that you want to freeze,
Spoons, Plastic or wooden hammer or Anything else to break the ice with,
Snow cone maker, (optional).

First, I filled the container about half full with water. I used a plastic Tupperware container. I forgot to take pictures as I was making it. I added four drops of blue food coloring. Then added a few rubber fish that I bought at the Dollar Tree. I know that most of these fish don’t live in Antarctica, but they are the closest thing I have on hand. Next, I put the container in the freezer. I didn’t want all the water to freeze so I kept checking on it. Some of the water spilled so I had to add more which is why it ended up filled almost to the top. It took about three or four hours for the top half of the container to freeze. With the water underneath cold, but not completely frozen, it makes it easier to make holes in the ice. Some of the fish froze upside-down which I didn’t plan on either. Well, maybe they were diving!

Once the top was frozen, I took it out and tried to poke it with a spoon. It was a little hard, but doable. It would be easier with a hammer or something else to tap with. That’s part of the fun, the kids can experiment and figure out what works best to get the fish out.







Next, I added snow! I used an inexpensive snow cone maker I bought from Walmart. I used about a cup of ice cubes which doesn’t make much snow, but enough for a couple little snow banks or a layer of snow on the top. It melts quickly so making a few cups and freezing it might work better especially if you have more than one child doing this activity. I thought it came out well and think it’d be fun to try with the preschoolers.

Ocean Theme Lesson Plan

Ocean Theme Lesson Plan

Literacy:
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
or
By the Seashore : A Natural Trail Book (A Touch and Feel Adventure)
or
Islands of Ice: The Story of a Harp Seal
Ocean theme word wall with pictures of sea creatures labeled.

Music and movement: Ocean finger plays:
Five Little Sea Creatures


Five little sea creatures
On the ocean floor;
The lobster walked away
Now there are four.
Four little sea creatures
Living in the sea;
The octopus crept away
Now there are three.
Three little sea creatures
Wondering what to do;
"Good-bye," said the starfish
Now there are two.
Two little sea creatures
Not having much fun;
Off swam the sea horse
Now there is one.
One little hermit crab
Sad and all alone,
Back came the starfish,
Back came the sea horse,
Back came the octopus,
Back came the lobster,
Then all five went home.


Five Cranky Crabs

Five cranky crabs were digging on the shore.
One swam into a net and then there were four.
Four cranky crabs were floating in the sea.
One got tangled up in seaweed then there were three.
Three Cranky crabs were wondering what to do.
One dug a deep, deep hole. Then there were two.
Two cranky crabs were warming in the sun.
One got scooped up in a cup. Then there was one.
One cranky crab was smarter than his friends.
He hid between the jagged rocks.
That's how the story ends.


Math:
Shell sorting,
Pouring water or sand in the sensory table,
Seashell Match Up
Sensory:
Sensory tub with sand and water: have kids dig for shells.
Water and fish in the sensory table with nets to catch the fish.

Science:

Ocean Bottle
Materials:
Plastic bottle,
water,
blue food coloring,
glitter,
pebbles,
sand,
shells,
plastic fish
and some hot glue.


Steps:
1. Clean out an empty plastic pop bottle.
2. Add water, blue food coloring, glitter, and maybe a few pebbles. Also, you can add sand, shells, or plastic fish.
3. Seal the bottle closed using a little hot glue and allow to completely dry before the children can play with it.


Note: Have the children tip or role the bottle to see what happens.

Discussion: What happens when you role or tip the bottle?
What happens in the actual ocean?
What kind of creatures live in the ocean?
How do those creatures get their food?
What do we get from the ocean?

Extension:
Listen to sounds of different fish, sea birds and the ocean atmosphere.
Make a guessing game out of different sea sounds.
Take a trip to the beach.


Fine motor:
Make shell or starfish imprints in play dough.

Art:
Sea shell rubbings with crayons.

Sand art in beach buckets that cover like the ones below.
Take small cups of sand and add food coloring.
Mix well.
Have the kids scoop the sand from the cups to the buckets in layers so they can create a cute beach bucket while practicing their pouring and scooping skills.


They came in packs of three and they had bubblegum inside.

Pasta Shell Painting
Use large pasta shells and paint.
Let the kids paint them any way they want and you can discuss how no two shells are alike.

Dramatic play:
OCEAN PLAY AREA


Directions:
Turn the space under a card table into an ocean hideout for your child.
1. First, hang some blue crepe paper streamers or twisty ribbon all around the table so that it hangs down to the floor.
2. Next, place some pillow "rocks" inside for your sea creatures.
3. Provide your child with some plastic or stuffed sea animals to place in the den.
4. Decorate with pictures of the sea and place books about the sea inside.
You can add plush animals like the ones below to any ocean themed dramatic play area or put them on display.