By the Seashore for Preschoolers - Part 1

The beach is without any doubts my favorite place in the entire world. I've been very blessed so far in life and got to see some amazing beaches in the Caribbean, North America, Europe and even Africa. If you happen to be going to the beach this year, please enjoy it on my behalf! :)

Art in the Sandbox - Sand Combs

Originally made these for little Zahavah back in September I believe after stumbling on a post from StoriesandChildren. Sand combs, if you haven't used any yet are quite cool for the beach and since we have a huge sandbox at our local playground, I thought we'd pretend it was a beach. Made our set from thick box cardboard and designed different "teeth" for each so they'd made different "tracks" when dragged on the sand. Of course, cardboard is flimsy after a while, so if you think your kids will be rough or will use them often, I recommend cutting those out of plastic lids like it was done by the lady on StoriesandChildren.

Pouring Coconut Milk

I have very fond memories of drinking a sweet, non-alcoholic, drink from a coconut while in Mexico. Don't know what it was to this day but it sure tasted good and that will forever make me associate coconuts with the beach. Well, that and the fact that lots of sunscreens smell like it too. :) Here, I put out two small pitchers, one with coconut milk,  and one awaiting the milk transfer. Later, the coconut milk was re-used for making some Thai food. Yummy!

Sifting Sea Glass from Beach Sand

Quite the easy work here for an almost Kindergartner but not something he really liked. Although he knew how many pieces of sea glass to look for in the beach sand, he got tired of sifting quickly. I prepared the activity with 15 pieces of small 1/2inch polished sea glass (purchased off an Etsy seller), beach sand and a small mesh spoon usually used for powdered sugar decorations. After sifting all the glass out, the activity was further extended into sorting the different colors of sea glass (we had clear, brown, green and white) and counting.

Writing in a Beach Sand Tray

Visited my Tedi Bargain Store to see what was new and saw a jar filled with "beach sand". How convenient! Poured it in a smaller "tray" for Adrian to practice writing letters. Used a smaller tray this time because I'd like Adrian to be able to produce smaller letters and to take his time in forming the letters.

Math - Fresh fruit fractions

Another good memory of my beach days is eating fresh fruit on the beach. (My mom always brought a cooler filled to the top with fresh fruits and juices for the entire family). Of course, limes and lemons were usually not part of the picnic but for this activity, they were perfect and well, Adrian doesn't see these as often I'd say so I knew it would pique his curiosity. I simply thought fruits would be a good way to introduce him to the world of fractions. We looked at whole fruits, half fruits and quartered fruits. We did the same with slices of fruits. My presentation was originally done with the blueberry. Then I cut the lime in front of him to reinforce the blueberry presentation and asked him as I cut if it was a whole, half or quarter lime. Finally, Adrian proceeded to put the toothpick fraction numbers on the lemon slices to show me if he had understood...which he had. A beautiful and yummy "3 Period Lesson" with Fruit Fractions! :)

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Today, I'm happily linking up to

Montessori Monday, The Kids Co-Op, Show-and-Share Saturday, Link & Learn, TGIF, Share it Saturday, Mom's Library, The Sunday Showcase, Sun Scholars's For the Kids Friday, Stress-Free Sunday, Thursday Toddler & Preschool, Tuesday Tots, Preschool Corner &5K, Hammock Tracks' Look What We Did, Money Savings Monday, Serenity Saturday, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, and Artsy Play Wednesday, Monday Kid Corner, Kids in the Kitchen, We Made That.

If you would like me to link up with you, please don't hesitate to ask, it might take me a week or two, but I generally do!