Ocean in a Ziploc Bag (Summer Outdoor Fun)

Sensory/Art Project "Under the Sea"

Today, we created our own ocean in a Ziploc bag:

1) We squirted blue hair gel into a Ziploc bag. Since this was tricky, we had to make sure to help each other and to work as a team, i.e., one of us was holding the Ziploc bag open while our partner squirted the gel in.
2) We added glitter, plastic sea creatures and foam fish to the hair gel.
3) Next, we had to make sure to get the air out of the Ziploc bag and then we closed it and taped  the top with clear packaging tape.
4) We had a lot of fun moving the gel and sea creatures around in our bag.
5) We added some stickers such as dolphins, turtles, sharks to the outside of our bags.
6) We put our final product in another Ziploc bag, sealed the bag with tape and attached it to a poster board.

It was amazing  how different our oceans looked.

  
Water Balloon Beach Toss: This game required a lot of teamwork and cooperation. We used a beach towel to launch water balloons into targets (hula hoops). Two of us were holding the corners of a beach towel and lifted it up in the air on the count of three.

Seashell Painting (Summer Outdoor Fun)

“Seashell Painting”: Everyone likes to go to the beach in the summer and collect seashells. Today, we painted seashells with watercolors and glitter glue. It was amazing how different our painted seashells looked. We also worked on taking over group responsibilities during art, e.g., handing out the water brushes to our friends, cleaning up the art supplies.

Volcano: This was our favorite activity of the day. We could not believe how long we got our "lava" to flow.

1. First, we took turns filling the bottom of a medium-sized paper cup with baking soda. We filled the cup approximately 2/3 with baking soda.
2. Then, we added red Kool-aid powder and mixed it into the baking soda. 
3. We attached a second medium-sized paper cup with a pre-cut hole (approximately the size of a dime) upside down over the paper cup with baking soda. We had to make sure that the cups were taped together securely. Therefore, we used strong clear packaging tape.
4. Last, we took turns pouring vinegar with the help of an empty yogurt cup into the hole. We had to pour really slowly. It was very exciting to watch the "lava" come up through the hole. We just had to make sure not to get too close to the hole so the vinegar would not get into our eyes since everyone knows volcanoes can be dangerous.

Everyone did a fantastic job waiting his or her turn and we were also very proud of our great teamwork. 


 

Ocean in a Bottle (Summer Outdoor Fun)

Ocean in a Bottle: Today, we created ocean waves in plastic bottles.

1. First, we added glitter, shells and sea creatures to the bottle.
2. Then, we filled the bottle halfway with blue water. We used a funnel and helped each other, e.g., one of us was holding the funnel while our partner was pouring the water into the funnel.
3. We topped off the rest of the bottle with vegetable oil and then screwed the cap onto the bottle and taped the cap.

It was a lot of fun to move the bottle back and forth and to watch our ocean waves. 

Water Balloon Relay: We partnered up with a friend and went around obstacles, each of us holding a container with a water balloon in our hands. At the end of the obstacle course, we tossed the water balloons into hula hoops. We had to pay close attention to our partner and the container with the water balloon.

Summer Outdoor Fun: Smoothies

Shark Island: Dancing Together

1.     “Shark Island”: Islands (beach towels) and fake sharks were spread out on the floor. When the music played, the students danced around the beach towels. When the music stopped, they found an island to stand on. With each stoppage of the music, the island got smaller (fold towel). The kids had fun to share the islands and to save each other from the sharks in the water.

2. Small group project “Orange Banana Smoothie”: Today, we had a lot of fun preparing our summer smoothies. First, we discussed what we like to eat when it is hot outside. Ice cream and popsicles were on the top of our list.

Here is our smoothie recipe (6 servings):

• 3 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (8 oranges)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 cups strawberries, tops removed, and cut in 1/2
• 3 ripe bananas, cut 

Combine the orange juice, lime juice, strawberries, and bananas in a blender and process until smooth. 

We all worked together to make our smoothies. The smoothies were delicious. Yummy!

Roger: "We are little chefs."